How Do Judges Decide?

Cassia Spohn is School Director and Foundation Professor of Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. She is the author of several books, including The Color of Justice: Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America (with Sam Walker and Miriam DeLone) and How Do Judges Decide? The Search for Fairness and Equity in Sentencing. She has published a number of articles examining prosecutors’ charging decisions in sexual assault cases and exploring the effect of race/ethnicity on charging and sentencing decisions. Her current research interests include the effect of race and gender on court processing decisions, victim characteristics and case outcomes in sexual assault cases, judicial decision making, sentencing of drug offenders, and the deterrent effect of imprisonment. In 1999, she was awarded the University of Nebraska Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award.

"It is the most comprehensive analysis of sentencing practices in the United States in general, and of how judges decide in particular.  It provides ample statistics of the realities of punishment and provides readers with the conclusions from several decades of research investigating judicial discretion."

• CHAPTER 1: THE GOALS OF SENTENCINGWhy Punish?How Much To Punish?Theories of Punishment and Judges′ Sentencing DecisionsConclusionCHAPTER TWO: THE SENTENCING PROCESSThe Judge′s Options at SentencingSentencing as a Collaborative ExerciseThe Sentencing ProcessCHAPTER 3: HOW DO JUDGES DECIDE?Modeling the Sentencing ProcessSentencing and Case AttributesSentencing and Characteristics of the JudgeHow do Judges Decide?CHAPTER 4: SENTENCING DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION: A FOCUS ON GENDERTypes of Sentencing DiscriminationGender Disparity in SentencingDisparity and Discrimination in SentencingCHAPTER 5: SENTENCING DISPARITY AND DISCRIMINATION: A FOCUS ON RACE/ETHNICITYRacial Disparity in SentencingRace and Judges′ Sentencing DecisionsRace and the Death Penalty: A Failed Experiment?Justice From the Bench?CHAPTER 6: THE SENTENCING REFORM MOVEMENTStructured Sentencing ReformsPresumptive Sentencing GuidelinesMandatory Minimum Sentencing StatutesThree-Strikes-and-You′re Out LawsTruth in Sentencing LawsThree Decades of ReformCHAPTER 7: THE IMPACT OF SENTENCING REFORMSHave Sentencing Reforms Led to More Punitive Sentences?Have Sentencing Reforms Led to a Reduction in Crime?Have Sentencing Reforms Reduced Disparity and Discrimination?Assessing the Impact of the Sentencing Reform Movement