BURGLARY AND ROBBERY CASES IN CALIFORNIA 1973 - A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DISPOSITION OF CRIMINAL CASES AND SELECTED SOCIAL ECONOMIC, AND CRIMINAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DEFENDANTS

• NCJ Number: 59659
• Author(s): D A LOMBARDERO; F C NOLD; M K BLOCK
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 39 pages
• Grant Number(s): 75-NI-99-0123
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Hoover Institution
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEFENDANTS' SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND CRIMINAL CHARACTERISTICS, AND CASE DISPOSITIONS, WAS INVESTIGATED USING A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF 13,314 ROBBERY AND BURGLARY CASES FROM CALIFORNIA IN 1973.

Abstract

MULTINOMIAL LOGIT ANALYSIS WAS USED TO SEPARATE EFFECTS OF VARIABLES THOUGHT TO BE POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT IN INFLUENCING CASE OUTCOMES. CHARACTERISTICS SELECTED INCLUDED DEFENDANT'S AGE, RACE, SEX , AND CRIMINAL RECORD; TYPE OF COUNTY; AND TYPE OF DEFENSE ATTORNEY. FOR EACH OFFENSE, SEVEN OUTCOMES RANGING FROM ACQUITTAL TO COMMITMENT TO PRISON FOR FIRST OR SECOND DEGREE ROBBERY OR BURGLARY, WERE SELECTED. DEFENDANTS AGED 21 TO 26 RECEIVED MORE SEVERE DISPOSITIONS THAN DID THE OTHER AGE GROUPS; MINORITY RACES, ESPECIALLY BLACKS, SUPRISINGLY RECEIVED LESS SEVERE DISPOSITIONS THAN DID WHITES. THE SMALL NUMBER OF FEMALE DEFENDANTS PRODUCED LARGE VARIANCES, BUT FEMALES RECEIVED SIGNIFICANTLY LESS SEVERE DISPOSITIONS THAN DID MALES. CRIMINAL RECORD VARIABLES HAD THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON CASE DISPOSITIONS. AS CRIMINAL RECORD SEVERITY INCREASED, SO DID PUNISHMENT SEVERITY. AN EXCEPTION WAS ROBBERY, FOR WHICH DEFENDANTS WITH ONE PRIOR COMMITMENT WERE LIKELY TO WIN DISMISSALS. HAVING A PRIVATELY HIRED ATTORNEY INCREASED THE CHANCES OF LESS SEVERE DISPOSITION; BUT FOR NONWHITE DEFENDANTS WITH PRIVATE ATTORNEYS, THERE WAS AN OPPOSITE RESULT, PERHAPS BECAUSE OF SAMPLING BIAS. BECAUSE SOME OF THE RESULTS WERE SURPRISING, A MULTISTAGE ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED OF SENTENCING IN CASES IN WHICH THE DEFENDANT WAS CONVICTED, TO ELIMINATE INFLUENCE OF PLEA AND SENTENCE BARGAINING. ONLY THE CRIMINAL RECORD VARIABLES BEHAVED RELIABLY; THEY SHOWED THAT SENTENCES WERE MORE SEVERE AS THE GRAVITY OF THE PREVIOUS RECORD INCREASED. MINORITY RACE DEFENDANTS TENDED TO RECEIVE LESS SEVERE SENTENCES. RESULTS DID NOT PERMIT DEFINITE CONCLUSIONS ON CAUSALITY, BUT THEY DID DISAGREE WITH THE CONVENTIONAL HYPOTHESIS THAT THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM DISCRIMINATES AGAINST MINORITY DEFENDANTS. SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS, DATA LIMITATIONS, AND MISSING DATA ALL GREATLY QUALIFY THESE RESULTS. TABLES, FOOTNOTES, AND A DESCRIPTION OF METHODOLOGY ARE INCLUDED. (CFW)