©2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Criminology, 4th edition Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Steven E....

©2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Criminology, 4th editionUpper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Steven E. Barkan

Chapter 16

Prosecution and Punishment


Criminal Courts and the Adversary System

• Sociologists long noted actual behavior of people in organizations often differs from formal procedures required by organizations

• Court adversarial system largely a myth• How does system really work?

Sociological jurisprudence Legal realism


• Normal Crimes and the Fate of Poor Defendants Prosecutors and public defenders develop same

idea about what is a “normal” or typical crime More cooperation between prosecutors and

public defenders “Confidence game”


Blumberg’s research concluded poor but innocent defendants were being railroaded

Downie was critical of rampant plea bargaining

Research in 1970s concluded race and class of defendants do not generally affect chances of conviction or sentences received


• Prosecutors, the Courtroom Workgroup, and Plea Bargaining Heavy caseloads burden courtroom

workgroup (prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges)

Plea bargaining helps process huge caseloads


Elements considered by prosecutors to determine if case is strongSeriousness of offenseInjured victim?Strong evidence (i.e. eyewitnesses, physical

evidence)Use of a weaponPrior criminal record“Stand-up” victim


Punishment, Social Structure, and Inequality

• Introduction Durkheim thought punishment reinforced social

stability by clarifying norms Social structure of a society helps determine

type of punishment it adopts


Two types of societiesSmall folk

Collective conscienceMechanical solidarityRepressive law: harsh physical

punishment of offenders


Advanced, larger societySocial solidarity is organic; derives from

interdependenceRestitutive law: interest in restoring

relationships to previous state


• Economic Conditions and Punishment Research on Unemployment and Imprisonment

Evidence complex and inconsistent on whether higher rates of imprisonment in areas with high unemployment rates

Political factors and bureaucratic pressures affect legal responses to social and economic changes


Research on the Postbellum SouthInspired by Blalock’s (1967) power threat theoryCompetition between whites and newly freed slavesImprisonment of young black males during this

period increased as Southern whites fear blacks would gain political and economic power

Patterns of lynchings and imprisonment over following decades support Blalock’s theory


• Social Class and Legal Outcomes Some research shows after offense seriousness,

prior record and other factors held constant, poorest offenders do not fare worse than less poor defendants

Others argue too little income variation to allow class differences in outcomes to emerge

Factual guilt v. legal guilt


Class disparity in legal outcomes of poor accused of street crime v. wealthier accused of white-collar crime

Treat street crime more harshly because public more concerned about it than white-collar crime?

The Community Context of Social Class and Sentencing


• The Impact of Race and Ethnicity Prosecutorial Decisions

Research evidence mixed on subject of race/ethnicity affecting prosecutorial decisions to dismiss or bring serious charges

Study in L.A. of 33,000 felony cases found prosecutors more likely to dismiss against white than African-American or Hispanic defendants (Sphon, Gruhl, and Welch, 1987)

People accused of killing whites more likely to be indicted for 1st degree murder than people accused of killing blacks


Conviction and SentencingAfrican-Americans and Hispanics more likely to be

in prison than whitesAlmost 1/3 of black males expected to go to prison

compared to 5.9% of whitesConsensus theory argues minorities more involved

in street crime most likely to lead to prisonConflict theory argues attribute imprisonment rate

to systematic discrimination


A Brief History of Race and Sentencing ResearchPre-1970s studies of race and sentencing focused on black-

white differences in sentencing and found blacks received harsher sentences

1960s and early 1970s conclusion began to shift; methodological deficiencies in earlier research

Hagan article (1974) charged earlier research with ignoring offense seriousness and prior record

Others challenged the nondiscrimination in sentencing conclusion made by Hagan and Kleck


The Race of the VictimStudies of rape and capital offenses show

sentencing is more punitive when whites are victims than when blacks are victims

Findings parallel in arrest decisions and prosecutorial decisions

Blacks receive longer sentences when victims are white

New research reveals victim-offender relationship and victim behavior affected how they were treated


The Liberation Hypothesis and Less Serious CrimesResearch finds racial discrimination in less serious

crime, but not in more serious because little room for discretion in more serious cases

Liberation hypothesis – less serious cases “liberate” judges to use their discretion

Spohn and Cederblom (1991) study of 4,655 felony defendants in Detroit; found overt racial discrimination


• More recent evidence for the liberation hypothesis comes from a study of convicted drug offenders in Washington State (Seen, Engen and Gainey 2005)

• A similar study of New York City women, conducted by Pauline K. Brennan (2006) uncovered indirect racial and ethnic discrimination in the imposition of jail sentences


Latinos and Native AmericansResearch on Hispanics is inconsistent; some studies show

they’re treated harsher than whitesFew studies exist on Native AmericansStudies available on Native Americans suggest they are treated

more harshly in some stages of system compared to non-Indians

Defendants whose primary language is not English experience language and cultural difficulties


The Community Context of Racial/Ethnic DiscriminationStructural and social context of sentencing biasBridges and Crutchfield (1988), “social

characteristics of states contribute significantly to racial disparity in imprisonment”

Chiricos and Crawford (1995)Racial discrimination may be present at one stage in

system, but not othersNot all studies find structural context makes a

difference


A Cautious Conclusion on Racial and Ethnic Discrimination in SentencingEvidence for discrimination in juvenile system more

consistent than for adult systemMany scholars feel disproportionate involvement in

street crime accounts for number of minorities incarcerated

Walker suggests discrimination against minorities is not universal, but does exist in some cases


The Drug War RevisitedDisproportionate arrests for young black malesHigher penalties for crack cocaine than similar

amounts of power cocaineBlack incarceration rates roseOne-third of young black males under correctional

supervision (prison, jail, probation or parole)


• Gender and Sentencing 91% of all prison and jail inmates in the United

States are male Men more likely to commit serious offenses

than women Girls treated more harshly than boys in juvenile

system for status offenses


The Impact of Punishment on Crime

• Introduction Longer prison terms and mandatory minimums

for many crimes Enormous increase in prison population Probation/parole numbers have tripled U.S. still has high crime rate than most

industrial nations Deterrence/incapacitation arguments


• The Evidence Against a Deterrent Effect Decreases in crime rates have not always accompanied

huge increases in incarceration At state level only weak and inconsistent relationship

between severity of punishment and crime rates Lack of evidence in studies to support argument Decreases in crime do not generally occur after harsher

penalties Increase in prisoners has forced early release of

convicted offenders already there


• The Evidence Against an Incapacitation Effect Assumes we don’t have enough people already

in prison and there’s room for more Assumes chronic offenders can be easily

identified Ignores fact any extra people put in prisons are

only a small % of all offenders Increase in incarceration last few decades may

make crime problem worse


The Death Penalty Debate

• Three Arguments Deserve to be executed Saves money Sends a message


• The Cost of the Death Penalty Actually costs more than life in prison

• General Deterrence and the Death Penalty Most studies show no deterrence effect Brutalization effect: homicides actually

increase after executions


• Arbitrariness and Racial Discrimination in the Death Penalty’s Application Problems in way death penalty is applied Lack of standards in applying the penalty Furman v. Georgia (1972) Gregg v. Georgia (1976)


Continuing ArbitrarinessDefendants accused of similar murders are treated

differently for no logical reasons

Racial DiscriminationLives of white victims more valuable than

minorities’?Harsher treatment of blacks


• The Quality of Legal Representation of Capital Defendants Most criminal defendants are poor and receive

inadequate legal representation Similar problems for appeals process

• Wrongful Executions Since 1900, at least 350 defendant convicted of

potentially capital crimes even though innocent

Date post:	18-Dec-2015
Category:	Documents
Upload:	christina-rose
View:	232 times
Download:	2 times

©2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Criminology, 4th edition Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 Steven E....

Documents