Public Views on Sentencing Juvenile Murderers

Applegäte, Brandon K.; Davis, Robin King

doi:10.1177/1541204005282312

Cited by 33 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(58 reference statements)

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“…The relatively small number of participants in each group ( n =33-45) may have attenuated our ability to detect group differences. Further, previous research has observed a strong positive relationship between the severity of the crime and the severity of the punishment (Applegate and Davis, 2006). Plausibly, the particularly heinous outcome described in the vignettes may have also contributed to suppressing any group differences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Examining factors influencing sentencing decisions in school shootings

McKenzie

Crosby

2017

JACPR

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine public perception of factors relevant in sentencing decision making for juvenile school shooters with a history of familial abuse, peer victimization, and school intervention. Design/methodology/approach Through the use of school shooting vignettes, 298 college-aged participants were randomly assigned to one of eight experimental conditions which differed based on the inclusion of the independent variables. Findings Results revealed no significant differences among the groups on the sentencing recommendations (i.e. psychiatric placement and incarceration). However, correlational analyses indicated that participants’ generally perceived they were influenced by the perpetrator’s history of peer victimization and the level of intervention offered by school personnel when the shooter was bullied. Further regression analyses suggested that participant characteristics such as race, gender, and prior experiences with bullying were among the most powerful predictors of agreement with sentencing recommendations. Practical implications Implications of the current findings raise questions as to the influence of peer victimization in civil and criminal court proceedings and its associated impact on the juvenile justice system, the educational system, and society’s desire for justice. Originality/value This study ambitiously ventures into exploring and understanding the relevant sociological, academic, and legal factors in addressing acts of school violence.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Examining factors influencing sentencing decisions in school shootings

McKenzie

Crosby

2017

JACPR

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“…The use of vignettes is preferable to simple, abstract questions that participants answer subjectively because vignettes produce more reliable and valid responses (Alexander and Becker, 1978). Numerous studies have employed vignettes to measure public punitiveness by systematically varying the variable to be tested in the scenarios, such as offense type (Michel, 2015), offender's ethnicity (Singh and Sprott, 2017) and offense characteristics (Applegate and Davis, 2006). In light of these studies, we prepared three vignettes that depicted three different offenses with male and female offender versions.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association of gender role attitudes and offense type with public punitiveness toward male and female offenders

Tuncer

Broers

Ergin

et al. 2018

International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice

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People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal.If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the "Taverne" license above, please follow below link for the End User Agreement:

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“…To our knowledge, this case is still pending (Duggan et al, 2021;Lu, 2021). Third, Zeigler (2022) reports that the case has not evoked "any discernible backlash"-likely because the victim had a criminal past, including an altercation with the perpetrator while incarcerated together in 2006-2007(Lu, 2021. Fourth, The Second Look Project, a DC advocacy group, now compiles success stories of those receiving release.…”

Section: E N D N O T E Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Public support for second look sentencing: Is there a Shawshank redemption effect?

Hannan

Cullen

Graham

et al. 2023

Criminology & Public Policy

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Research Summary Washington, DC has implemented second look sentencing. After serving a minimum of 15 years in prison, those convicted of a serious offense committed while under the age of 25 years can petition a judge to take a “second look” and potentially release them from incarceration. To examine both global and specific support for second look sentencing, we embedded experiments in a 2021 MTurk survey and in a follow‐up 2022 YouGov survey. Two key findings emerged. First, regardless of whether a crime was committed under 18 years or under 25 years of age, a majority of the public supported second look sentencing. Opposition to the policy was low, even for petitioners convicted of murder. Second, as revealed by vignette ratings, respondents were more likely to support release when a petitioner “signaled” their reform (e.g., completed a rehabilitation program, received a recommendation from the warden) and had the support of the victim (or their family). Policy Implications The critique of mass imprisonment has broadened from a focus on the level of incarceration to the inordinate length of sentences being served by some prisoners. Policies are being proposed to reconsider these long sentences and to provide opportunities for earned release. Second look sentencing in DC is one of these reforms. Our research suggests that many members of the public believe in a “Shawshank redemption” effect—that those committing serious crimes as a teenager or young adult can mature into a “different person” and warrant a second look, with the possibility of early release if they have earned it. A key issue is likely to be how much weight is accorded to the preference of victims or their families in any release decision.

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Public Views on Sentencing Juvenile Murderers

Cited by 33 publications

References 29 publications

Examining factors influencing sentencing decisions in school shootings

Examining factors influencing sentencing decisions in school shootings

The association of gender role attitudes and offense type with public punitiveness toward male and female offenders

Public support for second look sentencing: Is there a Shawshank redemption effect?

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