NCJ Number
101128
Date Published
1983
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Sentencing policies and their impact on the consumption of penal resources were examined using data from the Annual Report of the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts for 1973 to 1977.
Abstract
Factor analysis was used to rank the 101 counties in terms of their propensity to incarcerate defendants convicted of Class 1, 2, and 3 felonies during the period under study. Results indicate that there was considerable intercounty variability in both sentencing policies and incarceration rates. Despite these differences, there were no differences in crime rates between those counties making high use of prison resources and those making low use, and there was a greater increase in the crime rates of medium-use counties relative to low-use counties. Findings suggest that prison overcrowding is due to the incarceration of offenders who would not have been incarcerated in the pre-1973 era. Judges are responding to pressures to get tough. However, the decentralized nature of sentencing results in sentencing disparities, thus leading to a maldistribution of penal resources consumption across counties. Tables and map showing consumption of penal resources.