Criminal Records and Reoffending

• In Event: Impacts of Criminal Legal Contact

Abstract

While there is extensive research on the effects of incarceration on reoffending, we know relatively little about how convictions and the mark of a criminal record affect reoffending. Using data on over 250,000 misdemeanor and felony charges in Tampa Bay, Florida from 2000-2024 and leveraging the as-if random assignment of judges with varying levels of leniency, I estimate the effect of a conviction — relative to a deferred adjudication (a finding of guilt without a conviction) — reoffending. I find that misdemeanor convictions have large criminogenic effects, substantially increasing the likelihood of future, more serious crime. This effect is concentrated among individuals with no prior convictions suggesting that reoffending is driven by the consequences of a conviction on one’s record. These results point to criminal records as a key mechanism through which the criminal justice system perpetuates future criminal behavior. By imposing lasting barriers to employment, education, and housing, convictions may push individuals toward recidivism rather than rehabilitation. The findings underscore the value of mitigating the lasting consequences of criminal records and the margins at which policies designed to do this are most beneficial (e.g. misdemeanor versus felony convictions). 

Analysis for felony convictions is currently in progress. 

Author

• Jacob Harris, University of Alabama
  Presenting Author