NCJ Number
190479
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 47 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2001 Pages: 491-512
Date Published
October 2001
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This article examines judges' reactions to sentencing reforms in Ohio.
Abstract
Sentencing reforms are often presumed to be negatively received by the judiciary, although there is little research directly examining why this is the case. This article examines results from a survey of Ohio judges who recently experienced a major sentencing reform (Ohio's Senate Bill 2). A slight majority of judges favor the reform overall, despite opposition to specific features of the legislation. Judges who are personally unfavorable toward the bill assume that the majority of judges share their disfavor, whereas judges who favor the bill are more realistic in their perceptions of others' assessments. Chi-square analysis and principal components analysis show that general disfavor of Senate Bill 2 is associated with concerns about loss of judicial authority but that many judges who favor the bill believe it can promote greater equity in sentencing. The article observes that these findings "give life to the possibility" that sentencing reform need not be inherently noxious to the judiciary. Tables, notes, references