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The study examined the first five years of operation of Kansas senate bill 123 (November 2003-November 2008) examining individual-level and system-level outcomes over time and across community corrections districts and judicial actors. The study also assesses the impact of SB 123 on the work routines of criminal justice system actors, examining changes in sentencing and supervision practices and interactions across agencies following the implementation of SB 123.

Individual-level impacts of SB 123 on recidivism rates are assessed using sentencing and revocation data collected by the Kansas Sentencing Commission for drug possessors sentenced in Kansas between November 1, 2001 and October 31, 2008 (Dataset 1). Propensity score matching was used to compare the revocation and reconviction rates of drug possessors sentenced to SB 123 with the recidivism rates of similar individuals sentenced to regular probation (standard supervision by community corrections or court services) (Dataset 2). Supervision and program participation data provided by the Kansas Department of Corrections were used to assess the use of drug treatment services, education and employment services, and sanctions for individuals sentenced to SB 123 or standard community corrections (Dataset 3). These quantitative data were complemented by a set qualitative data derived from interviews with SB 123-eligible offenders (Dataset 4), community corrections managers, and courtroom actors (judges, prosecutors, public defenders) (Dataset 5).

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

This research sought to analyze the length of time served by state prisoners in Michigan from 1985 to 2008. It was conducted to address research that showed Michigan had the longest prison stays in the United States of America, the substantial impact that time served had upon state prison populations, and to assess the effect of parole and sentencing policy on time-served. The research utilized National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) data available through the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) in order to build upon past-research and contribute to the understanding of state-specific patterns and trends across offenses and racial groups.

In order to address policy effects upon time served, the purpose of this study was to contextualize patterns of time served across 20 years within the parole and sentencing policy changes in Michigan; the impact of reforms in 1999 were of particular focus.

There are no data files available with this study. Only syntax files used by the researcher(s) are provided.

In order to investigate whether reductions to sentence length reduce recidivism and its related costs, the research team conducted two studies under the same NIJ grant.

In Study 1, the research team used a quasi-experimental approach to examine how sentence length influenced time to rearrest. Specifically, the team estimated an instrumental variable hazard model using variation stemming from the implementation of South Dakota's Public Safety Improvement Act of 2013 (SB70). SB70 was a major sentencing reform that reduced the likelihood of incarceration and the length of sentence for certain non-violent offenses. The legislation was a response to high rates of incarceration and rising criminal justice costs with a particular focus on addressing individuals convicted of non-violent offenses. The goal was to improve public safety while reducing corrections spending. For grand theft below $5,000 and third-degree burglary, the reform reduced the severity of the felony class and the maximum allowed sentence length by 50% to 80%. Only certain offenses were subject to sentencing reductions such that unaffected offense types were included in the analysis as a comparison group.

In Study 2, the research team applied the logic of recurring event hazard models that predicted the probability of events over time with two distinct objectives: to identify desisters and to estimate the impact of life events on the longitudinal pattern of offending. Administrative data from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS) Division of Adult Correction were obtained to answer this research question. The team connected commonly used trajectory models to recurrent event survival models.

This collection contains only syntax files and documentation that were created for Study 1 (South Dakota). The P.I. codebook reflects the dataset that was created for analysis, though the data are not available. Please refer to the User Guide for more information. While Study 2's (North Carolina) methodology is described, please note that, excluding the NIJ Final Report, no Study 2 materials are available through ICPSR.

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

Within the past fifteen years, policymakers across the country have increasingly supported criminal justice reforms designed to reduce the scope of mass incarceration in favor of less costly, more evidence-based approaches to preventing and responding to crime. One of the primary reform efforts is the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI), a public-private partnership through which state governments work to diagnose the primary drivers of their state incarceration rates, reform their sentencing policies to send fewer nonviolent offenders to prison, and reinvest the saved money that used to go into prisons into alternatives to incarceration, instead.

This mixed-methods study sought to assess public opinion about the justice reinvestment paradigm of reform and to determine whether exposure to racialized and race-neutral cues affects people's willingness to allocate money into criminal justice institutions versus community-based social services in order to reduce and prevent crime.

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped for NACJD release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

The purpose of the study was to examine how court decisions and sentencing policy changes have affected sentencing behavior in federal drug trafficking cases. Changes at the district level and in mandatory minimum sentencing were a particular focus.

Data were obtained from the Defendants Sentenced Under the Sentencing Reform Act data from the United States Sentencing Commission from fiscal years 1992-2009. These data were then merged with federal district-level indicators for the 89 federal districts from the Federal Court Management Statistics website, and state level demographic data from the United States Census Bureau. Drug trafficking cases were identified by using the sentencing guideline offense, which resulted in a sample of N=376,637 cases.