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How Do Judges Decide?
The Search for Fairness and Justice in Punishment

Second Edition

Cassia Spohn - Arizona State University, USA

Other Titles in:
Criminal Justice | Social Policy

December 2008 | 376 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

How are sentences for Federal, State, and Local crimes determined in the United States? Is this process fairly and justly applied to all concerned? How have reforms affected the process over the last 25 years? This text for advanced undergraduate students in criminal justice programs seeks to answer these questions.

CHAPTER 1: THE GOALS OF SENTENCING

Why Punish?

How Much To Punish?

Theories of Punishment and Judges' Sentencing Decisions

Conclusion

CHAPTER TWO: THE SENTENCING PROCESS

The Judge's Options at Sentencing

Sentencing as a Collaborative Exercise

The Sentencing Process

CHAPTER 3: HOW DO JUDGES DECIDE?

Modeling the Sentencing Process

Sentencing and Case Attributes

Sentencing and Characteristics of the Judge

How do Judges Decide?

CHAPTER 4: SENTENCING DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION: A FOCUS ON GENDER

Types of Sentencing Discrimination

Gender Disparity in Sentencing

Disparity and Discrimination in Sentencing

CHAPTER 5: SENTENCING DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION: A FOCUS ON RACE/ETHNICITY

Racial Disparity in Sentencing

Race and Judges' Sentencing Decisions

Race and the Death Penalty: A Failed Experiment?

Justice From the Bench?

CHAPTER 6: THE SENTENCING REFORM MOVEMENT

Structured Sentencing Reforms

Presumptive Sentencing Guidelines

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Statutes

Three-Strikes-and-You're Out Laws

Truth in Sentencing Laws

Three Decades of Reform

CHAPTER 7: THE IMPACT OF SENTENCING REFORMS

Have Sentencing Reforms Led to More Punitive Sentences?

Have Sentencing Reforms Led to a Reduction in Crime?

Have Sentencing Reforms Reduced Disparity and Discrimination?

Assessing the Impact of the Sentencing Reform Movement

"It is the most comprehensive analysis of sentencing practices in the United States in general, and of how judges decide in particular. It provides ample statistics of the realities of punishment and provides readers with the conclusions from several decades of research investigating judicial discretion."

Richard D. Hartley

University of Texas at San Antonio

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Sample Materials & Chapters

Preface

Chapter 4 - Sentencing Disparity and Discrimination

Chapter 6 - The Sentencing Reform Movement

Cassia C. Spohn

Cassia Spohn is School Director and Foundation Professor of Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. She is the author of several books, including The Color of Justice: Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America (with Sam Walker and Miriam DeLone) and How Do Judges Decide? The Search for Fairness and Equity in Sentencing. She has published a number of articles examining prosecutors’ charging decisions in sexual assault cases and exploring the effect of race/ethnicity on charging and sentencing decisions. Her current research interests include the effect of race and gender on court processing decisions, victim characteristics and case... More About Author

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