NCJ Number
167488
Date Published
1994
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes statewide North Carolina sentencing practices in North Carolina and also in each of the four Judicial Divisions.
Abstract
The data were compiled from a computer tape provided by the Information Services Division of the Administrative Office of the Courts to the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission. The statewide data provided include 99 of the 100 counties in North Carolina. Eighty-eight percent of all persons convicted of a felony in 1994 were male. Males accounted for 99 percent or more of the convictions for first- and second-degree rape/sexual offenses and attempts; first-and second-degree burglaries; and automobile thefts. The percentage of females was highest for fraud (64 percent); forgery (34 percent); "other" property crimes (23 percent); and involuntary manslaughter (18 percent). Sixty percent of all persons convicted of a felony were black, 35 percent were white, 2 percent were Indian, and 3 percent were other or unknown. Forty-eight percent of all felony sentencing episodes resulted in an active sentence. All persons convicted of first-degree murder received a life or death sentence and those convicted of first-degree rape/sexual offense received a life sentence. The longest average sentence (other than life/death sentences) was for second-degree murder (280.2 months) followed by first-degree burglary (230.1 months), second degree rape/sexual offense (212.7 months), armed robbery (200 months), and kidnapping/abduction (192.9 months), followed by forgery (42.7 months) and "other" felony crime (50.6 months). Extensive figures and tables