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Although research has examined the effectiveness of juvenile transfer on recidivism, there has been a lack of research done in assessing how well juvenile waiver to adult court meets the criteria necessary for deterrence to occur (i.e., certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment). The purpose of this study is to assess how well juvenile transfer meets these criteria, using data on 345 youths legislatively waived to adult court in Pennsylvania. The findings indicate that there is greater punishment severity in adult court, but there is no difference in punishment certainty between the two court systems. In addition, court processing occurred more quickly in juvenile court. In other words, only one element of deterrence theory is achieved with juvenile transfer. Implications for subsequent research and policy are discussed. (Contains 9 notes and 7 tables.)

The current study examines whether racial/ethnic threat theory can explain juvenile court outcomes. Specifically, we look at Black population threat and Latino population threat. We also introduce White population as a threat that can be incorporated into the theory. Using data from over 55,000 juvenile court cases in over 400 neighborhoods, we found mixed support racial/ethnic threat. Latino population threat had the greatest impact on juvenile court outcomes, while Black population threat and White population threat had less support and also findings that are inconsistent with the theory. Empirical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed along with directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study was to assess how well the liberation hypothesis explained sentencing decisions in Pennsylvania. Using eight years of data from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing (2009–2016), we tested for the liberation hypothesis through the interaction of race/ethnicity with legal factors (offense gravity score and prior record score). In using a hurdle count model, it combined a logistic regression to predict the incarceration decision and a zero-truncated negative binomial regression to predict positive counts (incarceration length). The results provide some support for the liberation hypothesis but also suggest that the sentencing decision is complex, and race likely interacts with multiple factors to influence outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines sentencing decisions for older defendants, and how legal and extralegal variables differently affect older defendants. Using data from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, the results indicate that defendants above the age of 50 are less likely to be sentenced to prison and jail and are more likely to be sentenced to a community sanction. For sentence length, however, those aged 50 and above receive significant longer jail sentences than those aged 18 to 29 and longer prison sentences than both those aged 30 to 49 and 18 to 29. The results also indicate that offense severity and prior record have a more negative effect on older defendants during the incarceration decision. During the sentence length decision, however, the opposite is found for the effect of offense severity. These findings are discussed and are used to make suggestions for future research and policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of juvenile status on sentencing in the adult criminal justice system. This study includes four years (2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006) of national level data from the State Court Processing Statistics. The sample is comprised of over 35,000 offenders who were convicted in criminal court. In using multilevel modeling, the results indicate that juveniles are punished both equally and more harshly than adults, depending on the age of the adults and the specific sentencing outcome. The findings are partially consistent with existing research that suggests a juvenile penalty at the sentencing stage of criminal court proceedings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined a national sample of more than 600 Black Americans and their views on bias in the American criminal justice system. The research found that 26% of the Black respondents did not believe there was bias in the American criminal justice system. To explore the segment of respondents holding these views, we separated the sample into Blacks who believe there is bias in the system (referred to as the discrimination thesis or DT supporters) and those who opposed this belief (referred to as the no-discrimination thesis or NDT supporters). The NDT supporters were more likely to be younger, male, less educated, and have lower income than those respondents who supported the DT. NDT supporters were also more likely to believe that Blacks and Whites had equal job opportunities, have more confidence in the police, and believe that racism was not widespread. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There has been research conducted which focused on the topic of juvenile transfer to adult court. However, less research has been done focusing on the effectiveness of juvenile transfer in reducing recidivism for transferred offenders. Of the research that has been done, most may not have adequately addressed selection bias. The current study investigates the impact of juvenile transfer on subsequent recidivism, using an eight-year follow-up period. The research is based on 308 violent youth legislatively waived to adult court in Pennsylvania. Propensity score matching is used to minimize the impact of selection bias, and sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the effect of hidden bias on the results. The findings indicate that youth processed in juvenile court have a higher recidivism rate than youth processed in adult court. Implications for subsequent research and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research has examined the effectiveness of juvenile transfer on recidivism, there has been a lack of research done in assessing how well juvenile waiver to adult court meets the criteria necessary for deterrence to occur (i.e., certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment). The purpose of this study is to assess how well juvenile transfer meets these criteria, using data on 345 youths legislatively waived to adult court in Pennsylvania. The findings indicate that there is greater punishment severity in adult court, but there is no difference in punishment certainty between the two court systems. In addition, court processing occurred more quickly in juvenile court. In other words, only one element of deterrence theory is achieved with juvenile transfer. Implications for subsequent research and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have examined the effects of race and ethnicity on the sentences of adult offenders in the criminal court. The findings of these studies often show that race and ethnicity influence defendants' sentencing outcomes. Few studies, however, have examined how race and ethnicity influence juvenile defendants sentenced in the adult criminal justice system. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to determine how race and ethnicity affect the sentences of juveniles, utilizing a national dataset of youth convicted of a felony in adult court. The findings suggest that race and ethnicity do impact the sentencing outcomes of convicted youthful offenders. In addition, the results suggest that the combination of race and other factors (i.e., interactions) has an effect on sentencing. Implications for subsequent research also are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores citizens' views on racial profiling at airports. A recent Gallup poll allowed for analyses of the perception of Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites concerning whether they felt racial profiling at airports was widespread and/or justified. Multivariate analyses revealed that Blacks were more likely than Whites to believe profiling at airports was widespread. There were, however, no differences between the opinions of Whites and Hispanics on the extent of profiling in airports. Racial and ethnic minorities were less likely than Whites to believe that profiling at airports was justified. The implications of the results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of certain variables on attitudes towards the insanity defense (AID). The variables employed were gender, race, years in profession, number of insanity cases, ideology (conservative-liberal continuum) and profession (assistant district attorney, public defender and mental health professional). Surveys were mailed to 278 subjects in an urban area of Pennsylvania, with a response rate of 38 percent. Quantitative analysis found that race and profession were the only variables that had a significant impact on AID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]