(Un)anticipated Effects of Sentencing Reform on the Disparate Treatment of Defendants

Despite concerns over racial disparities in imprisonment across the United States, little empirical attention has been paid to how changing the structure of sentencing might affect levels of disparity. This article examines whether Ohio's shift to determinate sentencing corresponded with significant changes in legal and extralegal effects on case outcomes, both generally and differentially for African American and white defendants. Bilevel analyses of felony defendants from 24 jurisdictions reveal relatively few substantive changes in these effects over time. Some changes involved reductions in race-related disparities (e.g., in the severity of charges convicted on), with others reflecting increased disparity (e.g., higher imprisonment likelihoods for African Americans). Findings underscore a modest link between restructured sentencing and actual case outcomes overall , with some relatively mixed effects on levels of disparity.     

The effects of patrol workloads and response strength on arrests at burglary emergencies

This study was concerned with response-related capture at residential burglary emergencies. Successfully catching burglars red-handed depended on response times, and particularly on numbers of units attending, as well as on incident characteristics. Response quickness and strength were influenced by the number of patrols available to respond, and this, in turn, reflected the workloads placed on patrols. Lighter workloads per patrol improved the chances of on-scene capture, though burglary circumstances determined the incidents at which this proved most promising. Stronger responses might offer scope for on-scene and near-scene capture at incidents with longer reporting delays than hitherto supposed. Findings were at odds with previous research, indicating that emergency response might be more effective than generally supposed in the U.K., if not in the U.S., particularly when calls were graded, units on patrol were matched to the incidence of emergencies, and single-crewed units could be used.     

Prison labor and recidivism

This study examines recidivism among inmates who participated in prison industry programs during confinement and a comparison group of inmates who were not employed in prison industry. Industry participants had lower recidivism rates than nonparticipants, but when differences between the groups on other characteristics associated with recidivism were controlled, the recidivism rates of participants and nonparticipants were virtually identical. A proportional hazards regression model was estimated that showed that, net of other variables, the effect of prison industry participation on the probability of postrelease felony arrest was small and insignificant. The findings are discussed in the context of existing correctional outcome research and recent developments in prison work programs.     

Conflict of interest in clinical research: direct payment to the investigators for finding human subjects and health information

The recent death of teenager Jesse Gelsinger in a drug therapy trial has drawn attention to how financial conflicts of interest may compromise patient protection. While research institutions throughout the world have instituted a variety of conflict of interest guidelines, the potential conflicts associated with investigators receiving direct payment from private companies for both the recruitment of patients and the running of clinical trials in pharmaceutical research remains a relatively unexplored area. Clinical researchers undoubtedly deserve to be reasonably compensated for their participation. But these incentive mechanisms also have the potential to create conflicts of interest--both real and perceived.     

Elite economic forecasts, economic news, mass economic expectations, and voting intentions in great britain

In order to test the notion that the electorate relies, derivatively, on professional economic forecasts, we consider the entire chain between elite economic expectations, economic news, mass economic expectations, and voter preferences. We find that while elite expectations are based on the objective economy, they are politically biased in the neighborhood of elections. Reports of economic news, while based on the objective economy and on elite expectations, have their own political rhythm in the form of election–related cycles. The pattern in news coverage, in turn, is mirrored by election–related cycles in personal and general expectations formed by the mass public. While the relevance of each of the linkages from elite expectations to news coverage to mass expectations is thus confirmed, our findings challenge the view that the link between mass expectations and voting intentions can be attributed mainly to the dissemination of elite forecasts to the general public. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for an understanding of the ability and functioning of mass electorates.