This article describes the efforts undertaken during the past five years for the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to develop a method for assessing parolee risk to inform the supervision level assignments of Georgia's 23,000 active parolees. The project resulted in an actuarial risk assessment method based on the analysis of over 6,000 parolees. Historically, officers conducted pencil-and-paper assessments on all new parolees entering supervision and reassessments every six months thereafter. The new instruments are automated—offender risk is derived through the execution of computerized programs that access both prison and parole data systems. Parolee risk scores are updated daily, incorporating the dynamics of daily correctional supervision progress or failure, and are provided to parole officers through web-based reports and e-mail.

One theoretical explanation for the consistently high Southern homicide rates is that the South constitutes a “regional culture of violence.” Although this perspective has not garnered much empirical support, sound theoretical alternatives have not emerged. The present study attempts to fill this gap by suggesting that emergency medical services are an overlooked intervening influence in the production of homicide and aggravated battery rates. Analysis of data from the 67 counties in Florida provides some support for the notion that the differential distribution of medical resources is partially responsible for variation in criminally induced lethality rates

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This study intersected Georgia and North Carolina criminal codes and 1996 Georgia felony offender cohort data, including the prior criminal history of each offender, to recreate sentences for the Georgia cohort using the North Carolina guidelines. The analysis revealed that if the North Carolina guidelines had been imposed on the 1996 population, over 3,700 Georgia felony offenders would have received a prison sentence instead of probation, and that over 2,200 offenders who were admitted into Georgia's prison system as a result of a felony conviction would have received probated sentences under the North Carolina guidelines. This “net” increase in prison sentences appears to demonstrate how structured sentencing can increase the severity of punishment. A comparison of average prison sentence lengths shows, however, that Georgia's sanctions are harsher on many property and drug crime offenders. The article suggests that sound criminal justice public policy in Georgia should be based on the results of objective research, and that more relevant issues should be contemplated by Georgia lawmakers before any systemwide changes in sentencing laws are proposed.

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During 1998, Georgia received over $10 million in Violence Against Women Act and Victims of Crime Act funding, used in part to serve 14,000 victims of sexual assault through rape crisis centers and victim witness assistance programs. Despite millions of dollars and years of program administration, it is unknown whether the needs of victims are adequately addressed. In response, the Georgia Statistical Analysis Center dedicated its 1997 and 1998 State Justice Program grant funds to studying sexual assault. This article summarizes the first in a series of studies—reporting on 300 surveys of victim service program directors, frontline staff, and victims. The study represents the first attempt in Georgia to understand the availability, quality, and delivery of services to victims of sexual assault statewide. The study provided policymakers with critical information on how increased availability of counseling services, improved public awareness campaigns, and professional education and training can ultimately improve services to victims of sexual assault.

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