Selecting career criminals for priority prosecution, 1984-1986
Subtitle: Los Angeles county, California and Middlesex county, Massachusetts
By: principal investigator, Marcia R. Chaiken
Series: ICPSR -- 8980; ICPSR (Series) -- 8980
Publisher: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor
Published: 1986
Place of publication: Ann Arbor, Mich
Language: und
Format: [computer file] :
Subjects: Prosecution; Decision making; Recidivists
Description: Collection of these data was undertaken in order to develop offender classification criteria that could be used to identify career criminals for priority prosecution. In addition to the crime records obtained from official sources and defendants' self-reports, information about prosecutors' discretionary judgments on sampled cases was obtained from interviews of prosecutors and case review forms completed by attorneys. Respondent and nonrespondent files, taken from official court records, contain information on current and past records of offenses committed, arrests, dispositions, sentences, parole and probation histories, substance abuse records, juvenile court appearances, criminal justice practitioners' assessments, and demographic characteristics. The prosecutor interview files contain variables relating to prosecutors' opinions on the seriousness of the defendant's case, subjective criteria used to decide suitability for prosecution, and case status at intake stage. Information obtained from prosecutors' case review forms include defendants' prior records and situational variables related to the charged offenses. The self-report files contain data on the defendants' employment histories, substance abuse and criminal records, sentence and confinement histories, and basic socioeconomic characteristics.
Notes: Holding archive: Criminal Justice Archive and Information Network.

ICPSR data class: Class IV.

Chronological coverage: 1984-1986. Data collected: 1984-1986.

Official court records, questionnaires, and case review forms.

Survey data, and event/transaction data.

Los Angeles county, California and Middlesex county, Massachusetts.

United States Department of Justice. National Institute of Justice. 84-IJ-CX-0055.

Card image data format. In the self-report surveys of defendants, multiple indicators were included to assess reliability of responses. Data on Los Angeles nonrespondents were also collected to examine the possible response bias.

Part number: 1 ; part name: Respondent: Los Angeles County 1 ; file structure: rectangular ; case count: 84 ; variable count: 416 ; LRECL: 80 ; records per case: 53.

Part number: 2 ; part name: Nonrespondent: Los Angeles County 1 ; file structure: rectangular ; case count: 1 ; variable count: 416 ; LRECL: 80 ; records per case: 53.

Part number: 3 ; part name: Respondent: Los Angeles County 2 ; file structure: rectangular ; case count: 200 ; variable count: 399 ; LRECL: 80 ; records per case: 51.

Part number: 4 ; part name: Nonrespondent: Los Angeles County 2 ; file structure: rectangular ; case count: 26 ; variable count: 399 ; LRECL: 80 ; records per case: 51.

Part number: 5 ; part name: Respondent: Middlesex County ; file structure: rectangular ; case count: 190 ; variable count: 391 ; LRECL: 80 ; records per case: 51.

Part number: 6 ; part name: Prosecutors: Los Angeles County ; file structure: rectangular ; case count: 298 ; variable count: 7 ; LRECL: 80 ; records per case: 1.

Part number: 7 ; part name: Prosecutors: Middlesex County ; file structure: rectangular ; case count: 181 ; variable count: 48 ; LRECL: 80 ; records per case: 6.

Part number: 8 ; part name: Self Response: Los Angeles County ; file structure: rectangular ; case count: 298 ; variable count: 377 ; LRECL: 80 ; records per case: 10.

Part number: 9 ; part name: Self Response: Middlesex County ; file structure: rectangular ; case count: 202 ; variable count: 377 ; LRECL: 80 ; records per case: 10.

The sample was a random subset of male priority prosecuted defendants not prosecuted as career criminals but originally charged with such crimes as homicide, burglary, and robbery.

Universe: All males prosecuted in Los Angeles County and Middlesex County for burglary, homicide, and robbery between 1984 and 1986.

Chaiken, Marcia R., and Jan M. Chaiken. Selecting career criminals for priority prosecution. (Unpublished final report submitted to the National Institute of Justice, 1987.)