Case Disposition Research Articles

Beyond Global Convergence: Conflicts of Legitimacy in a Chinese Lower Court

This article examines the localization of global legal institutions by the case study of a lower court in China's Hebei Province. Using data on the changes in the formal organizational structure, the composition of personnel, the case docket, and case dispositions in this court between 1978 and 2000, the author demonstrates that global legal institutions have survived in China's judicial practice by adapting to indigenous social and political demands and becoming localized. The day-to-day judicial work of Chinese lower court judges is only loosely coupled with their formal roles, and the judicial decision-making process is contingent upon the historical origin of the judiciary, administrative influence, and the legal consciousness of local communities. The underlying reason for the localization process is the complexity of legitimacy at the local level. Global prescription, economic pressure, political influence, and local social order all require certain types of legitimacy from the legal institutions. As a result, beyond the symbolic functions of global convergence, the practical meanings of the legal institutions are socially constructed in the judicial practice to reconcile the conflicts between global and local sources of legitimacy.

The Role of the Criminal Defence Lawyer in an Inquisitorial Procedure: Legal and Ethical Constraints

Using the example of contemporary France, this paper considers the legal and ethical constraints upon the role and function of the criminal defence lawyer in a criminal procedure rooted in the inquisitorial model. Recent reforms promise to open up the space occupied by the criminal defence lawyer, but in practice, the defence role continues to be overshadowed by the dominance of judicial supervision – both as a theoretical organising feature and in the ways in which this shapes legal and occupational cultures. The paper argues that despite the limitations of judicial supervision in practice and the expectations of increased defence participation in measures designed to accelerate the disposition of cases, the legal and ethical regulation of the lawyer continues to define her role as auxilliary to that of the investigating judge rather than as an automomous actor in the criminal process.

Seven Hundred Seventy Eight Bite Marks: Analysis by Anatomic Location, Victim and Biter Demographics, Type of Crime, and Legal Disposition

A study of the etiology, anatomic location, victim demographics and legal disposition of bite mark cases was made with the purpose of updating and augmenting previous research in the field. The information may be of interest to a myriad of professional disciplines including Forensic Odontologists, Medical Examiners, Detectives, Profilers, Emergency Room Personnel, Coroners, Psychologists, and Family Service Counselors, as bite marks provide both physical and biological data. While bite marks were found on all anatomic regions of the body some sites are significantly more likely to receive bites, and the frequency that an area is bitten may vary with the type of crime. Sex and age of the victim may also impact the resulting location and frequency of bites. A survey form for bite mark cases was created and mailed to all Diplomates of the American Board of Forensic Odontology. The survey form was also included in the American Society of Forensic Odontology newsletter. The survey requested that the recipient fill out a separate form for each case for which the recipient was the primary investigator of a patterned injury. The data from the resulting surveys were entered into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The responses detailed two hundred thirty two (259) bite mark cases that included seven hundred (778) individual bite marks. Harvey (1976) and Sweet and Pretty (2000) published studies finding the highest percentage of bites to the breasts. In 1983 Vale and Noguchi published the paper indicating that the most frequently bitten area was the upper extremities. The survey forms were sent to approximately 1100 forensic dentist in 26 countries. The forensic experience level of the dentists varied from neophyte to very experienced. The data were analyzed and the results reported and organized in the following categories; Victim Distribution by Gender, Victim Distribution by Age, Child Abuse Distribution by Age and Gender, Sexual Assault Distribution by age and Gender, Homicide Distribution by Age and Gender, Bite Mark Distribution by Gender and Location, Number of Bite Marks per Victim, Bite mark Distribution Comparison to Previous Research, Child Abuse Suspect Age Distribution by Age and Sex, Homicide Suspect Age Distribution by Age and Sex, Sexual Crimes Suspect Age Distribution by Age and Sex, and Bite Mark Incidence by Anatomical Area and Type of Crime. Fifty-two forensic odontologists from seven countries responded. Nineteen responders were Diplomates of the American Board of Forensic Odontology. The number of cases reported by each responder ranged from one to thirty-three and the average number of cases reported was 4.5. In this broad based study, females were bitten more often than males. The average male victim was younger than the average female victim. Males that were victims tended to be either very young or very old. The youngest victim was a two-month-old boy and the oldest victim a 95-year-old woman. Perpetrators were male more often than female and there was an average of 1.4 suspects per case. The results show that most bites occurred on the arm, followed by the breast. If broken down by gender, males were bitten on the arm more than females, and females were bitten on the breast more often than males. The data show patterns in location and number of bites that seem related to both the type of crime and the age of the victim.

Detecting mental disorder in juvenile detainees: who receives services.

We determined whether or not juvenile detainees with major mental disorders received treatment, and the variables that predicted who received services. Our sample was 1829 randomly selected juvenile detainees taking part in the Northwestern Juvenile Project. To determine need for mental health services, independent interviewers administered the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children and rated functional impairment using the Child Global Assessment Scale. Records on service provision were obtained from the juvenile justice and public health systems. Among detainees who had major mental disorders and associated functional impairments, 15.4% received treatment in the detention center and 8.1% received treatment in the community by the time of case disposition or 6 months, whichever came first. Significantly more girls than boys were detected and treated. Receiving treatment was predicted by clinical variables (having a major mental disorder or reported treatment history or suicidal behavior) and demographic variables. The challenge to public health is to provide accessible, innovative, and effective treatments to juvenile detainees, a population that is often beyond the reach of traditional services.

Domestic violence in one state's child protective caseload: A study of differential case dispositions and outcomes

Despite growing attention to the issue of children's exposure to adult domestic violence (DV) there is little systematic information available on the level of DV in the child protective caseload or on the pathways of such cases through these systems. This paper reports an examination of one state's child maltreatment reports during a 1-year period. A random sample of 2000 of cases is used to project the state's experience with cases in which DV was indicated—from initial report to case disposition—shedding a more accurate light on the child protection response. Pathways and outcomes for DV indicated cases in comparison to those in which no DV was indicated are then presented. Finally, factors that predict re-referral and placement out of home within 1 year of the target referral are compared for DV and non-DV indicated cases. The results of this study reveal that DV was indicated as present in one in five cases referred to child protective services, but in 38% of cases accepted for any level of investigation, and fully 47% of those assigned a moderate to high risk and a high level of investigation. Over half of the DV indicated cases (56%) that were assessed as a moderate to high risk at intake and fully investigated had their cases opened for services, and of these more than four out of five (81%) had at least one child removed from parental custody. Among moderate to high risk cases, those with an indication of DV were significantly more likely to have their cases opened for services and to have at least one child in the family placed in out-of-home care. The factors predicting re-referral to child protective services or placement in out-of-home care within a year after referral differed greatly for cases in which there was or was not an indication of DV. Implications of the results for child welfare practice are discussed.

Displaced discretion under Ohio sentencing guidelines

The argument that curbing judicial sentencing discretion generates more prosecutorial discretion at earlier decision points in case processing received little empirical attention beyond Miethe's (1987) before/after study of the Minnesota guidelines. This article presents an examination of whether Ohio's sentencing reform resulted in significant changes in prosecutorial decisions related to indictment severity, dropped charges, charge reductions, and overall plea bargains. The implementation of determinate sentencing guidelines corresponded with a significant yet modest increase in the likelihood of charge reductions only. Some changes also occurred in the specific effects of various defendant characteristics on some of the outcomes examined, but these changes did not uniformly result in harsher dispositions for defendants facing greater social and economic disadvantage. Similar to Miethe's observation regarding Minnesota's sentencing scheme, any increase in levels of prosecutorial discretion that might have occurred under Ohio's latest scheme had not resulted in substantive extra-legal disparities in case dispositions.

Punishment and Crime across Space and Time

Previous articleNext article No AccessPunishment and Crime across Space and TimeMichael Tonry and David P. FarringtonMichael Tonry Search for more articles by this author and David P. Farrington Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Crime and Justice Volume 332005Crime and Punishment in Western Countries, 1980-1999 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/655361 Views: 25Total views on this site Citations: 10Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 2005 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Katherine Beckett, Megan Ming Francis The Origins of Mass Incarceration: The Racial Politics of Crime and Punishment in the Post–Civil Rights Era, Annual Review of Law and Social Science 16, no.11 (Oct 2020): 433–452.https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-110819-100304Jenia I. Turner, Thomas Weigend Negotiated Case Dispositions in Germany, England and the United States, (Dec 2019): 389–427.https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108649742.011Sara Skott Disaggregating Violence: Understanding the Decline, Journal of Interpersonal Violence (Mar 2019): 088626051983849.https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519838496 OUP accepted manuscript, American Law And Economics Review (Jan 2017).https://doi.org/10.1093/aler/ahx017Holger Spamann The U.S. Crime Puzzle: A Comparative Perspective on U.S. Crime and Punishment, American Law and Economics Review 18, no.11 (Jul 2015): 33–87.https://doi.org/10.1093/aler/ahv015Anindya Sen Is Retail Alcohol Deregulation Correlated with More Crime and Traffic Injuries? Evidence from Canadian Provinces, Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice 58, no.22 (Apr 2016): 251–286.https://doi.org/10.3138/cjccj.20160304David P Farrington Cross-national comparative research on criminal careers, risk factors, crime and punishment, European Journal of Criminology 12, no.44 (Jul 2015): 386–399.https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370815584262Erik Luna, Paul G. Cassell Mandatory Minimalism, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2012).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2181092Robert A. Ferguson The Place of Mercy in Legal Discourse, (Oct 2011): 19–82.https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139030656.002Anne-Marie Slotboom, Candace Kruttschnitt, Catrien Bijleveld, Barbara Menting Psychological well-being of incarcerated women in the Netherlands: Importation or deprivation?, Punishment & Society 13, no.22 (Apr 2011): 176–197.https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474510396313

Unmet substance abuse treatment need, health services utilization, and cost: A population-based emergency department study

There is a high prevalence of unmet substance abuse treatment need among adult hospital emergency department (ED) patients. We examine the association between this unmet need and excess utilization of health services and estimate costs. A statewide, 2-stage, probability sample survey was conducted in 7 Tennessee general hospital EDs from June 1996 to January 1997. Toxicologic screening augmented in-person interviews. Main outcome measures were ED case disposition; frequency of physician office visits, ED visits, and hospitalizations in the past 12 months; and costs of excess service utilization. Covariates in the multivariate model were substance abuse treatment need status, age, sex, main reason for ED visit, perceived previous health status, history of tobacco use, and health care coverage. Unmet substance abuse treatment need was assessed using 13 overlapping criteria that incorporated use, dependence, denial, and treatment history. Target substances included ethanol and selected illegal and prescription drugs but not nicotine. Compared with patients without substance abuse treatment need (n=1,073), patients with unmet need (n=415) were 81% more likely to be admitted to the hospital during their current ED visit (odds ratio [OR] 1.81; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.27 to 2.64) and 46% more likely to have reported making at least 1 ED visit in the previous 12 months (OR 1.46; 95% CI 1.12 to 1.84). Their utilization patterns accounted for an estimated 777.2 million US dollars in extra hospital charges for Tennessee in 2000 dollars, representing an additional 1,568 US dollars per ED patient with unmet substance abuse treatment need. ED patients with unmet substance abuse treatment need generated much higher hospital and ED charges than patients without such need. Given potential savings from avoidable health care costs, the future burden of substance-associated ED visits and hospitalizations may be reduced through programs that screen and, as appropriate, provide brief interventions or treatment options to these patients.

Examining Trial Trends in State Courts: 1976–2002

Recent examinations of federal litigation trends show that the use of trials by the federal courts is declining. This knowledge has invariably raised the question of whether the use of trials in state courts is also declining. Unfortunately, the ability to conduct parallel examinations of state court litigation trends has been hampered by the lack of available state court disposition data. In this article we introduce the “State Court Disposition Trends” database and analyze, for the first time, long‐term trial trends in the state courts. The present analysis examines 27‐year trends of trials and trial rates for criminal, civil, and felony cases, and 11‐year trends of trials and trial rates for general civil cases. We find that despite substantial growth in the number of case dispositions, there has been a decrease, often significant, in the use of trials by state courts.

Effects of Enhanced Sanctions for High-BAC DWI Offenders on Case Dispositions and Rates of Recidivism

Implemented January 1, 1998, Minnesota's high-BAC law mandates more severe administrative pre-conviction penalties and more severe post-conviction penalties for offenses with BACs ≥ 0.20%. Most notably, the law provides for the administrative impoundment of the license plate of first-time DWI offenders with BACs ≥ 0.20. During the three years after the law took effect, a large majority of first-time and repeat offenders with BACs ≥ 0.20% did, in fact, receive high-BAC administrative dispositions and/or high-BAC court convictions, which carried more severe penalties. For example, in 1998 85.6% of first offenders with BACs ≥ 0.20% received a high-BAC administrative disposition and/or a high-BAC court conviction; 65.0% received both high-BAC administrative and high-BAC court dispositions. The proportion of high-BAC first-time offenders who received the statutory high-BAC dispositions declined from 1998 to 1999 and 2000. Based on survival analysis, the one-year recidivism rate among first offenders arrested in 1998 with BACs ≥ 0.20% was significantly lower than for offenders with BACs 0.17–0.19% (who also had relatively high BACs but were not subject to enhanced sanctions), after controlling for age and gender. There were similar, but not significant, results for first offenders arrested in 1999.

Does the appointment of judges increase the output of the judiciary?

We use panel data on Israeli courts to estimate the “production function” for case dispositions. Our results show that the number of case dispositions is independent of the number of serving judges, and that “productivity”, as measured by completed cases per judge, varies directly with the caseload per judge. These results suggest that the productivity of judges is endogenous; for the same caseload judges complete more cases under pressure, and complete less when new judges are appointed. They also suggest that the practice of determining the number of judges by fixed “Leontieff” input–output coefficients is not appropriate.

Restorative justice: an alternative approach to juvenile crime

This paper examines “restorative justice,” a new approach to the problem of juvenile crime, from an economic point of view. Advocates assert that the personal, social, and economic harms inflicted by many juvenile crimes are more adequately repaired through mediated face-to-face conferences between victims and offenders than through the conventional disposition of juvenile cases. Parallels between this conception and key elements of the “economic model of crime” are reviewed, followed by an application of the concept of social capital to this process. We conclude with a brief review of early empirical evidence suggestive of the promise of this new approach.

School Social Work Case Characteristics, Services, and Dispositions: Year One Results

This article describes the results from the first year of a longitudinal study of a school social work caseload in a large midwestern school district. The purpose of the investigation was to examine the relationship among case characteristics, types of services provided, and case dispositions. Data were collected using a management information system developed by a partnership of university and school social work staff. School social work caseload data for 911 students were analyzed using descriptive and logistic regression techniques. Referral reasons were associated with the referral source and student characteristics. The process of model building for a logistic regression analysis of positive case disposition revealed significant differences in the model of case disposition for students referred for three reasons or more compared with the full sample. Implications of the results for understanding social work practice and assessing the potential of using administrative data to capture school social work caseload information are discussed.

Citizen Review of the Police

The research presents the summary and analysis of ten-year data (1991-2000) involving the People's Law Enforcement Board (PLEB). It describes the types of police officers and the police departments that had cases before the People's Law Enforcement Board (PLEB). It also examines the types of cases that were handled by these civilian review boards as well as the manner of dispositions of these cases, the number of times its decisions were affirmed, reversed, or modified by an appellate board, and the composition and qualifications of the members of the boards. The data indicate that the propensity of police officers for receiving complaints in the boards may be a function of both rank and assignment. The data also suggest that the PLEB tends to be lenient in its disposition of cases. However, the People's Law Enforcement Board appears to make good quality decisions as indicated by the appellate boards' upholding of PLEB decisions.

Effects of Standard Enforcement on Safety Belt Citations in Michigan

A study investigated the effects on safety belt citations of the change in police enforcement of Michigan's mandatory safety belt law that went into effect on March 10,2000. Safety belt citation records were obtained from Michigan courts for one full year before and one full year after the change from secondary to standard enforcement. Analysis of the records indicated an overall increase of 9% in safety belt citations and an 8% increase in the number of individuals cited. No effects from the change to standard enforcement were found for the distribution of safety belt citations by sex, age, and race, overall, or for both day- and nighttime periods. The proportion of persons receiving multiple safety belt citations in one year remained at 11%, and the average number of citations per cited person remained at 1.1 per year. Individuals who continued to receive citations after standard enforcement were more likely to be males age 16 to 22. No effect on the number of child-restraint citations was found. Changes in the disposition of cases included an increase in the proportion of guilty outcomes and a decrease in the proportion of cases dismissed.

Confessions and Criminal Case Disposition in China

This research examines confessions and criminal case disposition in China. It describes how wider economic reforms in China and subsequent changes in its legal system may have affected the nature and consequence of criminal confessions. Bivariate and multivariate analyses of a sample of 1,009 criminal court cases reveal that the majority of offenders confessed to their crime and that confession is associated with less severe punishments (e.g., lower risks for imprisonment, shorter sentences). Changes in the nature of confession and its impact on criminal court practices are also examined before and after legal reforms in the mid-1990s. These context-specific findings are then discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the interrelationships between legal structure, legal culture, and case disposition in communitarian-based societies.

The Effect of Pretrial Detention on Imprisonment Decisions

A number of studies have addressed the respective influences of such legal factors as offense seriousness, and such extralegal factors as race, on imprisonment decisions. One factor that is not easily classified as either legal or extralegal—pretrial detention—has not received as much attention as the "typical" legal and extralegal variables, although some researchers feel that pretrial detention plays a pivotal role in imprisonment decisions. This exploratory article assesses the relationship between pretrial detention and the decision to incarcerate in adult felony cases in a Florida county, controlling for various legal and extralegal factors. Results indicate that those defendants who had been subject to pretrial detention were more likely to be incarcerated, and to receive longer sentences if they were incarcerated, than defendants who had been released pending case disposition.

Back to the Future: The Centrality of Plea Bargaining in the Criminal Justice System

Using Professor George Fisher's wonderful new book,Plea Bargaining's Triumphas a springboard and roadmap for a journey into plea bargaining's past and present status, this brief essay will attempt to build a theory accounting for the centrality of plea bargaining in today's—and tomorrow's—criminal justice system. By looking back, Fisher illuminates the present, and suggests a future for plea bargaining in the disposition of the cases. His analysis ends with “plea bargaining's triumph;” with its emergence as the single most important (and powerful) factor in the disposition of criminal cases. I will applaud, but qualify his arguments and speculate about “plea bargaining's future.” His looking back, led him to conclude that plea bargaining coopted or caused most criminal justice innovations of the past two decades, and that almost anthropomorphically, it emerged victorious. His understanding of the “causes” of plea bargaining's centrality deserves applause along with qualification; his painting of a picture of plea bargaining “victory” is correct, and is fruitfully linked to a future informed by his understanding of a past.First, some general ground rules for what I will and will not do in this essay. I will not systematically or exhaustively summarize Fisher's arguments, nor will I referee the disagreements he surfaced with the respect to the work of many major studies of plea bargaining and its history. Suffice it to say that this is a very careful historical study of the origins of plea bargaining, and that it primarily relies on a very detailed and very, very careful analysis of the court records of Middlesex County, Mass., mostly for cases disposed of in the 19thcentury. Based on these data, and secondary analyses of data from studies of plea bargaining in other jurisdictions, Fisher builds a theory of the growth of plea bargaining that is sometimes original, always engaging, and inevitably provocative. Though I take issue with some of his arguments, he must be lauded for the care and clarity of his presentation, and for the enormous literature he uses to develop and support his case.

What hysteria? A systematic study of newspaper coverage of accused child molesters

Objective: There were three aims: First, to determine the extent to which those charged with child molestation receive newspaper coverage; second, to analyze the nature of that coverage; and third, to compare the universe of coverage to the nature of child molestation charges in the criminal justice system as a whole. Method: Two databases were created. The first one identified all defendants charged with child molestation in Rhode Island in 1993. The database was updated after 5 years to include relevant information about case disposition. The second database was created by electronic searching the Providence Journal for every story that mentioned each defendant. Results: Most defendants (56.1%) were not mentioned in the newspaper. Factors associated with a greater chance of coverage include: cases involving first-degree charges, cases with multiple counts, cases involving additional violence or multiple victims, and cases resulting in long prison sentences. The data indicate that the press exaggerates “stranger danger,” while intra-familial cases are underreported. Newspaper accounts also minimize the extent to which guilty defendants avoid prison. Conclusions: Generalizing about the nature of child molestation cases in criminal court on the basis of newspaper coverage is inappropriate. The coverage is less extensive than often claimed, and it is skewed in ways that are typical of the mass media.

A Tournament of Judges?

We suggest a Tournament of Judges where the reward to the winner is elevation to the Supreme Court. Politics (and ideology) surely has a role to play in the selection of justices. However, the present level of partisan bickering has resulted in delays in judicial appointments as well as undermined the public's confidence in the objectivity of justices selected through such a partisan process. More significantly, much of the politicking is not transparent, often obscured with statements on a particular candidate's merit - casting a taint on all those who make their way through the judicial nomination process. We argue that the benefits from introducing more (and objective) competition among judges are potentially significant and the likely damage to judicial independence negligible. Among the criteria that could be used are opinion publication rates, citations of opinions by other courts, citations by the Supreme Court, citations by academics, dissent rates, speed of disposition of cases, reversal rates by en banc panels and the Court, and so on. Where political motivations drive the selection of an alternative candidate, our proposed system of objective criteria will make it more likely that such motivations are made transparent to the public. Just as important, a judicial tournament for selection to the Supreme Court will serve not only to select effective justices, but also to provide incentives to existing judges to exert effort.