NCJ Number
80978
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 5 Issue: 2/3 Dated: special issue (1981) Pages: 107-121
Date Published
1981
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Studies of magistrates' decisionmaking in England and Wales found that sentences were more severe when offenses were more serious, when offenders had a more serious criminal record, when offenders were male, and when they were of higher social status.
Abstract
Sentence severity was not significantly affected by the offender's age, offender's or victim's race, the plea, the prevalence of the offense, and whether breach of trust was involved. A comparison between real and simulated sentencing decisions showed that they were similar, and a comparison between individual and group decisions indicated that the group decisions were more likely to be relatively severe than lenient. Findings are bases on a pilot study carried out with 23 magistrates and an experiment conducted with 168 magistrates deciding sentences for simulated cases in 56 groups of 3. Tables and 27 references are supplied. (Author abstract modified)