Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-f46jp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-09T16:07:25.835Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Blended Sentencing Laws and the Punitive Turn in Juvenile Justice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Shelly S. Schaefer  and
Christopher Uggen
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In many states, young people today can receive a “blended” combination of both a juvenile sanction and an adult criminal sentence. We ask what accounts for the rise of blended sentencing in juvenile justice and whether this trend parallels crime control developments in the adult criminal justice system. We use event history analysis to model state adoption of blended sentencing laws from 1985 to 2008, examining the relative influence of social, political, administrative, and economic factors. We find that states with high unemployment, greater prosecutorial discretion, and disproportionate rates of African American incarceration are most likely to pass blended sentencing provisions. This suggests that the turn toward blended sentencing largely parallels the punitive turn in adult sentencing and corrections—and that theory and research on adult punishment productively extends to developments in juvenile justice.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , Spring 2016 , pp. 435 - 463
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Allison, Paul D. 1984. Event History Analysis: Regression for Longitudinal Event Data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Amnesty International. n.d. Death Penalty by State. http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/death-penalty-in-states/page.do?id=1101153 (accessed July 16, 2015).Google Scholar
Baird, S. Christopher. 1985. Classifying Juveniles: Making the Most of an Important Management Tool. Corrections Today February:32–38.Google Scholar
Baird, S. Christopher, Gregory, Storrs, and Helen, Connelly. 1984. Classification of Juveniles in Corrections: A Model Systems Approach. Washington, DC: Arthur D. Little Incorporated.Google Scholar
Beckett, Katherine, and Steve, Herbert. 2010. Banished: The New Social Control in Urban America. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Beckett, Katherine, and Theodore, Sasson. 2000. The War on Crime as Hegemonic Strategy: A Neo‐Marxian Theory of the New Punitiveness in U.S. Criminal Justice Policy. In Of Crime and Criminality, ed. Simpson, Sally S., 61–85. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge.Google Scholar
Bernard, Thomas. 1992. The Cycle of Juvenile Justice. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bishop, Donna. 2000. Juvenile Offenders in the Adult Criminal Justice System. Crime and Justice 27:81–167.Google Scholar
Bishop, Donna, Frazier, Charles E., Lanza‐Kaduce, Lonn, and Lawrence, Winnter. 1996. The Transfer of Juveniles to Criminal Court: Does It Make a Difference. Crime & Delinquency 42:171–91.Google Scholar
Blumstein, Alfred. 1995. Youth Violence, Guns, and the Illicit‐Drug Industry. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 86:10–36.Google Scholar
Brown, Joe M., and Sorensen, Jon R. 2012. Legal and Extra‐Legal Factors Related to the Imposition of Blended Sentences. Criminal Justice Policy Review 25 (2): 227–41.Google Scholar
Butts, Jeffrey. 1997. Delinquency Cases Waived to Criminal Court, 1985–1994. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.Google Scholar
Cheesman, Fred, Thomas, Cohen, Denise, Dancy, Matthew, Kleiman, and Nicole, Mott. 2002. Blended Sentencing in Minnesota: On Target for Justice and Public Safety? An Evaluation. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.Google Scholar
Cheesman, Fred, and Nicole, Waters. 2008. Who Gets a Second Chance? An Investigation of Ohio's Blended Juvenile Sentence. Paper presented at the Conference of Empirical Legal Studies, May 15, 2008, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Chiricos, Theodore. 2004. The Media, Moral Panic and the Politics of Crime Control. In Criminal Justice: Law and Politics, ed. Cole, George, Gertz, Marc, and Bunger, Amy, 41–61, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Press.Google Scholar
Chiricos, Theodore, and Delone, Miriam. 1992. Labor Surplus and Punishment: A Review of Assessment of Theory and Evidence. Social Problems 39:421–46.Google Scholar
Clear, Todd R., and Frost, Natasha A. 2013. The Punishment Imperative: The Rise and Failure of Mass Incarceration in America. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, Stanley. 1972. Moral Panics and Folk Devils. London: McGibbon and Kee.Google Scholar
Dawson, Robert. 1988. The Third Justice System: The New Juvenile‐Criminal System of Determinate Sentencing for the Youthful Violent Offender in Texas. St. Mary's Law Journal 19:943–1016.Google Scholar
Dawson, Robert. 2000. Judicial Waiver in Theory and Practice. In The Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice: Transfer of Adolescents to the Criminal Court, ed. Fagan, J. and Zimring, F., 45–82. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Durkheim, Emile. [1893] 1933. The Division of Labor in Society. Trans. G. Simpson. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Enns, Peter K. 2014. The Public's Increasing Punitiveness and its Influence on Mass Incarceration in the United States. American Journal of Political Science 58:857–72.Google Scholar
Fagan, Jeffrey. 2008. Juvenile Crime and Criminal Justice: Resolving Border Disputes. Future of Children 18:81–118.Google Scholar
Feeley, Malcolm, and Simon, Jonathan. 1992. The New Penology: Notes on the Emerging Strategy of Corrections and Its Implications. Criminology 30:449–74.Google Scholar
Feld, Barry. 1991. Justice by Geography: Urban, Suburban, and Rural Variations in Juvenile Justice Administration. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 82:156–210.Google Scholar
Feld, Barry. 1995. Violent Youth and Public Policy: A Case Study of Juvenile Justice Law Reform. Minnesota Law Review 79:965–1128.Google Scholar
Feld, Barry. 1999. Bad Kids: Race and the Transformation of the Juvenile Court. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Feld, Barry. 2003. Race, Politics, and Juvenile Justice: The Warren Court and the Conservative “Backlash.” Minnesota Law Review 87:1447–1578.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel. 1977. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel. 1978. 1, Piere Riviere. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel. 1980. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972–77. New York: Pantheon.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel. 1990. Politics, Philosophy, Culture: Interviews and Other Writings, 1977–1984, New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fox, James A. 1996. Trends in Juvenile Violence: A Report to the United States Attorney General on Current and Future Rates of Juvenile Offending, March. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Department of Justice.Google Scholar
Frazier, Charles. 1989. Preadjudicatory Detention. In Juvenile Justice: Policies, Programs, and Services, ed. Roberts, A., 143–68. Chicago, IL: Dorsey Press.Google Scholar
Garland, David. 1990a. Frameworks of Inquiry in the Sociology of Punishment. British Journal of Sociology 41:1–15.Google Scholar
Garland, David. 1990b. Punishment and Modern Society: A Study in Social Theory. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Garland, David. 1991. Sociological Perspectives on Punishment. Crime and Justice 14:115–65.Google Scholar
Garland, David. 2001. The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
General Accounting Office. 1995. Juvenile Justice: Juveniles Processed in Criminal Court and Case Dispositions. Washington, DC: US General Accounting Office.Google Scholar
Greenberg, David F. 1977. The Dynamics of Oscillatory Punishment Processes. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 68:643–51.Google Scholar
Griffin, Patrick. 2003. Trying and Sentencing Juveniles as Adults: An Analysis of State Transfer and Blended Sentencing Laws. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice.Google Scholar
Griffin, Patrick. 2008. Different from Adults: An Updated Analysis of Juvenile Transfer and Blended Sentencing Laws, with Recommendations for Reform. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice.Google Scholar
Griffin, Patrick. 2010. Juvenile Transfer to Criminal Court Provisions by State. State Juvenile Justice Profiles. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice.Google Scholar
Griffin, Patrick, Patricia, Torbet, and Lynda, Szymanski. 1998. Trying Juveniles as Adults in Criminal Court: An Analysis of State Transfer Provisions. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.Google Scholar
Howell, James C. 1996. Juvenile Transfer to the Criminal Justice System: State of the Art. Law & Policy 18:17–60.Google Scholar
Howell, James C. 2003. Diffusing Research into Practice Using the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 1:219–45.Google Scholar
Howell, James C. 2008. Preventing and Reducing Juvenile Delinquency: A Comprehensive Framework, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Inverarity, James, and Ryken, Grattet. 1989. Institutional Responses to Unemployment: A Comparison of U.S. Trends, 1948–1985. Contemporary Crises 13:351–70.Google Scholar
Inverarity, James, and Daniel, McCarthy. 1988. Punishment and Social Structure Revisited: Unemployment and Imprisonment in the U.S.: 1948–1984. Sociological Quarterly 29:263–79.Google Scholar
Jacobs, David, and Carmichael, Jason T. 2001. Politics of Punishment Across Time and Space: A Pooled Time‐Series Analysis of Imprisonment Rates. Social Forces 80:61–90.Google Scholar
Jacobs, David, and Carmichael, Jason T. 2002. The Political Sociology of the Death Penalty: A Pooled Time‐Series Analysis. American Sociological Review 67:109–32.Google Scholar
Jacobs, David, and Helms, Ronald E. 1996. Toward a Political Model of Incarceration: A Time‐Series Examination of Multiple Explanations for Prison Admission Rates. American Journal of Sociology 102:323–57.Google Scholar
Jankovic, Ivan. 1977. Labor Market and Imprisonment. Crime and Social Justice 8:17–31.Google Scholar
Johnson, Brian D., and Kurlychek, Megan. 2012. Transferred Juveniles in the Era of Sentencing Guidelines: Examining Judicial Departures for Juvenile Offenders in Adult Criminal Court. Criminology 50:525–64.Google Scholar
Johnson, Brian D., Stewart, Eric A., Pickett, Justin, and Gertz, Marc. 2011. Ethnic Threat and Social Control: Examining Public Support for Judicial Use of Ethnicity in Punishment. Criminology 49:401–41.Google Scholar
Kempf‐Leonard, Kimberly, and Peterson, Ericka. 2000. Expanding Realms of the New Penology: The Advent of Actuarial Justice for Juveniles. Punishment and Society 2:66–97.Google Scholar
King, Ryan, Michael, Massoglia, and Christopher, Uggen. 2012. Employment and Exile: U.S. Criminal Deportations, 1908–2005. American Journal of Sociology 117:1786–1825.Google Scholar
Kupchik, Aaron. 2006. Judging Juveniles: Prosecuting Adolescents in Adult and Juvenile Courts. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Kurlychek, Megan, and Johnson, Brian. 2004. The Juvenile Penalty: A Comparison of Juvenile and Young Adult Sentencing Outcomes in Criminal Court. Criminology 42:485–517.Google Scholar
Lanza‐Kaduce, Lonn, Frazier, Charles E., Lane, Jodi, and Bishop, Donna M. 2002. Juvenile Transfer to Criminal Court Study: Final Report. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.Google Scholar
Liebler, Carolyn A., and Halpern‐Manners, Andrew. 2008. A Practical Approach to Using Multiple‐Race Response Data: A Bridging Method for Public‐Use Microdata. Demography 45:143–55.Google Scholar
Loeber, Rolf, and Farrington, David. 2012. From Juvenile Delinquency to Adult Crime: Criminal Careers, Justice Policy, and Prevention. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mamalian, Cynthia. 2011. State of the Science of Pretrial Risk Assessment. Washington, DC: Pretrial Justice Institute, US Department of Justice.Google Scholar
McNulty, Elizabeth W. 1996. The Transfer of Juvenile Offenders to Adult Court: Panacea or Problem? Law & Policy 18:61–75.Google Scholar
Mead, George H. 1918. The Psychology of Punitive Justice. American Journal of Sociology 23:577–602.Google Scholar
Mears, Daniel, and Field, Samuel. 2000. Theorizing Sanctioning in a Criminalized Juvenile Court. Criminology 38:983–1020.Google Scholar
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). 2014. Statistical Briefing Book. http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/JAR_Display.asp?ID=qa05201 (accessed March 19, 2015).Google Scholar
Parker, Robert Nash, and Horowitz, Allan. 1986. Unemployment, Crime, and Imprisonment: A Panel Approach. Criminology 24:751–73.Google Scholar
Platt, Anthony. 1969. The Rise of the Child‐Saving Movement: A Study in Social Policy and Correctional Reform. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 381:21–38.Google Scholar
Platt, Anthony. 1977. The Child Savers: The Invention of Delinquency. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Podkopacz, Marcy, and Feld, Barry. 2001. The Back‐Door to Prison: Waiver Reform, “Blended Sentencing,” and the Law of Unintended Consequences. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 91:997–1072.Google Scholar
Puzzanchera, Charles, and Kang, W. 2013. Easy Access to FBI Arrest Statistics 1994–2010. http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezaucr/ (accessed July 16, 2015).Google Scholar
Puzzanchera, Charles, Sladky, T. J., and Kang, W. 2014. Easy Access to Juvenile Populations: 1990–2013. http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezapop/ (accessed January 14, 2016).Google Scholar
Redding, Richard E., and Howell, James C. 2000. Blended Sentencing in American Juvenile Courts. In The Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice, ed. Fagan, J. and Zimring, F., 145–77. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Rusche, George, and Otto, Kirchheimer. 1939. Punishment and Social Structure. New York: Russell and Russell.Google Scholar
Savelsberg, Joachim. 1994. Knowledge, Domination, and Criminal Punishment. American Journal of Sociology 99:911–43.Google Scholar
Schaefer, Shelly. 2011. Blurring the Lines: Blended Sentencing and the Juvenile Justice System (unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.Google Scholar
Schlossman, Steven. 1977. Love and the American Delinquent. Chicago, IL:: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Singer, Simon. 1996. Recriminalizing Delinquency: Violent Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice Reform. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Steiner, Benjamin, and Emily, Wright. 2006. Assessing the Relative Effects of State Direct File Waiver Laws on Violent Juvenile Crime: Deterrence or Irrelevance? Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 96:1451–77.Google Scholar
Sutton, John. 1987. Doing Time: Dynamics of Imprisonment in the Reformist State. American Sociological Review 52:612–30.Google Scholar
Sutton, John. 2000. Imprisonment and Social Classification in Five Common‐Law Democracies, 1955–1985. American Journal of Sociology 106:350–86.Google Scholar
Sutton, John. 2004. The Political Economy of Imprisonment in Affluent Western Democracies, 1960–1990. American Sociological Review 69:170–89.Google Scholar
Szymanski, Linda. 2000. Confidentiality of Juvenile Delinquency Hearings. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice.Google Scholar
Szymanski, Linda. 2002. Confidentiality of Juvenile Delinquency Hearings (2002 Update). Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice.Google Scholar
Szymanski, Linda. 2004. Confidentiality of Juvenile Delinquency Hearings (2004 Update). Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice.Google Scholar
Szymanski, Linda. 2007. Confidentiality of Juvenile Delinquency Hearings (2007 Update). Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice.Google Scholar
Tanenhaus, David. 2004. Juvenile Justice in the Making. Oxford: Oxford University Press Google Scholar
Torbet, Patricia, Gable, Richard, Hurst, Hunter IV, Montgomery, Imogene, Szymanski, Linda, and Thomas, Douglas. 1996. State Responses to Serious and Violent Juvenile Crime. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.Google Scholar
Torbet, Patricia, and Linda, Szymanski. 1998. State Legislative Responses to Violent Crime: 1996–97 Update. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.Google Scholar
Tonry, Michael. 1996. Sentencing Matters. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tonry, Michael. 2004. Thinking About Crime: Sense and Sensibility in American Penal Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Trulson, Chad, Haerle, Darin, DeLisi, Matt, and Marquart, James W. 2011. Blended Sentencing, Early Release, and Recidivism of Violent Institutionalized Delinquents. Prison Journal 91:255–78.Google Scholar
US Bureau of the Census. 2009. Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1985–2009. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
van den Haag, Ernes. 1975. Punishing Criminals. Considering a Very Old and Painful Question. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Villarruel, Francisco A., Nancy, Walker, Pamela, Minifee, Omara, Rivera‐Vasquez, Susan, Peterson, and Kristen, Perry. 2004. Donde Está la Justicia? A Call to Action on Behalf of Latino and Latina Youth in the U.S. Justice System. Washington, DC: Building Blocks for Youth.Google Scholar
Walker, Monica A. 1994. Measuring Concern About Crime: Some Inter‐Racial Comparisons. British Journal of Criminology 34:366–78.Google Scholar
Ward, Geoff, and Kupchik, Aaron. 2009. Accountable to What?: Professional Orientations Towards Accountability‐Based Juvenile Justice. Punishment & Society 11:85–109.Google Scholar
Weibush, Richard, Christopher, Baird, Barry, Krisberg, and Onek, D. 1995. Risk Assessment and Classification for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender. In Sourcebook on Serious Violent Juvenile Offender, ed. Howell, R., Hawkins, R., Krisberg, B., and Wilson, J., 171–210. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Welch, Kelly, Payne, Allison A., Chiricos, Ted, and Gertz, Marc. 2011. The Typification of Hispanics as Criminals and Support for Punitive Crime Control Policies. Social Science Research 40:822–40.Google Scholar
Yamaguchi, Kazuo. 1991. Event History Analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Zimring, Franklin E. 1998. American Youth Violence. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zimring, Franklin E. 2000. The Punitive Necessity of Waiver. In The Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice: Transfer of Adolescents to the Criminal Court, ed. Fagan, J. and Zimring, F., 207–24. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Zimring, Franklin E. 2005. American Juvenile Justice. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zimring, Franklin E. 2014. The Power Politics of Juvenile Court Transfer in the 1990s. In Choosing the Future for American Juvenile Justice, ed. Zimring, F. and Tanenhaus, D., 37–51. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar

Cases Cited

In re Gault, 387 US 1 (1967).Google Scholar
Duties of the Comm'n, 28 USC 994.Google Scholar