Ronald S. Everett

Adolescent Sexual Offenders Grown Up: Recidivism in Young Adulthood

The objective of this study was to compare the recidivism rates of juvenile sexual offenders with those of other juvenile offenders once they became young adults. The authors found that the juveniles adjudicated for a sexual offense had a significantly higher rate of recidivism for sexual offenses as adults than did the comparison group, but rearrest rates for sexual offenses were low in both groups. The juvenile nonsexual offenders had higher rates of adult recidivism for all other types of offenses.

Difference, Disparity, and Race/Ethnic Bias in Federal Sentencing

Federal sentencing guidelines were enacted to reduce unwarranted disparities in sentencing. In this paper we examine the degree to which disparity in sentencing on the basis of race and ethnicity occurred in federal sentencing after the guidelines were implemented. We consider how much of the disparity is explained by offense-related factors as specified in the guidelines. We find that African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans receive relatively harsher sentences than whites and that these differentials are only partly explained by offense-related characteristics. We interpret our findings in light of attribution, uncertainty avoidance, and conflict theories.

Race, remorse, and sentence reduction: Is saying you're sorry enough?

Federal sentencing policy now allows for reduced penalties in cases where offenders formally accept responsibility for their crimes. Using data from a random sample of 12 district courts, the present research examines this structured adjustment in the sentencing process. The data provide controls for offender characteristics, both legally relevant and extralegal, and measures of offense type and severity. We use logistic regression procedures to analyze additive and interaction models. Results confirm that the offenders race/ethnicity, controlling for offender and offense characteristics, has a significant influence on the sentence reduction for acceptance of responsibility. Because the awarding of this sentence reduction involves displays of emotion, we draw on interviews with selected court personnel to explore how ethnic and cultural factors affect both the offenders expression of remorse and the courts perception of and reaction to those testimonies. The study suggests that cultural factors, throug...

Private prisons: Problems within the solution

In this paper we examine the claim that private industry can provide the flexibility and cost efficiency needed to meet current demands for prison space and improved prison conditions. We show reasons to suspect predictions of increased efficiency and flexibility, and warn of the difficulties in regulating a private industry. We conclude by evaluating the consequences of privatization for future criminal justice policy.

EFFECTIVENESS OF COUNSEL: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract There is an evolving body of case law and legal commentary that addresses the effectiveness of counsel issue as criminal defendants now challenge not the absence but the adequacy of representation. The present study poses questions to defense attorneys about their performance at the sentencing disposition stage of criminal proceedings. Using relevant American Bar Association Standards For Criminal Justice as the criteria of effective representation, a comparison is made between public defenders and private attorneys. From our analysis, we conclude that private attorneys and public defenders differed significantly on only one criterion for effective representation—explaining alternative sentencing dispositions to the client. On this dimension, private attorneys conformed more closely to the ABA standards than public defenders.