SENTENCING IN CONTEXT: A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS

TLDR

Criminal sentencing is, along with arresting and prosecuting, among the most important of formal social control decisions. The study tests hypotheses about contextual level influences and cross‑level interaction effects on local court decisions using hierarchical modeling. Hierarchical modeling is employed to analyze these contextual and individual factors. Most of the explanatory action in criminal sentencing occurs at the individual case level, but local contextual features such as court organizational culture, caseload pressure, and racial and ethnic composition also affect sentencing outcomes directly or through interaction with individual factors, highlighting dilemmas among civil rights, local autonomy, and organizational realities of criminal courts.

Abstract

Criminal sentencing is, along with arresting and prosecuting, among the most important of formal social control decisions. In this study we use hierarchical modeling to test hypotheses about contextual level influences and cross level interaction effects on local court decisions. Most of the explanatory “action,” our analysis shows, is at the individual case level in criminal sentencing. We also find evidence that local contextual features–such as court organizational culture, court caseload pressure, and racial and ethnic composition–affect sentencing outcomes, either directly or in interaction with individual factors. We conclude by discussing theoretical implications of our findings, and how our study points out some dilemmas among civil rights, local autonomy and organizational realities of criminal courts.