Counting the Cost of Sentencing in North Carolina, 1980-2000

Bibliographic Data

ID11349201
AuthorsRonald F Wright (0009-0005-3591-9521, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume29
Pages39-112
Publication date2002-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCrime and Justice (BOOK_SERIES)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0192-3234 • E-ISSN: 2153-0416
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/652219
OpenAlexW3124577362
LanguageEN
Citations received14

North Carolina's Fair Sentencing Act of 1979 emphasized the need to reduce sentence disparities. Because the statute lacked any enforcement mechanism, judges reverted to earlier practices within five years. In the Structured Sentencing Act of 1993, legislators put concerns about disparity to the side and concentrated on changing the state's prison use priorities. The new law lengthened prison terms for violent crimes and assigned more property offenders to nonprison sanctions. It also guided judicial choices among "intermediate" and "community" punishments for lesser crimes. Tight controls on judges made it possible to match corrections resources to sentencing practices. The intended effects took hold during the first five years. Judges imposed longer prison terms for violent crimes and sentenced a larger proportion of property felons to intermediate and community sanctions. The longer-term effects may prove more difficult to manage. Appellate judges have remained uninvolved in sentencing policy; no "common law" of sentencing is developing. Prosecutors are dismissing and discounting more charges while at the same time obtaining more serious felony convictions overall

Criminology · Deterrence (psychology · Enforcement · Law enforcement · Political science · Prison · Sanctions · Sentence · Sentencing guidelines · State (computer science · Statute · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Psychology

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