Abstract
Although sentencing of drug offenders in federal courts is complicated by minimum penalties, which trump the guidelines, the mandatory penalties can be avoided if offenders receive substantial assistance departures. Nagel and Schulhofer contend that substantial assistance departures are used to mitigate the sentences of "sympathetic" and "salvageable" offenders. The authors tested this contention, using data on drug offenders facing mandatory minimum sentences in three U.S. district courts. Results reveal that substantial assistance departures are used to reduce the sentences of certain types of offenders facing mandatory minimum penalties: females, U.S. citizens, employed persons, those with some college, those with dependent children, and those who played a minor or minimal role in the offense. Findings also revealed that racial-ethnic differences among male offenders were masked by the racial-ethnic similarities among female offenders in the full model and that the effect of gender was confined to Black and Hispanic offenders.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 308-332 |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| Journal | Criminal Justice and Behavior |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2012 |
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Keywords
- departures
- federal sentencing guidelines
- mandatory minimum penalties
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine
- Psychology(all)
- Law
Cite this
Circumventing the penalty for offenders facing mandatory minimums : Revisiting the dynamics of "sympathetic" and "salvageable" offenders. / Cano, Mario V.; Spohn, Cassia.
In: Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 39, No. 3, 03.2012, p. 308-332.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Circumventing the penalty for offenders facing mandatory minimums
T2 - Revisiting the dynamics of "sympathetic" and "salvageable" offenders
AU - Cano, Mario V.
AU - Spohn, Cassia
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - Although sentencing of drug offenders in federal courts is complicated by minimum penalties, which trump the guidelines, the mandatory penalties can be avoided if offenders receive substantial assistance departures. Nagel and Schulhofer contend that substantial assistance departures are used to mitigate the sentences of "sympathetic" and "salvageable" offenders. The authors tested this contention, using data on drug offenders facing mandatory minimum sentences in three U.S. district courts. Results reveal that substantial assistance departures are used to reduce the sentences of certain types of offenders facing mandatory minimum penalties: females, U.S. citizens, employed persons, those with some college, those with dependent children, and those who played a minor or minimal role in the offense. Findings also revealed that racial-ethnic differences among male offenders were masked by the racial-ethnic similarities among female offenders in the full model and that the effect of gender was confined to Black and Hispanic offenders.
AB - Although sentencing of drug offenders in federal courts is complicated by minimum penalties, which trump the guidelines, the mandatory penalties can be avoided if offenders receive substantial assistance departures. Nagel and Schulhofer contend that substantial assistance departures are used to mitigate the sentences of "sympathetic" and "salvageable" offenders. The authors tested this contention, using data on drug offenders facing mandatory minimum sentences in three U.S. district courts. Results reveal that substantial assistance departures are used to reduce the sentences of certain types of offenders facing mandatory minimum penalties: females, U.S. citizens, employed persons, those with some college, those with dependent children, and those who played a minor or minimal role in the offense. Findings also revealed that racial-ethnic differences among male offenders were masked by the racial-ethnic similarities among female offenders in the full model and that the effect of gender was confined to Black and Hispanic offenders.
KW - departures
KW - federal sentencing guidelines
KW - mandatory minimum penalties
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84856828349&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/0093854811431419
DO - 10.1177/0093854811431419
M3 - Article
VL - 39
SP - 308
EP - 332
JO - Criminal Justice and Behavior
JF - Criminal Justice and Behavior
SN - 0093-8548
IS - 3
ER -