NCJ Number
92051
Journal
Justice System Journal Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1983) Pages: 157-185
Date Published
1983
Length
29 pages
Annotation
The 'organizational perspective,' as developed in the literature on court decisions, alerts researchers and practitioners to the complexity of case processing and to the interactions of environment and informal decision processes. This study applies the perspective to robbery and burglary plea bargaining in three California counties.
Abstract
Analysis of interview and quantitative case file data demonstrates that local environments produce distinctive patterns of charge bargaining, but that the major criteria (i.e., defendants' criminal records) affecting the severity of sentencing in negotiated cases remain relatively stable across jurisdictions. Implications for further research are suggested. (Publisher abstract)