The Effects of Pretrial Detention Length on Sentencing Guideline Departures in Two Pennsylvania Counties

Abstract

Pennsylvania’s sentencing guidelines, as well as those of other jurisdictions, were enacted primarily to reduce unwarranted sentencing disparities. However, prior research asserts that the permissibility of guideline departures perpetuates or even exacerbates disparities from extralegal factors in sentencing decisions. While pretrial detention has been well-documented to have a negative impact on sentence outcomes like the decision to incarcerate and sentence length, its role in exacerbating sentencing disparities arising from sentencing guideline departures have been sorely understudied. The current study has two goals: (a) to quantify the effects that the length of pretrial detention has on the likelihood of dispositional, downward, and upward departures from Pennsylvania’s sentencing guidelines and (b) to examine how the length of pretrial detention interacts with race to affect the likelihood of those departures. Using data from two Pennsylvania counties, the hierarchical logistic regression models reveal that a 2.7-fold increase in pretrial detention length was associated with a 15% reduction in the odds of a dispositional departure, an 8% reduction in the odds of a downward departure, and an 11% increase in the odds of an upward departure. Moreover, Black individuals who experienced a 2.7-fold increase in pretrial detention length were 12% less likely to receive a dispositional departure than their White counterparts. Implications for the effectiveness of Pennsylvania’s sentencing guidelines and impacts on the criminal justice system are described.