NCJ Number
146256
Journal
Sentencing Practices Quarterly Issue: 58 Dated: (December 1991) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1991
Length
62 pages
Annotation
In the fourth quarter of 1991, felony drug law convictions in California continued the decline first noted in the last half of 1990, while convictions for crimes against the person and for property crimes appeared to stabilize in the quarter.
Abstract
California's prison commitment rates in response to convictions did not fully reflect the use of incarceration in the State as of December 31, 1991. Almost all defendants granted probation in superior court were required to serve a jail term as a condition of probation. Differences were found in prison commitment rates across the State. For high- volume crimes (theft, burglary, and robbery), average sentence length did not change from quarter to quarter, although a long-term increase was observed in the average robbery sentence to about 6 years between 1984 and 1991. In the case of voluntary manslaughter, the average sentence length increased over the 7-year period to an average of 9.5 years. Statutes that became effective in 1979 and 1980 significantly increased the possible sentence for rape. Detailed statistics are provided on prison commitments per 100 convictions for selected crimes and by appellate district, number and percent of convicted defendants incarcerated, average determinate sentence lengths, major crime categories, convictions by trial and plea, drug law violations, and superior court dispositions of felony convictions. 14 tables