How Do Judges Decide?

The Search for Fairness and Justice in Punishment
Second Edition
Cassia Spohn - Arizona State University, USA
How Do Judges Decide?
December 2008 | 376 pages | Sage US
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Description

How are sentences for federal, state, and local crimes determined?
Is this process fairly and justly applied to all concerned?
How have reforms affected the process over the last 25 years?

Offering a comprehensive overview of the sentencing process in the United States, How Do Judges Decide? The Search for Fairness and Justice in Punishment explores these questions and more. Author Cassia Spohn first discusses the overall concept of punishment and then analyzes individual aspects of it, including the sentencing process, the responsibility of the judge, and disparity and discrimination in sentencing. This Second Edition offers new information on the impact of sentencing reforms, including recent research and case law, updated statistics in tables and figures, and new boxed highlights.

Key Features

  • Helps students understand patterns in the wide discretion and latitude given to judges when determining penalties within the framework of the U.S. judicial system
  • Engages the reader with "Focus on an Issue" sections, which analyze key issues such as gender and sentencing (Ch.4) and the impact of race on sentencing for drug offenses (Ch.5)
  • Examines sentencing reforms and their impact, providing students with up-to-date information on how punishment is meted out in U.S. courts.
  • Contains boxed excerpts in each chapter from books and articles, with a variety of case studies on topics such as the O.J. Simpson murder trial, judicial surveys, and comparison of sentences in different jurisdictions by gender
  • Offers new material on specialty courts and the prosecutor's role in sentencing
  • Concludes each chapter with discussion questions


How Do Judges Decide? is an ideal text for upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses on the judicial system, criminal law, and law and society.



Contents

CHAPTER 1: THE GOALS OF SENTENCING

  • Why Punish?
  • How Much To Punish?
  • Theories of Punishment and Judges' Sentencing Decisions
  • Conclusion

CHAPTER TWO: THE SENTENCING PROCESS

  • The Judge's Options at Sentencing
  • Sentencing as a Collaborative Exercise
  • The Sentencing Process

CHAPTER 3: HOW DO JUDGES DECIDE?

  • Modeling the Sentencing Process
  • Sentencing and Case Attributes
  • Sentencing and Characteristics of the Judge
  • How do Judges Decide?

CHAPTER 4: SENTENCING DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION: A FOCUS ON GENDER

  • Types of Sentencing Discrimination
  • Gender Disparity in Sentencing
  • Disparity and Discrimination in Sentencing

CHAPTER 5: SENTENCING DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION: A FOCUS ON RACE/ETHNICITY

  • Racial Disparity in Sentencing
  • Race and Judges' Sentencing Decisions
  • Race and the Death Penalty: A Failed Experiment?
  • Justice From the Bench?

CHAPTER 6: THE SENTENCING REFORM MOVEMENT

  • Structured Sentencing Reforms
  • Presumptive Sentencing Guidelines
  • Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Statutes
  • Three-Strikes-and-You're Out Laws
  • Truth in Sentencing Laws
  • Three Decades of Reform

CHAPTER 7: THE IMPACT OF SENTENCING REFORMS

  • Have Sentencing Reforms Led to More Punitive Sentences?
  • Have Sentencing Reforms Led to a Reduction in Crime?
  • Have Sentencing Reforms Reduced Disparity and Discrimination?
  • Assessing the Impact of the Sentencing Reform Movement

Description

How are sentences for federal, state, and local crimes determined?
Is this process fairly and justly applied to all concerned?
How have reforms affected the process over the last 25 years?

Offering a comprehensive overview of the sentencing process in the United States, How Do Judges Decide? The Search for Fairness and Justice in Punishment explores these questions and more. Author Cassia Spohn first discusses the overall concept of punishment and then analyzes individual aspects of it, including the sentencing process, the responsibility of the judge, and disparity and discrimination in sentencing. This Second Edition offers new information on the impact of sentencing reforms, including recent research and case law, updated statistics in tables and figures, and new boxed highlights.

Key Features

  • Helps students understand patterns in the wide discretion and latitude given to judges when determining penalties within the framework of the U.S. judicial system
  • Engages the reader with "Focus on an Issue" sections, which analyze key issues such as gender and sentencing (Ch.4) and the impact of race on sentencing for drug offenses (Ch.5)
  • Examines sentencing reforms and their impact, providing students with up-to-date information on how punishment is meted out in U.S. courts.
  • Contains boxed excerpts in each chapter from books and articles, with a variety of case studies on topics such as the O.J. Simpson murder trial, judicial surveys, and comparison of sentences in different jurisdictions by gender
  • Offers new material on specialty courts and the prosecutor's role in sentencing
  • Concludes each chapter with discussion questions


How Do Judges Decide? is an ideal text for upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses on the judicial system, criminal law, and law and society.



Contents

CHAPTER 1: THE GOALS OF SENTENCING

  • Why Punish?
  • How Much To Punish?
  • Theories of Punishment and Judges' Sentencing Decisions
  • Conclusion

CHAPTER TWO: THE SENTENCING PROCESS

  • The Judge's Options at Sentencing
  • Sentencing as a Collaborative Exercise
  • The Sentencing Process

CHAPTER 3: HOW DO JUDGES DECIDE?

  • Modeling the Sentencing Process
  • Sentencing and Case Attributes
  • Sentencing and Characteristics of the Judge
  • How do Judges Decide?

CHAPTER 4: SENTENCING DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION: A FOCUS ON GENDER

  • Types of Sentencing Discrimination
  • Gender Disparity in Sentencing
  • Disparity and Discrimination in Sentencing

CHAPTER 5: SENTENCING DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION: A FOCUS ON RACE/ETHNICITY

  • Racial Disparity in Sentencing
  • Race and Judges' Sentencing Decisions
  • Race and the Death Penalty: A Failed Experiment?
  • Justice From the Bench?

CHAPTER 6: THE SENTENCING REFORM MOVEMENT

  • Structured Sentencing Reforms
  • Presumptive Sentencing Guidelines
  • Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Statutes
  • Three-Strikes-and-You're Out Laws
  • Truth in Sentencing Laws
  • Three Decades of Reform

CHAPTER 7: THE IMPACT OF SENTENCING REFORMS

  • Have Sentencing Reforms Led to More Punitive Sentences?
  • Have Sentencing Reforms Led to a Reduction in Crime?
  • Have Sentencing Reforms Reduced Disparity and Discrimination?
  • Assessing the Impact of the Sentencing Reform Movement
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How Do Judges Decide?

The Search for Fairness and Justice in Punishment

Cassia Spohn
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December 2008 | 376 pages | Sage US

Format Published Date ISBN Price

How are sentences for federal, state, and local crimes determined?
Is this process fairly and justly applied to all concerned?
How have reforms affected the process over the last 25 years?

Offering a comprehensive overview of the sentencing process in the United States, How Do Judges Decide? The Search for Fairness and Justice in Punishment explores these questions and more. Author Cassia Spohn first discusses the overall concept of punishment and then analyzes individual aspects of it, including the sentencing process, the responsibility of the judge, and disparity and discrimination in sentencing. This Second Edition offers new information on the impact of sentencing reforms, including recent research and case law, updated statistics in tables and figures, and new boxed highlights.

Key Features

  • Helps students understand patterns in the wide discretion and latitude given to judges when determining penalties within the framework of the U.S. judicial system
  • Engages the reader with "Focus on an Issue" sections, which analyze key issues such as gender and sentencing (Ch.4) and the impact of race on sentencing for drug offenses (Ch.5)
  • Examines sentencing reforms and their impact, providing students with up-to-date information on how punishment is meted out in U.S. courts.
  • Contains boxed excerpts in each chapter from books and articles, with a variety of case studies on topics such as the O.J. Simpson murder trial, judicial surveys, and comparison of sentences in different jurisdictions by gender
  • Offers new material on specialty courts and the prosecutor's role in sentencing
  • Concludes each chapter with discussion questions


How Do Judges Decide? is an ideal text for upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses on the judicial system, criminal law, and law and society.




Table Of Contents:

  • CHAPTER 1: THE GOALS OF SENTENCING
  • Why Punish?
  • How Much To Punish?
  • Theories of Punishment and Judges' Sentencing Decisions
  • Conclusion
  • CHAPTER TWO: THE SENTENCING PROCESS
  • The Judge's Options at Sentencing
  • Sentencing as a Collaborative Exercise
  • The Sentencing Process
  • CHAPTER 3: HOW DO JUDGES DECIDE?
  • Modeling the Sentencing Process
  • Sentencing and Case Attributes
  • Sentencing and Characteristics of the Judge
  • How do Judges Decide?
  • CHAPTER 4: SENTENCING DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION: A FOCUS ON GENDER
  • Types of Sentencing Discrimination
  • Gender Disparity in Sentencing
  • Disparity and Discrimination in Sentencing
  • CHAPTER 5: SENTENCING DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION: A FOCUS ON RACE/ETHNICITY
  • Racial Disparity in Sentencing
  • Race and Judges' Sentencing Decisions
  • Race and the Death Penalty: A Failed Experiment?
  • Justice From the Bench?
  • CHAPTER 6: THE SENTENCING REFORM MOVEMENT
  • Structured Sentencing Reforms
  • Presumptive Sentencing Guidelines
  • Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Statutes
  • Three-Strikes-and-You're Out Laws
  • Truth in Sentencing Laws
  • Three Decades of Reform
  • CHAPTER 7: THE IMPACT OF SENTENCING REFORMS
  • Have Sentencing Reforms Led to More Punitive Sentences?
  • Have Sentencing Reforms Led to a Reduction in Crime?
  • Have Sentencing Reforms Reduced Disparity and Discrimination?
  • Assessing the Impact of the Sentencing Reform Movement

Recent Product Reviews:

I adopted How Do Judges Decide which was offered in a package with Criminal Courts, A Contemporary Perspective, by Hemmens etal., which I had selected to use as a text in my course on criminal trial courts. I had previously used web accessed primary and secondary legal materials. While the students were exposed to excellent original legal sources on the web, many expressed a desire to have comprehensive easily accessible material in a convenient format. The Criminal Courts text covers the concepts and topics that are necessary and How Do Judges Decide provides an in depth look at the functioning of judges in the criminal justice system, a function not often understood by my students.
Mr Anthony Luber, Department of Criminal Justice, Indiana University - South Bend
"It is the most comprehensive analysis of sentencing practices in the United States in general, and of how judges decide in particular. It provides ample statistics of the realities of punishment and provides readers with the conclusions from several decades of research investigating judicial discretion."
Richard D. Hartley, University of Texas at San Antonio

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