DISCRETION AND DISPARITY UNDER SENTENCING GUIDELINES: THE ROLE OF DEPARTURES AND STRUCTURED SENTENCING ALTERNATIVES*

This article examines the use of alternative sentencing provisions as mechanisms for departing from sentencing guidelines in Washington State and as structural sources of unwarranted sentencing disparity. The authors argue that these structural features of guidelines not only serve as “windows of discretion” through which disparities arise, but they also may encourage disparities by requiring consideration of substantive criteria that disadvantage certain offender groups. The analyses find that males and minority offenders are less likely to receive alternative sentences below the standard range, but that race‐ethnicity and gender have inconsistent effects on departures above the standard range. Theoretical implications of the study are discussed.     

Rich Countries,Poor People?

Globalization may yet repeal the Biblical adage that the poor will always be with us. But for now there are enough losers to go along with the winners that a slide back toward fragmentation and protectionism is a distinct possibility, as was also the case at the turn of the 20th century. Our contributors in this section offer their advice on how to make globalization work for everyone.     

TRENDS IN VIOLENT CRIME AMONG EX-MENTAL PATIENTS

A central component of the public's conception of the mentally ill is that they are dangerous. This belief receives support from recent studies of the arrest rates of ex-mental patients which suggest that arrests for violent crimes have increased. In order to investigate this issue, samples were taken at two points in time. Analysis of arrest rates revealed that very few ex-mental patients were subsequently arrested for violent crimes, although these rates were higher and increasing faster than these of the general population. Mast significant were the findings that subsequent arrests were best explained by the number of prior arrests and that the percentage of patients with a history of criminal behavior has increased dramatically over time. The implications of these trends in violent crime among ex-mental patients for the perceived link between mental illness and violence and for the social control functions of society are discussed.     

PARENTAL ATTACHMENTS AND DELINQUENCY*

Using the 1972 National Survey of Youth, we analyze attachment to mother and father along several dimensions (i.e., intimacy of communication, affectional identification, supervision, and family activities). We test two hypotheses: (1) as long as a child is strongly attached to one parent, strong ties to the other parent play an insignificant role in reducing delinquency further and (2) single-parent homes are not associated with delinquency as long as the child is strongly attached to the custodial parent. Generally, we find that children who are strongly attached to both parents have a lower probability of self-reported delinquency than children who are strongly attached to only one parent. Further, children living in single-parent homes who are strongly attached to the custodial parent generally have a greater probability of committing delinquent acts than children living in intact homes who are strongly attached to both parents.     

Firm Risk Management in the Face of Product Liability Rules*

This paper addresses the issue of corporate risk management strategies in dealing with products liability law. It views risk management as the dependent variable. How do attributes of the firm and of the law of products liability influence the risk management practices of the corporation? Drawing on the work of Oliver Williamson and others, the paper views the firm as a boundedly rational organization that must devote significant resources in monitoring and controlling its agents. This is especially costly in an environment where the measure of adequate performance (i.e. the design, manufacturing and marketing of a non-defective product) is uncertain and where the criteria used by legal actors (judges and juries) to judge product defectiveness, may vary substantially from the criteria used by the firm's engineers and scientists. Both the costs of control and the level of legal uncertainty are variables. Together they combine to shape a firm's risk management strategy.