The Influence of Contextual Factors on Capital Sentencing Outcomes for Female Offenders

• In Event: Variation in Capital Case Outcomes

Abstract

The study examines the influence that county-level contextual factors have on capital sentencing outcomes for female offenders. The study utilizes population data from the North Carolina Capital Sentencing Project as well as county-level contextual data from the North Carolina County Characteristic Project. In order to examine the extent that extra-legal factors affect capital sentencing verdicts, the study uses hierarchical linear modeling.

Authors

• Catherine Law, University of South Florida

• John Cochran, University of South Florida

• Christian Jordan Howell, University of South Florida

• Caitlyn Meade, University of South Florida

• M. Dwayne Smith, University of South Florida

• Sondra Fogel, University of South Florida

• Beth Bjerregaard, University of North Carolina at Charlotte