The analysis is based on six case studies which monitored the effects of mandatory sentencing on violent crime in Detroit, Jacksonville, Tampa, Miami, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Key features of mandatory sentencing laws were the same in each area: each required judges to impose a specific sentence on defendants convicted of an offense involving a gun; mitigating devices, such as probation, suspended sentences, and parole were prohibited; and all States used advertising campaigns involving radio and television commercials, posters, bumper stickers, and billboards to communicate the message that offenders would receive additional punishment if they used a gun to commit a crime. Data pooled from all case studies provided strong support for the preventive effect model, at least for homicides. Robbery and assault did not reflect any preventive effect of mandatory sentencing. The case studies indicate the desirability of using replications to identify variation in the effects of innovation in different areas, since features of the local setting affect the magnitude of preventive efforts.
A Comparative Study of the Preventive Effects of Mandatory Sentencing Laws for Gun Crimes
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A Comparative Study of the Preventive Effects of Mandatory Sentencing Laws for Gun Crimes
Category: Crime, Firearm Policies|Journal: The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology (full text)|Author: B Wiersema, C Loftin, D McDowall|Year: 1992