Investigating the Effects of the Financial Collapse on Sentencing Practices in North Carolina

• In Event: Examining the Courtroom Workgroup and Sentencing Practices

Abstract

This study uses data from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety/Division of Adult Corrections from 2000-2012 to investigate whether the economic collapse of 2008 led courtroom workgroups to more resource-conscience sentencing practices in the form of greater intermediate sanctions rather than active incarceration sentences and shorter lengths of stay for those who were sentenced to prison. According to leading theories on sentencing and the courts, including the courts as communities theoretical perspective and focal concerns theory, courtroom workgroup decision-making is affected by external influences including resource constraints. The decades-long expansion of incarceration coupled with the financial collapse of 2008 left the states in dire economic shape—particularly with respect to corrections expenditures. Although North Carolina did not formally attempt to enact more budget-friendly sentencing practices, we explore whether workgroups informally changed sentencing patterns to reflect the new fiscal circumstances.

Authors

• Catherine D. Marcum, Appalachian State University

• Rhys Hester, Robina Institute, Univ. of Minnesota Law School