Implementation of the California Determinate Sentencing Law - Final

• NCJ Number: 82726
• Author(s): J D Casper; D Brereton; D Neal
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 268 pages
• Grant Number(s): 79-NI-AX-0042
• Sponsoring Agency: Stanford University; National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Stanford University
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The study focuses on the implementation of the Uniform Determinate Sentence Law (DSL) in California; with attention to responses to DSL, case disposition and bargaining, and probation under the new law.

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study is to assess the impact of DSL upon decisions made in three county criminal courts. Under DSL, the judge imposing sentence in a prison case is required to select a specific term in years from a limited set of possibilities specifed by the legislature. In addition, the discretion of the parole board to determine actual release and the possibility of recommitment for the original term as a penalty for parole violation are virtually abolished. Data from the three counties analyzed suggest that prison commitment rates overall showed some increase in the period after DSL implementation. However, increases were modest and appeared to continue a pre-existing trend that makes attribution of the result to DSL problematical. In addition, it would be a mistake to take the California experience as suggesting conclusively that determinate sentence laws produce increased prison commitment rates. DSL has had little effect upon the plea bargaining process in California. The future of DSL in the State remains unclear. A list of data sources and statistics are appended, and 30 references, 12 tables, and 16 figures are provided.