DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03403.v1
title: Sentencing Practices and Time Served in the District of Columbia Prior to Truth in Sentencing, 1993-1998
title: Version 1

description: This study collected data on felony sentencing practices in
 the District of Columbia during the period 1993 to 1998. Data are
 provided on (1) the characteristics of felons sentenced by the
 District of Columbia Superior Court (DCSC), (2) the types, lengths,
 and variations of sentences imposed, (3) the length of time served in
 prison by those committed into the DC Department of Corrections
 (DCDOC), and (4) parole release decisions. And the study also
 attempted to assess the potential effects of new sentencing practices
 implemented in response to the National Capital Revitalization and
 Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 and the Truth in Sentencing
 Amendment Act of 1998. Data were obtained from several DC criminal
 justice agencies, including DC Superior Court, the Pretrial Services
 Agency, the DC Department of Corrections, and the DC Parole
 Commission. The records of individual defendants were linked across
 these databases to the extent possible, and an integrated database on
 felony case processing in the District was created in order to use the
 unique information from each system to create defendant-level or
 person-level records that contained more information about cases than
 could be obtained from any one system. The process also involved
 linking records within an agency's data system for the purposes of
 obtaining the history of contacts with an agency or for the purpose of
 aggregating charge-level information into summary data for a docket or
 commitment. The final database consists of three files. Part 1 (Felony
 Docket Data) includes sentencing information on all felony dockets
 sentenced in DCSC between January 1993 and December 1998. Part 2
 (Commitments Data) includes sentencing and time served information on
 all offenders who were committed to the DCDOC between January 1990 and
 December 1998. Part 3 (Decisions Data) includes all decisions made by
 the parole board on all types of considerations between January 1993
 and December 1998. Part 1 variables provide defendant demographic
 characteristics (including age, race, and sex), offense type codes
 (for the defendant's most serious offense), type of sentence (prison
 only, probation only, split, or fine) and the sentence imposed
 (including whether the defendant was sentenced to life). During the
 period under study, the District of Columbia followed an indeterminate
 sentencing system, and so the data file includes minimum and maximum
 periods where applicable (for example, confinement). The data include
 information pertaining to the most serious offense at conviction as
 well as aggregated sentence information on all felony charges on a
 docket (in case there were multiple charges). Part 2 variables include
 dates (of disposition, charging, and release), type of release from
 the DCDOC within that time period (including transfer to the Federal
 Bureau of Prisons facilities, release on parole, release upon
 completion of imposed term, transfer to escape status, and whether the
 offender had not yet been released by December 1998), in-prison parole
 hearing/decision information (including number of initial hearings,
 number of decisions, number of grants, and whether a parole release
 decision was granted at the initial hearing while on this commitment),
 prior criminal history (including number of prior prison sentences and
 the number of prior drug, violent, weapon, and property convictions in
 the last 15 years), current commitment sentencing information
 (including number of felony, misdemeanor, or split charges, most
 serious charge of conviction, and the sentence imposed on the most
 serious charge as well as the aggregate sentencing imposed on all
 charges of conviction), and the time served by the offender prior to
 release (with and without the amount of credit given for jail time
 prior to conviction). This file also identifies several problem flags
 that need to be taken into account before analyzing the data in order
 to select out problem cases (with data entry or computation
 errors). Part 3 variables include the date (year, month) of the
 hearing, up to four considerations being decided on, up to six
 decisions that were made for these considerations, six flags
 indicating the types of considerations that were included in the
 hearing, and two flags indicating the types of decisions that were
included in the current hearing.
description: This study collected data on felony sentencing
 practices in the District of Columbia during the period 1993 to
 1998. Data are provided on (1) the characteristics of felons sentenced
 by the District of Columbia Superior Court (DCSC), (2) the types,
 lengths, and variations of sentences imposed, (3) the length of stay
 served in prison by those committed into the DC Department of
 Corrections (DCDOC), and (4) parole release decisions. And the study
 also attempted to assess the potential effects of new sentencing
 practices implemented in response to the National Capital
 Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997. To begin
 implementation of the new law, the Revitalization Act established the
 District of Columbia Truth in Sentencing Commission and directed it to
 make recommendations to the Council of the District of Columbia for
 amendments to the District of Columbia Code with respect to the
 sentences to be imposed for felonies committed on or after August 5,
 2000. The principal effect of these changes was to convert the
 District's sentencing system for all subsection (h) felonies from an
 indeterminate system of minimum and maximum prison terms, with parole,
 to a determinate system with a single prison term imposed, at least 85
 percent of which the defendant would be required to serve. In response
 to this mandate, the Council enacted the Advisory Commission on
 Sentencing Establishment Act of 1998, establishing the District of
 Columbia Advisory Commission on Sentencing (DCACS) and delineating its
 role. The DCACS was assigned to conduct a comprehensive study of
 criminal sentencing practices in the District of Columbia,
 specifically addressing the following matters: (1) the length of
 sentences imposed, (2) the length of sentences served, (3) the
 proportion of offenders released upon their first parole eligibility
 date, and (4) an assessment of the impact on sentence length and
 sentencing disparities likely to result from the implementation of DC
 Law 12-165, the Truth in Sentencing Amendment Act of 1998. As part of
 this effort, the Urban Institute constructed a database of felony case
processing in the District during the 1993 to 1998 period.
description: The Urban Institute's (UI) data collection and
 analysis were designed in part to assist the DCACS in meeting their
 requirements to report on sentencing practices to the District of
 Columbia Council. Specifically, the DCACS was required to report on
 sentence lengths, time served, and parole releases in a September 30,
 1999, report, and to make recommendations about the new sentencing law
 in an April 2000 report. Beginning in late February of 1999, the UI
 staff met with officials from the DC Superior Court (DCSC), the
 Pretrial Services Agency (PSA), the DC Department of Corrections
 (DCDOC), and the District of Columbia Board of Parole to request and
 learn about their data systems. During March, April, and May of 1999,
 these agencies submitted extracts of their data. For each agency
 except the DCDOC, several extracts were submitted to provide complete
 data. Eventually, the DCSC, PSA, and DCDOC provided data extracts
 covering defendants in felony cases from 1978 to 1998, and the DC
 parole data extract covered parole decisions from about 1990 (when
 their electronic database was developed) through 1998. Agency staff
 were helpful in explaining their data systems, although written
 documentation about the data was relatively sparse. Upon receipt of
 source data, UI staff reviewed and analyzed data for completeness. In
 some cases, these preliminary reviews resulted in UI requesting
 additional or different extracts of data. The UI staff met with the
 DCACS several times to address key definitional issues, such as (1)
 selecting a most serious offense, (2) offense classification methods,
 and (3) measuring time served. The resulting database consists of
 three files. Part 1 (Felony Docket Data) includes sentencing
 information on all felony dockets sentenced in DCSC between January
 1993 and December 1998. Part 2 (Commitments Data) includes sentencing
 and time served information for all offenders who were committed to the
 DCDOC between January 1990 and December 1998. Part 3 (Decisions Data)
 includes all decisions made by the parole board on all types of
considerations between January 1993 and December 1998.
description: Part 1 variables provide defendant demographic
 characteristics (including age, race, and sex), offense type codes
 (for the defendant's most serious offense), type of sentence (prison
 only, probation only, split, or fine) and the sentence imposed
 (including whether the defendant was sentenced to life). During the
 period under study, the District of Columbia followed an indeterminate
 sentencing system, and so the data file includes minimum and maximum
 periods where applicable (for example, confinement). The data include
 information pertaining to the most serious offense at conviction as
 well as aggregated sentence information on all felony charges on a
 docket (in case there were multiple charges). Part 2 variables include
 dates (of disposition, charging, and release), type of release from
 the DCDOC within that time period (including transfer to the Federal
 Bureau of Prisons facilities, release on parole, release upon
 completion of imposed term, transfer to escape status, and whether the
 offender had not yet been released by December 1998), in-prison parole
 hearing/decision information (including number of initial hearings,
 number of decisions, number of grants, and whether a parole release
 decision was granted at the initial hearing while on this commitment),
 prior criminal history (including number of prior prison sentences and
 the number of prior drug, violent, weapon, and property convictions in
 the last 15 years), current commitment sentencing information
 (including number of felony, misdemeanor, or split charges, most
 serious charge of conviction, and the sentence imposed on the most
 serious charge as well as the aggregate sentencing imposed on all
 charges of conviction), and the time served by the offender prior to
 release (with and without the amount of credit given for jail time
 prior to conviction). This file also identifies several problem flags
 that need to be taken into account before analyzing the data in order
 to select out problem cases (with data entry or computation
 errors). Part 3 variables include the date (year, month) of the
 hearing, up to four considerations being decided on, up to six
 decisions that were made for these considerations, six flags
 indicating the types of considerations that were included in the
 hearing, and two flags indicating the types of decisions that were
included in the current hearing.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Felony Docket Data
DS2: Commitments Data
DS3: Decisions Data
description: All felony defendants sentenced in Washington, DC, courts 
from 1993 to 1998.
description: (1) In Part 2 the time served on a commitment may not
 be comparable with the sentence that was imposed on the current
 commitment. This is because the offender may have been on parole at
 the time he/she began a new commitment so that the total time served
 in prison may exceed the time the defendant was sentenced to
 serve. Similarly, the defendant may have previously been placed on an
 escape status and may hence be serving the remainder of an existing
 sentence in addition to the currently imposed sanctions. In order to
 best approximate these effects, two dummy variables are provided in
 the dataset. BACKUP is a dummy variable indicating that the defendant
 owed some backup time prior to entering DCDOC on this commitment,
 while ESCAPE indicates that the prisoner had escaped prior to this
 commitment. (2) The user guide, codebook, and data collection
 instruments are provided by ICPSR as Portable Document Format (PDF)
 files. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated
 and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe
 Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat
Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.