The Effects of Judges' Personal Attributes on Sentencing in State Criminal Cases
Open Access
Author:
Gorman, Kelsey
Area of Honors:
International Politics
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Matthew Richard Golder, Thesis Supervisor Jeffrey Todd Ulmer, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
sentencing judges Pennsylvania gender legal experience political orientation incarceration departure from guidelines
Abstract:
This thesis attempts to analyze how different personal attributes of judges, namely, judges’ sex, political orientation, years served on bench, and prior legal experience, influence sentencing outcomes in Pennsylvania criminal cases. I analyze the sentence imposed by measuring whether or not incarceration was included in the sentence, and if so the length of incarceration (in months), and whether the sentence departed above or below the guideline recommendations. Unique to this thesis, is that, rather than relying on archival and biographical data to interpret judicial personal attributes, I utilize survey data administered to Pennsylvania judges in the Court of Common Pleas. The survey data is from 2019 and the sentencing data being analyzed is from 2017-2018.
