Plea Bargaining in Wisconsin: Prosecutor Effects on Charge Reductions and Sentencing Outcomes

• In Event: Understanding Guilty Pleas: New and Innovative Research on Guilty Pleas in State Courts

Abstract

Researchers have recognized the importance of developing a more complete understanding of the sentencing process by examining the effects of judicial characteristics on sentencing outcomes. Similar developments, however, have been largely absent in the study of prosecutorial decision making. Although roughly 90 to 95 percent of criminal convictions are the result of plea bargains, the role of prosecutor characteristics on sentencing outcomes remains little understood. The current study uses multilevel modeling to test the effects of case-level and prosecutor-level measures on charge reductions and sentencing outcomes in Wisconsin. The study relies on court case management data for roughly 13,000 felony and misdemeanor drug cases prosecuted in Wisconsin state courts in 2012.

Author

• Don Stemen, Loyola University, Chicago