Title
The Effect of Blakely v. Washington on Upward Departures in a Sentencing Guideline State
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2008
Abstract
One of the problems facing the criminal justice system is unwarranted disparity as a result of unbridled discretion. Although disparity, by itself, does not necessarily indicate a problem in the criminal justice system, disparity unwarranted does present a problem. Disparity becomes unwarranted when, controlling for legal factors, extralegal factors such as race/ethnicity, gender, and age influence court processing decisions. The greater the discretion one possesses, the higher the likelihood of unwarranted disparity in one’s decisions (Albonetti, 1991; Meeker, Jesilow, & Aranda, 1992; Bushway & Piehl, 2001). Within the criminal court system, judicial discretion in sentencing has received the most scrutiny.
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Comments
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 24 (4), 2008. SAGE Publications, Inc., All rights reserved. doi: 10.1177/1043986208319731