NCJ Number
134714
Journal
Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1990) Pages: 201-213
Date Published
1990
Length
13 pages
Annotation
A sample of 380 records comprising all persons given probation sentences by a California superior court in 1980 for crimes including vehicle theft, robbery, burglary, assault, narcotics, and receiving stolen property, was used to examine several hypotheses related to determinate sentences.
Abstract
The first hypothesis was that there would be no pattern of decreasing or increasing seriousness of crimes; the second was that there would be no escalating crime response resulting from indeterminate sentences either in terms of longer sentences or in likelihood of incarceration being imposed. The findings show that offense seriousness remains stable at the intermediate level throughout 11 convictions. Determinate sentencing does not lengthen prison terms until an offender's criminal career is well-advanced, at which point longer prison sentences become more likely than under the indeterminate system. 5 tables, 2 figures, 16 references, and 1 appendix (Author abstract modified)