On Gang Affiliation, Gang Databases, and Prosecutorial Outcomes

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan W. Caudill ◽  
Chad R. Trulson ◽  
James W. Marquart ◽  
Matt DeLisi
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Gang Affiliation ◽  
Legal Consequences

Technological advances have enabled criminal justice organizations to collect and share offender data. Accompanying these advances are concerns about how various segments of the criminal justice system utilize these data. Specifically, scholars have expressed concerns about the legal consequences of being included in gang databases. This study explored the use of gang affiliation indicators on prosecutorial outcomes by using a sample of 5,111 urban juvenile cases. Using three binary measures of gang affiliation, multinomial logistic regression analysis suggested indicators of gang affiliation influenced prosecutorial outcomes (dismissal, pre-adjudication informal supervision, deferred prosecution, or petition), but in an unanticipated manner. Confirmed gang affiliates, instead of suspected or non-gang affiliates, were significantly more likely to experience pre-adjudication informal supervision over other forms of case outcomes: case dismissal, deferred prosecution, or court petition. Policy implications focus on the inter-connectedness of the criminal justice system.

Guilty Until Proved Innocent: Wrongful Conviction and Public Policy

1986 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 518-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Ronald Huff ◽  
Arye Rattner ◽  
Edward Sagarin ◽  
Donal E. J. MacNamara
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Innocent Person ◽  
Wrongful Conviction ◽  
Extant Literature ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
The Subject

Few problems can pose a greater threat to free, democratic societies than that of wrongful conviction—the conviction of an innocent person. Yet relatively little attention has been paid to this problem, perhaps because of our understandable concern with the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system in combatting crime. Drawing on our own database of nearly 500 cases of wrongful conviction, our survey of criminal justice officials, and our review of extant literature on the subject, we address three major questions: (1) How frequent is wrongful conviction? (2) What are its major causes? and (3) What policy implications may be derived from this study?

scholarly journals Victims and the sentencing process: developing participatory rights?

Legal Studies ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 651-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Doak ◽  
Ralph Henham ◽  
Barry Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Structural Parameters ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
The Public ◽  
Adversarial System ◽  
Private Interests ◽  
Procedural Rights

Recent years have seen a number of developments pertaining to the notion that victims should be afforded a ‘voice’ in the criminal justice system. The theoretical and structural parameters of the adversarial system are not, however, conducive to exercising such a role. For many, conferring procedural rights on victims jeopardises the due process rights of the accused, as well as the public nature of the criminal justice system. In light of the recent decision to roll out the ‘Victims' Focus Scheme’ across England and Wales, this paper explores a number of issues of principle that arise – not least the deeper policy implications of an apparent re-alignment of the normative parameters of the criminal justice system to incorporate the private interests of third parties.

Trust and Confidence in Media and Criminal Justice Institutions

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 2213-2233
Author(s):  
Francis D. Boateng ◽  
Kimberly Kaiser
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
World Values Survey ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The World ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
The Media

In every society, the main purpose of the criminal justice system is to maintain social order and ensure that citizens comply with the law. To do this effectively, the police and court systems need citizen cooperation and obedience, and willingness to assist with criminal investigations and report crimes to the police. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between confidence in the media and confidence in the criminal justice institutions in South Africa. The study tests two objectives: to assess South Africans’ level of confidence in the police and courts, and to determine whether citizens’ levels of confidence in both the print and televised media will influence their levels of confidence in the police, courts, and in the criminal justice system in general. Utilizing data from the World Values Survey, results reveal a significant and positive relationship between confidence in the media and confidence in the criminal justice institutions. Policy implications of this observation are discussed.

Help-Seeking Patterns Among Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: Do They Forgo the Criminal Justice System if Their Adjudication Wishes Are Not Met?

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Cerulli ◽  
Catherine Kothari ◽  
Melissa Dichter ◽  
Steve Marcus ◽  
Tae Kuen Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
Prior Experiences

Following a criminal case disposition, an intimate partner violence (IPV) victim’s willingness to seek future police and prosecutorial assistance may depend on her prior experiences within the system. This longitudinal study examines the relationship between IPV victims’ future help-seeking based on past experiences. We hypothesized women would return to the criminal justice system if their adjudication wishes corresponded with prosecutors’ actions. Contrary to the hypothesis, results suggest women return to the criminal system and other venues even if prosecutors’ actions do not correspond to their earlier stated wishes. This has important policy implications given pro-prosecution protocols that encourage adjudication regardless of a woman’s participation.

Suspended Sentences in Spain: An Alternative to Prison or a “Bargaining Chip” in Plea Negotiations?

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 354-378
Author(s):  
Daniel Varona ◽  
Steven Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Plea Bargaining ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Research ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
The One

Abstract Criminal proceedings in many European states are increasingly being resolved via plea bargaining agreements; yet, there is relatively scant European research on the implications for the defendant or the role this practice plays within the criminal justice system. Using a sample of 1417 criminal cases, this paper examines how suspended prison sentences may be utilized in Spain to encourage or coerce defendants into a guilty plea. In addition to more traditional regression analysis, covariates are controlled through an entropy balancing process. The findings show defendants who agree a plea deal are indeed less likely to enter prison, which has profound implications for criminal justice in Spain and beyond. On the one hand, it appears plea bargaining is being used to improve the efficiency of the system and, thus, maintain its very existence. On the other hand, issues regarding false confessions and sentencing disparities are specifically highlighted.

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