scholarly journals Correctional “Free Lunch”? Cost Neglect Increases Punishment in Prosecutors

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Aharoni ◽  
Heather M. Kleider-Offutt ◽  
Sarah F. Brosnan
Keyword(s):  
Direct Cost ◽  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Prison Sentence ◽  
Free Lunch ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Sentencing Decisions ◽  
Sentencing Recommendations ◽  
Information Exposure

Prosecutors can influence judges’ sentencing decisions by the sentencing recommendations they make—but prosecutors are insulated from the costs of those sentences, which critics have described as a correctional “free lunch.” In a nationally distributed survey experiment, we show that when a sample of (n=178) professional prosecutors were insulated from sentencing cost information, their prison sentence recommendations were nearly one-third lengthier than sentences rendered following exposure to direct cost information. Exposure to a fiscally equivalent benefit of incarceration did not impact sentencing recommendations, as predicted. This pattern suggests that prosecutors implicitly value incorporating sentencing costs but selectively neglect them unless they are made explicit. These findings highlight a likely but previously unrecognized contributor to mass incarceration and identify a potential way to remediate it.

The Place of Punishment in Twenty-First-Century America: Understanding the Persistence of Mass Incarceration

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Katherine Beckett ◽  
Lindsey Beach
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
First Century ◽  
Prison Sentence ◽  
Geographic Difference ◽  
Comparative Case Studies ◽  
Prison Populations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Prison Admission

This study analyzes prison admission and crime data to assess whether the penal system’s response to crime has continued to intensify since mass incarceration’s peak and whether the increasing use of prison in nonurban areas helps explain this trend. The findings show that penal intensity has continued to escalate despite falling crime rates and widespread efforts to reduce prison populations. Further, the justice system’s response to crime is most vigorous in nonurban, and especially rural, counties, where more felony arrests for all types of offenses result in a prison sentence. Although not new, this geographic difference has grown in recent years. While penal intensity thus varies notably within states, case outcomes also vary markedly across states. Comparative case studies of dynamics in a highly punitive state (Kentucky) and a less punitive state (Washington) show how formal law interacts with local dynamics not only by creating “statutory hammers” that are utilized by zealous prosecutors and judges but also by limiting the impact of aggressive prosecutorial practices on prison sentences.

Sentencing Drug Offenders Justly While Reducing Mass Incarceration

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-11
Author(s):  
Hon. Lynn Adelman
Keyword(s):  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
Sentencing Guidelines ◽  
Prison Sentence ◽  
Drug Offenders ◽  
Drug Activity ◽  
Federal Sentencing Guidelines ◽  
Federal Sentencing ◽  
The Future ◽  
Drug Type ◽  
Do So

In my paper, I discuss what I believe is the most effective approach to sentencing drug defendants. I start with the proposition that in many, if not most cases, incarcerating drug offenders does more harm than good. Imprisonment contributes to mass incarceration, does not deter unlawful drug activity and has an adverse racial impact. Thus, if a judge can reasonably avoid imposing a prison sentence, he or she should do so. Fortunately, this is the judge’s duty under the law. 18 U.S.C. §3553(a) requires a judge to impose a sentence that is “sufficient but not greater than necessary…” or, in other words, the least restrictive reasonable sentence. Thus, in every case, the judge must first consider whether a non-incarcerative sentence is sufficient. It often will be. In determining the appropriate sentence, a judge should focus on what the offender did and why and what he or she will likely do in the future and pay less attention to such factors as drug type and drug weight. Sometimes, a mandatory minimum sentence will apply and prevent a judge from imposing a fair sentence, but that is outside the judge’s control. Fortunately, because of Booker and its progeny, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines do not pose a similar problem. The judge, of course, must calculate and consider the applicable guideline but in many cases the guideline will be irrelevant to a just sentence. This is so because the guidelines are excessively oriented toward prison sentences and thus frequently conflict with the sufficient but not greater than necessary command of §3553(a). In my paper, I provide numerous examples of sentences that I have imposed and explanations of those sentences to illustrate this approach.

The Sentencing Consequences of Federal Pretrial Supervision

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Oleson ◽  
Christopher T. Lowenkamp ◽  
John Wooldredge ◽  
Marie VanNostrand ◽  
Timothy P. Cadigan
Keyword(s):  
Criminal History ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Prison Sentence ◽  
Pretrial Release ◽  
Pretrial Detention ◽  
Sentencing Decisions ◽  
Offense Severity ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Extralegal Factors ◽  
Sentencing Outcomes

Legal variables, such as offense severity and criminal history, principally shape sentencing decisions, but extralegal factors such as race, gender, and age also influence sentencing outcomes. Studies focusing on the effect of pretrial detention on sentencing outcomes usually associate pretrial detention with negative sentencing outcomes. The current study followed 90,037 federal defendants from indictment through sentencing, and measured the effects of pretrial detention on sentencing decisions. Detention (and, to a lesser degree, revocation of pretrial release) was associated with increased likelihood of receiving a prison sentence and greater sentence length, even when controlling for offense severity and criminal history scores.

PP061 Direct Cost Of Physiotherapeutic Devices Judicialization In Brazil

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 99-100
Author(s):  
Dominique Moraes ◽  
Luciana Tarbes ◽  
Bruna de Veras ◽  
Marisa Santos
Keyword(s):  
Direct Cost ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Sleep Apnea Syndrome ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Chronic Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Unified Health System ◽  
Obstructive Sleep

INTRODUCTION:The “Judicialization of health” is a judicial option, provided by the Brazilian constitution, which aims to guarantee the access of the population to healthcare products or services to which they were denied or that were otherwise unavailable on the Unified Health System (SUS) (1). This highlights deficiencies in public policies (2). Considering the progressive impact of the judicialization on the budget and the lack of real-world evidence on the subject, the objective was to describe the judicialization profile of physiotherapeutic devices in the city of Rio de Janeiro and to estimate the spending on them within the system.METHODS:The profile was traced based on the analysis of the processes (n = 243) submitted to the Technical Advice Unit of the Rio de Janeiro Justice Court between May 2013 and September 2015, which litigated the provision of physiotherapeutic devices. Direct cost information was obtained from both public and private sources. The analysis was carried out using the SUS perspective.RESULTS:About 63 percent of the patients were over 60 years old. The majority of the requests were due to chronic respiratory diseases, the most common being obstructive sleep apnea-syndrome (31 percent), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (14 percent) and pulmonary fibrosis (11 percent). The most judicialized devices were continuous positive airway pressure (21 percent), oxygen concentrator (17 percent) and portable oxygen cylinder (13 percent). None of these devices are currently covered by SUS. The expenses related to the purchase of the devices pleaded was approximately USD812,500 over 29 months.CONCLUSIONS:The total spend on these devices were considered very high when compared to Rio de Janeiro's health budgetary capacity. This scenario could be worse if this type of demand were not planned, and needed to be accomplished quickly with urgent purchases. The results obtained shows that judicialization phenomenon has a meaningful impact on the economic viability of the Brazilian healthcare system.

Some Sex Differences in Sentencing Severity for a Mock Crime Scenario

2007 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 894-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart J. McKelvie
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Prison Sentence ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Sentencing Recommendations ◽  
Mock Crime

Canadian undergraduates (84 women, 65 men) read one of two crime vignettes which varied in how justified a murder was perceived to be, then made sentencing recommendations. Men were more likely than women to recommend capital punishment, but men and women did not differ on recommendation of execution method or prison sentence and parole.

Here Come the Judges

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-249
Author(s):  
Justice Michael P. Donnelly ◽  
Judge Gene A. Zmuda ◽  
Judge Pierre H. Bergeron
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Information ◽  
State Court ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Prison Sentence ◽  
Trial Courts ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Sentencing Decisions ◽  
Actual Experience ◽  
Trial Judges ◽  
First Time

We are Ohio state court judges with actual experience in imposing and/or reviewing criminal felony sentences. We are unaware of any expressed objection by Ohio’s judiciary to having more relevant information available to a sentencing court. Sentencing discretion is conferred upon trial courts by the General Assembly through its statutory enactments, and the trial courts have full discretion to impose a prison sentence that falls within the prescribed statutory range. With such wide-ranging discretion the database will provide additional information to a sentencing judge, which will result in a more informed sentence. Justice requires that judges get it “right.” Why prevent useful, relevant, and important information from being considered by trial judges in achieving this goal? Once the criminal sentencing database is in place, for the first time in the state’s history all stakeholders, including judges, will have access to relevant information that can inform their sentencing decisions while keeping biases, implicit or otherwise, in check. This will usher in a fairer, more transparent system that we should all support. As stewards of the greatest system ever designed to resolve disputes and, therefore, as those empowered to see that justice is achieved, we can’t afford to pretend that the problem doesn’t exist. We must seize this moment and take this long-overdue step for the betterment of our judicial system and, therefore, our society.

scholarly journals Greenhouse Cost Accounting: A Computer Program for Making Management Decisions

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 420-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin G. Brumfield
Keyword(s):  
Computer Program ◽  
Direct Cost ◽  
Cost Accounting ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Greenhouse Crops ◽  
Income Statement ◽  
Computer Output

The computer program Greenhouse Cost Accounting, available for DOS-based microcomputers and Macintosh computers, is described. The software enables the user to perform cost accounting and to determine the profitability of greenhouse crops. The information can be used by managers to analyze various production, financial, and marketing strategies. The Greenhouse Cost Accounting program uses cost information typically found on income statements and direct cost information for each crop. From these inputs, the program allocates as many costs as possible to individual crops. The remaining unallocated costs are assigned to each crop on a per square-foot-week basis. The computer output provides information on costs and returns on a per crop, per unit, and per square-foot basis. It also provides an income statement showing total costs, allocated costs, and unallocated costs. The output can aid the manager in making decisions about pricing, reducing unprofitable production, controlling costs, and increasing sales of profitable crops. The program also can be used by greenhouse management classes or for extension workshops.

Interculturalism and the Acceptance of Minority Groups

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maykel Verkuyten ◽  
Kumar Yogeeswaran
Keyword(s):  
Minority Groups ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Social Psychological Research ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Situational Effect

Abstract. Multiculturalism has been criticized and rejected by an increasing number of politicians, and social psychological research has shown that it can lead to outgroup stereotyping, essentialist thinking, and negative attitudes. Interculturalism has been proposed as an alternative diversity ideology, but there is almost no systematic empirical evidence about the impact of interculturalism on the acceptance of migrants and minority groups. Using data from a survey experiment conducted in the Netherlands, we examined the situational effect of promoting interculturalism on acceptance. The results show that for liberals, but not for conservatives, interculturalism leads to more positive attitudes toward immigrant-origin groups and increased willingness to engage in contact, relative to multiculturalism.

What Can We Learn From Factorial Surveys About Human Behavior?

Methodology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knut Petzold ◽  
Tobias Wolbring
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Actual Behavior ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Factorial Survey ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Intended Behavior ◽  
The Social ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
High Level

Abstract. Factorial survey experiments are increasingly used in the social sciences to investigate behavioral intentions. The measurement of self-reported behavioral intentions with factorial survey experiments frequently assumes that the determinants of intended behavior affect actual behavior in a similar way. We critically investigate this fundamental assumption using the misdirected email technique. Student participants of a survey were randomly assigned to a field experiment or a survey experiment. The email informs the recipient about the reception of a scholarship with varying stakes (full-time vs. book) and recipient’s names (German vs. Arabic). In the survey experiment, respondents saw an image of the same email. This validation design ensured a high level of correspondence between units, settings, and treatments across both studies. Results reveal that while the frequencies of self-reported intentions and actual behavior deviate, treatments show similar relative effects. Hence, although further research on this topic is needed, this study suggests that determinants of behavior might be inferred from behavioral intentions measured with survey experiments.

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