Prior court research has focused primarily on the judge's sentencing behavior and to a lesser degree the prosecutor's charging decision. None of these studies have taken into account relationships between multiple case decisions. This analysis is a comparison of three criminal court decisions made by the prosecutor, judge, and defense attorney. Using 1986 felony court data from three Florida Counties, OLS regression, corrected for sample selection bias, is employed to determine the effects of case and offender attributes on the arraignment charge severity, the conviction charge severity, and the penalty severity decisions. A typology describes the context of environmental influences which could affect decision-making within counties, classified as large, medium, and small felony caseload counties. / Decisions were compared across counties and within counties with the expectation that decision-making factors would be different across counties for the same decision because of the contextual differences of each county. Within counties the factors should be similar for each decision because of the cooperative nature of the courtroom workgroup. / Differences across counties revealed a concern for the crime rate and court processing characteristics such as whether bond was made. The small caseload county decisions were based on seriousness of the crime, but the actual decision-making appeared to be somewhat haphazard. Within counties, each decision was characterized by a few similar factors, but the nature of each decision was responsible for differences across the three judgments. The utility of the typology is discussed and suggestions for future research to develop the typology are made. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-09, Section: A, page: 3231. / Major Professor: Marc G. Gertz. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

This dissertation addresses the question of consistency in appellate decisions of the Florida Supreme Court in death penalty cases decided between 1973 and mid-1986. The theoretical perspective of the study is retributive. This perspective is used because it is the basis of the United States Supreme Court's approval of current death sentencing statutes. The legal requirements of a retributive justification of capital punishment have been stated both by the United States Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court. These requirements are the basis of the hypotheses tested in the study. / The review of the literature summarizes both statistical and qualitative research. The history of Florida's current death penalty law is given, and the Florida Supreme Court's role in reviewing capital cases is described in detail. The methods chapter discusses the data sources and difficulties encountered in the coding of certain variables. The chapter ends with a list of the specific hypotheses to be tested. / The data are analyzed both statistically and qualitatively. Results of the statistical analysis are mixed, with some hypotheses supported and others not supported by the data. Several areas in which the court's performance does not seem to meet the legal standards are identified. The qualitative analysis found serious problems in the Florida Supreme Court's review of cases. The dissertation concludes that the court has failed to consistently apply its own standards of review to the cases it considers. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-01, Section: A, page: 0300. / Major Professor: Gordon P. Waldo. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

A pilot study of sentencing practices within the Danish court system is carried out within a systems analysis paradigm. This is the first research to use de-aggregated data from Danish criminal courts. Three jurisdictions representing urban, suburban, and rural populations are analyzed in regard to sentencing practices. Initial results indicate an overall pattern of uniformity and leniency without benefit of strict sentencing guidelines. In regard to sentencing structures these findings carry significant implications for U.S. policy makers. / This comparison utilizes a regression strategy to analyze length of sentences and a logit equation for the initial incarceration decision. The legally relevant variables emerge as strong indicators of length of sentence. Differences do emerge among the jurisdictions in regard to the effects of pre-trial detention, type of offense, and ethnicity of defendants. In order to continue this line of inquiry suggestions are made for future comparative analysis regarding judicial attitudes and philosophies. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-01, Section: A, page: 0457. / Major Professor: Marc Gertz. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1996.

A social ecological perspective is used to analyze county primary homicide rates for the elderly population, persons aged 55 or older. Structural, socioeconomic, medical resources, and demographic variables are analyzed in a regression analysis for primary homicide (involving family, friends, and acquaintances) rates. Neither a structural, socioeconomic, nor medical resources explanation is supported; however, several variables, particularly education, are shown to be important in explaining variations in elderly primary homicide rates. Unemployment, migration, urbanization, physician rate, percent males, and percent nonwhite are significantly related to elderly primary homicide rates. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 4280. / Major Professor: Gordon P. Waldo. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, Section: A, page: 4244. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 32-12, Section: A, page: 7103. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1971.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 35-09, Section: A, page: 6258. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1974.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 37-10, Section: A, page: 6784. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1976.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-05, Section: A, page: 3074. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 35-06, Section: A, page: 3908. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1974.