Date of Award
1-1-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.C.J. in Criminal Justice
First Advisor
Kimberly A. Kaiser
Second Advisor
Laura Beckman
Third Advisor
Francis Boateng
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
The concept of plea bargaining was not compractice until the nineteenth century (Langbein, 1978; Alschuler, 1979). Before that time, criminal defendants lacked representation in the court, leaving the judge to determine sentencing and punishment. Plea bargaining has become the prominent practice, with around 90% of cases, state and federal, resulting in a plea (Rabin, 1972; Lagoy, Senna, & Siegel, 1976; Alschuler, 1979; Alschuler, 1983; Scott & Stuntz, 1992; Schulhofer, 1992; Starkweather, 1992; Ross, 2006; Silveira, 2017). The concept of plea bargaining is inevitably accompanied by discretion, specifically prosecutorial discretion. Prosecutorial discretion grants prosecutors power in deciding what charges they would seek against suspects and penalties associated with the crime(s) (Welling, 1987). Sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimums have affected how prosecutors are able to use their discretion. Previous literature concerning plea bargaining and prosecutorial discretion fails to discuss the difference in usage of plea bargaining between crime types (violent and nonviolent), specifically in cases dealing with multiple charges as well as the moderating effect of defendant characteristics on the relationship between plea bargaining and crime type.. The purpose of this paper is to close the previously mentioned gaps in the literature by determining if plea bargaining is utilized more often in cases against defendants who have committed violent crime or nonviolent crime and to uncover the moderating effect of defendant characteristics on the relationship between plea bargaining and crime type.
Recommended Citation
Howley, Caitlin Marie, "Examining The Moderating Effects Of Defendant Characteristics On The Relationship Between Crime Type And Prosecutorial Decision Making" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1926.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/1926