Committee Chair

Iles, Gale

Committee Member

Basham, Sherah; Dierenfeldt, Rick; McGuffee, Karen

Department

Dept. of Criminal Justice and Legal Assistant Studies

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Using the most recent data compiled by the United States Sentencing Commission and conducted within the conceptual framework of the focal concerns perspective, the current study investigates the impact of offender characteristics, case characteristics, and legally relevant factors on the sentencing outcomes of defendants sentenced under §2B1.1 of the federal sentencing guidelines. Results shows that while gender had no discernable influence on the probability of incarceration or the length of sentence, other demographics of the offender (race/ethnicity, age, and level of education) all emerged as statistically significant. Evidence of jurisdictional variation in sentencing was also detected. Consistent with the goals of sentencing reformers, legally relevant factors surfaced as the strongest determinants of sentencing outcomes. Policy implications and directions for future research are presented.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

12-2024

Subject

Discrimination in criminal justice administration; Sentences (Criminal procedure)--United States; White collar crime investigation; White collar crimes--Law and legislation

Keyword

White Collar; Economic Crime; Federal Sentencing; Extra-Legal; 2B1.1; Offense Based

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

vi, 76 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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