Low-Level Leniency: The Recidivism Impacts of Diversion for low-level Traffic Offenses

• In Event: Impacts of Criminal Legal Contact

Abstract

Low-level misdemeanor traffic offenses are very common and lead many people to have criminal records.  One large jurisdiction implemented a diversion program that allowed individuals charged with driving with a suspended license to clear their suspension and then they would drop the case, leaving the individual without a criminal record.  We leverage a synthetic-DiD-IV design where the post-policy period serves as an instrument for getting diversion, and other crime types serve as control groups for those charged with suspended license crimes.  We find that this leniency does not cause decreases in recidivism; this appears to be driven by the fact that "control" defendants tend to receive infraction pleas which already do not lead to criminal records.

Author

• Amanda Yvonne Agan, Cornell University
  Presenting Author