Effectiveness of Selective Prosecution By Career Criminal Programs, Final Report

• NCJ Number: 101769
• Author(s): J F Springer; J L Phillips; L P Cannady
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 269 pages
• Grant Number(s): 83-IJ-CX-K019
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: University City Science Ctr; EMT Group, Inc.
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study describes and compares the ways in which local prosecutors in seven States have organized and implemented programs for the selective prosecution of career criminals.

Abstract

Begun in December 1983, this study involved preliminary interviews with 86 prosecutors nationwide, from which 12 sites were selected for an intensive onsite evaluability assessment. From those 12, these 7 were selected for indepth case study: Cook County, Ill.; Dade County, Fla.; Knox County, Tenn.; Monroe County, N.Y.; Multnomah County, Oreg.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and San Mateo County, Calif. The career criminal program operations were examined through indepth interviews with local criminal justice personnel and through the coding of primary records for each case meeting career criminal selection criteria. Data analysis focused on ways in which selectively prosecuted cases are processed and the effects of differences in processing on disposition. Comparative findings pertain to case selection criteria, program organization, and case management procedures. The study concludes that choice of program options must be made within the context of particular criminal justice systems and with consideration to the case types prosecuted in a particular program. Tabular data.