Journal article
Direct and Indirect Effects of Case Complexity, Guilty Pleas, and Offender Characteristics on Sentencing for Offenders Convicted of a White-Collar Offense prior to Sentencing Guidelines
Journal of quantitative criminology, Vol.14(4), pp.353-378
12/01/1998
DOI: 10.1023/A:1023077704546
Abstract
Examines federal sentencing of white-collar offenders prior to the federal sentencing guidelines by testing a legal-bureaucratic theory of sentencing that hypothesizes an interplay between case complexity, guilty pleas, & length of imprisonment. This interplay reflects the interface between the legal ramifications of pleading guilty, prosecutorial interests in efficiency & finality of case disposition in "complex" white-collar cases, & sentence severity. Using structural equation modeling, a four-equation model of sentencing that specifies case complexity & guilty pleas as intervening variables in the relationship between offender characteristics & length of imprisonment is estimated, using secondary data (Wheeler, S., Weisburd, D., & Bode, N., 1982) on 510 defendants sentenced to prison. It is found that (1) the hypothesized interplay between case complexity, guilty pleas, & sentence severity is supported; (2) the effect of offender educational attainment on sentence severity is indirect via case complexity & guilty pleas; & (3) offender race & gender affect length of imprisonment both directly & indirectly through the intervening effect of case complexity & guilty pleas. These findings indicate the need to specify sentencing models that consider the direct & indirect effects of offender characteristics, offense characteristics, & guilty pleas on judicial discretion at sentencing. 4 Tables, 1 Figure, 55 References. Adapted from the source document.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Direct and Indirect Effects of Case Complexity, Guilty Pleas, and Offender Characteristics on Sentencing for Offenders Convicted of a White-Collar Offense prior to Sentencing Guidelines
- Creators
- Celesta Albonetti - Texas A&M University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of quantitative criminology, Vol.14(4), pp.353-378
- DOI
- 10.1023/A:1023077704546
- ISSN
- 0748-4518
- eISSN
- 1573-7799
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 12/01/1998
- Academic Unit
- Sociology and Criminology; Law Faculty
- Record Identifier
- 9984306235302771
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