Criminal Prosecutions: Examining Prosecutorial Discretion and Charge Reductions in U.S. Federal District Courts

The role of the prosecutor in criminal punishments remains a fervent topic of criminal justice discourse, yet it has received limited empirical attention, particularly for U.S. Attorneys in federal district courts. The present study examines charging and sentencing outcomes in federal courts by combining charging data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts with sentencing data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The merger of these data sources overcomes limitations of each and provides for an investigation of the causes and consequences of federal prosecutorial charging decisions. Our investigation focuses on the subtle but important influences that extralegal offender characteristics exert in this process. Results indicate that some extralegal characteristics are intricately tied to the likelihood of charge reductions. Moreover, these effects sometimes interact to produce compound disadvantages for some groups of offenders. Our analyses are guided by contemporary theoretical perspectives on courtroom decision‐making.     

Prosecutorial discretion to defer criminalization: The effects of defendant's ascribed and achieved status characteristics

This research contributes to a further understanding of prosecutorial discretion by exploring tenets of casual attribution theory and etiology of bias theory as each informs an uncertainty avoidance perspective on the prosecutor's decision to divert felony drug defendants from criminal prosecution and into a treatment program. The sociolegal consequences of the exercise of this early screening decision are expressed by both conflict theorists and labeling theorists. Our analysis involves estimating main effects and interaction effects of defendant ascribed status and achieved status on the likelihood of diversion. The findings indicate partial support for hypotheses derived, from the theoretical perspectives pursued. In addition these findings point to a more complex model of the subjective nature of the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, a model that benefits from understanding the salience of minimizing uncertainty in the decision to criminals.     

关于“管道燃气初装费”相关法律问题分析

本文认为,我国各地征收的“管道燃气初装费”是不平等的行政性强制收费,目前的三类收费模式均存在不同程度的法律问题.解决这一问题较为可取的途径不是移植国外两部制气价等制度,而应将初装费并入地方政府城市基础设施配套费予以征收并完善相关征管制度,在主管管网建设基本饱和、补偿金每年支出较少的地方应逐步取消本项收费.     

Patterns in burglary: An empirical examination of offense and offender characteristics

Key cluster analysis was used to examine the various characteristics of both burglars and burglaries to determine the existence and extent of any relationship between the offender and the incident. The data were gathered from six law enforcement agencies in California.Although some patterns were suggestive of a relationship between race, method of entry, and economic level of the burglarized location, no strong patterns could be found.     

Inference structures for crime analysis and intelligence: the example of burglary using forensic science data

There has been much work dedicated to crime analysis and intelligence in recent times. Independently, physical evidence has shown great potential for linking crimes and bringing solid informative data through the increased use of multiple databases. However, their informative potential is still often underestimated and has been poorly integrated into police information systems. We propose a framework that fully introduces this data into an intelligence based system. This framework is built on the study of inference structures extracted from investigators’ every day implicit reasoning processes. Five specific inferences are studied with the particular problem of serial burglary investigation across independent police and legal structures. On the basis of such an analytical approach, a computer prototype has been designed; it has shown great promise and has resulted in several operational successes.     

Examining Prosecutorial Discretion in Federal Criminal Cases: Legal and Extra-Legal Determinants of Declination and Charge Change Decisions

Abstract

From 2000 to 2010, the federal criminal caseload increased roughly 50% with a large portion of this increase attributed to the rise in immigration prosecutions. These changes coupled with recent Supreme Court decisions rendering the guidelines advisory have renewed calls for research examining prosecutorial discretion, particularly with respect to the influence of legal and extralegal factors on charging and bargaining decisions. This study utilizes data (2002–2010) from the Federal Justice Statistics Program database housed within the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). More specifically, the current research examines prosecutorial decisions to decline to charge federal arrestees and to make any changes to the charge from the arresting offense. Results from the multilevel, multivariate models reveal that both extra-legal and legal factors were influential of these decisions. Disaggregated models also revealed considerable variation across different offense types. Finally, districts with higher caseloads had lower odds of a prosecutorial declination and charge change.     

行政自由裁量权的法律控制——以美国行政法为视角

在实际世界中,绝大多数的行政行为并没有受到司法审查,而且其中相当一部分行为的性质决定了它们不可能受到有效的司法控制.传统的行政法学过分注重"法"的这一面,全部的注意力都放在立法与法院,以至于忽视了问题的另一面,即行政机构在许多情形下都具有很难受到控制的自由裁量权.行政自由裁量权及其法律控制的可能性问题是行政法治的根本问题,因为有关司法审查的标准与力度的问题在本质上就是如何对待行政自由裁量权.     

Criminal justice decision making as a stratification process: The role of race and stratification resources in pretrial release

Our purpose is to bridge the criminal justice and stratification research literatures and to pursue the argument that homologous structural principles stratify allocation processes across central institutions of American society. The principle observed here in the making of bail decisions, as in earlier studies of the allocation of earnings, is that stratification resources operate to the greater advantage of whites than blacks. The operation of this principle is established through the estimation of covariance structure models of pretrial release decisions affecting 5660 defendants in 10 federal courts. Education and income are treated in this study as observed components of a composite construct, stratification resources, which works to the greater advantage of whites. Prior record is also found to operate to the greater advantage of whites. Two further variables, dangerousness and community ties, increase bail severity among blacks and whites. While the effect of community ties has been legally legitimized since the Bail Reform Act of 1966, the effect of dangerousness was not so legitimized until the Bail Reform Act of 1984. However, because our data precede the latter act, they confirm that this act simply reinstitutionalized earlier practice. Meanwhile, our race-specific findings may explain why although this and earlier studies find negligible main effects of race on criminal justice outcomes, black Americans nonetheless perceive more criminal injustice than do whites. In the criminal justice system, as in other spheres of American society, whites receive a better return on their resources, but our findings that the statutory severity of the offense and dangerousness work to the relative disadvantage of white defendants challenges conflict and labeling theory's one-dimensional characterization of black defendant disadvantage.     

迷局与破解:当前检察权研究中的误区剖析

学界对检察权的研究存在四个明显的误区。首先是三权分立的僵化框架抑制了监督权的独立形态,致使检察权的监督性被遮蔽;没有对不同诉讼模式作区分,也没有对不同诉讼模式中的检察官做出区分;角色认知上人为地抬高检察官贬低法官造成误解;片面地理解监督方式,脱离实际地只看见监督链没有看见监督网。     

Prosecutorial discretion in seeking death: An analysis of racial disparity in the pretrial stages of case processing in a midwestern county

In the 1987 case of McCleskey v. Kemp, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared to foreclose the possibility of challenging racial bias in capital sentencing by using statistically based claims of discrimination. McCleskey, however, does not prevent a challenge to decisions made by particular individuals during the capital punishment process. In this study we examined pretrial decisions made by, or under the direction of, one prosecutor to determine whether those decisions had been influenced by race. We found that homicide cases involving black defendants and white victims fared worse than other racial combinations in all of the pretrial decisions made: They were more likely to result in first-degree murder charges, to be served notice of aggravating circumstances, and to proceed to capital trial.     

魏晋谋反罪中的兄弟连坐——基于公孙渊案、钟会案、杨骏案的考察

若说魏晋间罪名的界定和相关处罚规定、原则存在因袭汉律或发生变异的话,仅靠律文表述恐怕不足以说明问题,有相关案例可证可佐或许是更重要的依据。就谋反罪中所涉及的兄弟连坐问题而言,公孙渊、钟会、杨骏三案具备兄弟中有人谋反,有人陈情自告却又株连入罪的共性;但处理结果却生杀两殊。在承认古人有遇事求同类比的心理前提下分析三案,恐怕我们对任何案例所要认识的并不仅仅是罪与罚的问题,而是罪与罚背后的法律观念、价值与判断,以及古人是如何理解、接受甚至批判的。     

Politics and the Adoption of Legislative Television: An Analysis of the U.S. House Vote on C-SPAN

The present study extends the work of Crain and Goff (1988) by examining the political determinants of the earliest decision to adopt legislative television on a permanent basis at the national level in the United States. Data on legislator and district characteristics are used to explain the 1977 vote to adopt C-SPAN coverage of proceedings in the U.S. House of Representatives. Logit regression results suggest that length of service and extremity of political views/ideologies had clear and significant effects on politicians' votes concerning the adoption of legislative television. As with Crain and Goff (1988), these measures capture some element of legislator self-interest.     

外商直接投资与产业劳动力转移效应研究——基于1981——2006年的实证分析

基于协整理论,以中国1981-2006年的时间序列数据为依托,从产业角度对FDI与我国劳动力就业之间的长期均衡与短期动态关系进行实证分析.结果表明:FDI与我国劳动力就业之间存在长期稳定的均衡关系,FDI对第一、第二产业劳动力就业产生负向效应;对第三产业劳动力就业产生正向效应.短期内,FDI与第一、第三产业劳动力之间具有单向因果关系,与第二产业劳动力之间则不具有任何单向因果关系.冲击反应分析进一步表明,FDI对第三产业劳动力吸收效应最大,第二产业最小,对国内劳动力就业的综合效应并不显著.     

大鼠死后肌肉总腺苷酸及腺苷酸能荷的时序性变化

目的 测定大鼠死后不同时间双后肢肌肉嘌呤腺苷酸[三磷酸腺苷(adenosine triphosphate,ATP)、二磷酸腺苷(adenosine diphosphate,ADP)、一磷酸腺苷(adenosine monophosphate,AMP)]含量,计算总腺苷酸(total adenine nucleotide...     

在软法与硬法之间:裁量基准效力的法理定位

在认识软法的效力和功能时,不能忽视软法与硬法之间的复杂关联性。软法作为"法"除了具有"软约束力"之外,也能够借助于某种硬法保障方式或机制发挥"硬"的作用。就裁量基准的效力而言,其对内的拘束力主要是基于行政机关的领导权或监督权而产生,并往往通过行政机关内部激励、评议考核和责任追究等自我约束机制来实现。同时,裁量基准作为软法的范畴,不能直接为法院所适用,但是借助于立法授权旨意要求的说明理由制度以及裁量基准自身体现出来的法律原则的适用效力等硬法保障机制,也可以获得一种间接的司法适用,从而产生对外的法律效力。     

“杀亲案件”135例法医学回顾分析

目的通过总结我省135例杀亲案件的案件资料,研究杀亲案件的特点,分析杀亲案件的侦办要点。方法收集2011~2013年间我国中部某省区域内发生的135例杀亲案件,对数据资料进行分析。结果杀亲案件主要发生在夫妻之间及父母子女,好发于农村,青壮年多见。一般无明显杀人动机,作案工具多为就地取材,死亡原因以机械性损伤和机械性窒息为主。结论杀亲案件在嫌疑人社会学特点、致伤工具、死亡原因、案发时间等方面反映出一定共性,但案件证据的收集是案件的侦办难点。     

不动产的抵押登记与抵押合同之关系——兼评《担保法》第41条

本文通过对不动产抵押登记和不动产抵押合同的关系进行系统深入的分析 ,意在论证两个基础理论问题 :一是不动产的抵押登记是产生抵押权的基础 ,而不是不动产抵押合同的生效要件 ;不动产抵押合同是产生不动产抵押登记请求权的基础 ,不动产抵押登记完成 ,抵押权法律关系产生。     

12例静脉输液过程中猝死的死因分析

从2002—2004年,在我们司法鉴定中心共解剖208例尸检病例,其中死于静脉输液过程中的有12例,占总数的5.8%。其中,有8例发生于医疗条件较差的农村诊所。这些死亡事故的主要原因为忽视静脉输液的适应证和禁忌证。尸检资料显示,9例猝死原因直接或间接与静脉输液有关。其余3例则死于其原先疾病,不过死亡时间与静脉输液时间偶然巧合而已。     

Twenty years of homicide and robbery in Chicago: The impact of the city's changing racial and age composition

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) arrest and offense data for Chicago for 1960 to 1980 and population data from the 1960, 1970, and 1980 censuses are used to assess the extent to which demographic changes help explain trends in the city's homicide and robbery arrests. The results indicate that a changing racial composition contributed to changes in the age composition of Chicago's population as well as to changes in the homicide rate. Age-specific analysis by race and gender suggests that as much as 24% of the total increase in homicide arrests and 45% of the increase in robbery arrests (from 1962 to 1980) can be attributed to an increase in the number of nonwhite men in the population. Increasedrates of arrest of nonwhite men appear to account for large parts of the increases in homicide and robbery arrests, with increased rates for white men and nonwhite women also accounting for some of these increases. The paper closes with a discussion of the issues raised by these trends for Chicago and other urban areas.Revision of a paper presented at the 1984 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Cincinnati.