Modeling the politics of punishment: A conceptual and empirical analysis of ‘law in action’ in criminal sentencing

Recent Developments and New Directions in Sentencing Research

“…Percent Hispanic strongly conditioned Hispanic/white disparities, but not in a manner predicted by racial threat theory. Hispanic/white disparity was greatest in districts where Hispanics were least numerous, but there was no significant Hispanic/white disparity in districts where Hispanics were most numerous (Feldmeyer & Ulmer, 2011; see also Helms, 2009). Yet another pattern was found by Wang and Mears (2010) using SCPS data.…”

“…Britt, 2000;Fearn, 2005;Johnson, 2006;Ulmer & Johnson, 2004;Ulmer et al, 2007;Weidner et al, 2004), political climate (Helms, 2009), neighborhood disadvantage (Wooldredge, 2007;Wooldredge & Thistlethwaite, 2004), and local religion (Fearn, 2005;Ulmer, Bader, & Gault, 2008). Crime rates and broad political climate measures (such as percent Republican voters) have generally not been found to be strong predictors of sentencing patterns or to strongly and consistently condition individual level predictors (a partial exception is Johnson, 2006), though Helms (2009) found that more conservative "law and order" jurisdictions sentenced more severely. Fearn (2005) and Ulmer et al (2008) found evidence that local religious contexts may affect sentencing patterns.…”

Social Inequality and County-Level Correlates of State Prison Releases and Releases from Community Supervision

“…We include an indicator representing conservative political support in the community since the most conservative communities have been shown to rely on prison to a greater extent than their more liberal counterparts (Jacobs & Helms 1996;Helms & Jacobs 2002;Helms 2009;Helms & Costanza 2009 …”

“…The data underlying this analysis do not allow any more detailed insight regarding this possibility. However, the sentencing research seems to support this speculation since many researchers have argued that judges and prosecutors share the underlying values of their constituents and are typically elected and/or must stand for re-election (Helms & Jacobs, 2002;Helms, 2009;Helms & Costanza, 2010). This ever-present reality may be expected to shape the courtroom calculus concerning offenders so that in the most politically conservative jurisdictions judges and prosecutors lean more strongly toward incarceration.…”

“…The punishment literature provides a variety of clues that can assist in formulating actionable remedies. For example, there is evidence that variation in structured environments and ascribed characteristics of offenders correlate with punishment severity (Hogg 2011;Helms and Costanza 2010;Paternoster, Brame, Bacon, & Ditchfield, 2004;Helms 2009;Helms & Jacobs, 2002;Hallett, 2002;Feld, 1991). These and other studies offer conclusive evidence that more severe sanctions are leveled at offenders from disorganized, minority and economically disadvantaged environments (Note 1).…”