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Rick Scott, Governor
Florida Department of Corrections, Secretary Michael D. Crews

Florida Department of Corrections
Michael D. Crews, Secretary

Sentencing Guidelines
1996-97 Annual Report
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Part II Impact

Table 3
White and Black Offenders
Sentencing Factors (221,351 Cases):
Sentencing Guidelines Cases
July 1, 1994 to December 31, 1996
Sentencing Factor Racial Group All Cases Violent Crimes Property Crimes Drug Crimes Other Crimes
Total Guidelines Points (Average) Blacks 30.7 66.1 21 19.8 25.7
Whites 26.3 57.4 21.6 9.3 24.4
Diff. 4.4 8.7 -0.6 10.5 1.3
% Diff. 14.3% 13.2% -2.9% 53.0% 5%
Primary Offense Points Blacks 26.2 44.7 20.0 21.3 22.8
Whites 24.9 41.1 21.2 18.0 22.6
Diff. 1.3 3.6 -1.2 3.3 0.2
% Diff. 5.0% 8.1% -6.0% 15.5% 0.9%
Prior Criminal Record Indicators:
Percent With 1+ Prior Record Crimes Blacks 66.2% 59.5% 65.0% 70.2% 67.0%
Whites 48.3% 41.6% 49.5% 47.8% 63.5%
Diff. 17.9% 17.9% 15.6% 22.4% 3.54%
% Diff. 27.0% 30.1% 23.9% 31.9% 5.3%
Prior Record Points Average (1+ only) Blacks 8.2 7.6 8.5 8.3 8.4
Whites 4.8 4.3 5.3 4.1 6.7
Diff. 3.4 3.3 3.2 4.2 1.7
% Diff. 41.5% 43.4% 37.6% 50.6% 20.2%
Number of Prior Convictions (1+ Avg.) Blacks 7.4 6.5 8.4 7.1 7.5
Whites 6.4 5.9 6.8 5.8 8.2
Diff. 1 0.6 1.6 1.3 -0.7
% Diff. 13.5% 9.2% 19.0% 18.3% -9.3%
Percent With 1+ Prior Prison Sentences Blacks 9.2% 15.3% 7.6% 7.2% 8.2%
Whites 5.5% 9.5% 5.0% 3.0% 5.6%
Diff. 3.7% 5.8% 2.6% 4.2% 2.6%
% Diff. 40.4% 37.6% 34.7% 58.5% 31.6%
Additional Crime Indicators:
Additional Crimes (% With One or More) Blacks 32.0% 38.2% 34.0% 28.7% 26.0%
Whites 31.9% 33.4% 41.4% 21.7% 18.5%
Diff. 0.1% 4.8% -7.5% 7.0% 7.5%
% Diff. 0.3% 12.7% -22.0% 24.5% 28.9%
Additional Crime Points Avg. (1+ only) Blacks 5.1 10.3 4.5 3.2 3.4
Whites 5.4 8.6 6.4 2.4 2.8
Diff. -0.3 1.7 -1.9 0.8 0.6
% Diff. -5.9% 16.5% -42.2% 25.0% 17.6%
Additional Crime Number Avg. (1+ only) Blacks 2.0 2.1 2.4 1.7 1.9
Whites 2.3 2.1 2.9 1.8 2.0
Diff. -0.3 0.0 -0.5 -0.1 -0.1
% Diff. -15.0% 0.0% -20.8% -5.9% -5.3%
Victim Injury Seriousness
Victim Injury Points (% With 1+) Blacks 9.6% 40.5% 1.5% 0.4% 1.8%
Whites 10.0% 41.3% 1.1% 0.3% 1.7%
Diff. -0.4% -0.8% 0.4% 0.1% 0.1%
% Diff. -4.1% -2.0% 29.2% 30.7% 3.0%
Victim Injury Points Average (1+ only) Blacks 21.2 22.0 10.7 9.5 10.5
Whites 24.2 25.1 10.4 9.4 14.1
Diff. -3.0 -3.1 0.3 0.1 -3.6
% Diff. -14.2% -14.1% 2.8% 1.1% -34.3%
Release Program Violations:
Release Program Violators (% Yes) Blacks 22.1% 18.9% 21.6% 23.8% 22.9%
Whites 19.1% 15.5% 20.9% 20.0% 16.9%
Diff. 3.0% 3.4% 0.7% 3.8% 6.1%
% Diff. 13.4% 17.8% 3.2% 15.9% 26.4%
Release Program Points Avg. (1+ only) Blacks 7.4 7.3 7.5 7.5 7.4
Whites 7.4 7.2 7.5 7.5 7.6
Diff. 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 -0.2
% Diff. 0.0% 1.4% 0.0% 0.0% -2.7%

 

Table 4
 
Effect of Factors on In/Out Prison Decision (221,351 Cases):
Reported in Order of Most to Least Influential
Sentencing Guidelines Cases from July 1, 1994 to December 31, 1996
     
Factors Affecting In/Out Prison Decision (1)
 Ranking of Effect of Factor on Prison Decision 1= Most Influential Unique Effect Of Factor on Prison Decision(2)
Prior Florida Prison Sentences 1 1.525
Current Crime Seriousness 2 .334
Prior Record Seriousness 3 .287
Release Program Violator 4 .260
3rd Degree Felony: Current Crime 5 .186
2nd Degree Felony: Current Crime 6 .141
Prior Property Crimes 7 .130
1st Degree P.B.L.: Current Crime(3) 8 .129
Plea or Trial Disposition 9 .126
Prior Drug Crimes 10 .114
Additional Drug Crimes 11 .092
Prior Burglary Crimes 12 .091
Victim Injury Guidelines Points 13 .091
Additional Property Crimes 14 .087
Gender of Offender 15 .084
Prior Robbery Crimes 16 .068
Drug Enhancement Guidelines Points 17 .068
Prior Other Violent Crimes 18 .065
Additional Burglary Crimes 19 .064
Additional Escapes or Weapons 20 .047
Seriousness of Additional Offenses 21 .045
Law Enforcement Guidelines Points 22 .045
Prior Sexual Crimes 23 .043
Additional Other Violent Crimes 24 .041
Additional Robbery Crimes 25 .038
Prior Murder, Manslaughter Crimes 26 .035
Age of Offender at Sentencing 27 -.029
Prior Escape or Weapons Crimes 28 .025
Race of Offender 29 .024
Life Felony: Current Crime 30 .020
Additional Sexual Crimes 31 .012
Additional Murder, Manslaughters 32 .003
Model Explains 51.7% of the In/Out Prison Decision.
(1) See Methodology section for details on how the factors were measured
(2) Standardized parameter estimates from logit model.
(3) P.B.L.=Punishable by life

Table 5
     
Effect of Factors on Prison Sentence Length (38,031 Cases):
Reported in Order of Most to Least Influential
Sentencing Guidelines Cases From July 1, 1994 to December 31, 1996
     
  Factors Affecting Length of Prison Sentence(1)
Ranking of Effect of Factor on Sentence Length 1= Most Influential
Unique Effect Of Factor on Sentence Length(2)
Current Crime Seriousness 1 .251
Victim Injury Guidelines Points 2 .229
Plea or Trial Disposition 3 .226
1st Degree P.B.L.: Current Crime(3) 4 .131
Prior Record Seriousness 5 .125
Life Felony: Current Crime 6 .097
Seriousness of Additional Offenses 7 .085
2nd Degree Felony: Current Crime 8 .084
3rd Degree Felony: Current Crime 9 .061
Prior Robbery Crimes 10 .052
Additional Robbery Crimes 11 .052
Prior Property Crimes 12 .045
Law Enforcement Guidelines Points 13 .045
Release Program Violator 14 .042
Drug Enhancement Guidelines Points 15 .038
Prior Sexual Crimes 16 .037
Additional Sexual Crimes 17 .030
Age of Offender at Sentencing 18 .028
Prior Other Violent Crimes 19 .025
Prior Escape or Weapons Crimes 20 .025
Prior Drug Crimes 21 .024
Prior Burglary Crimes 22 .021
Additional Burglary Crimes 23 .021
Prior Murder, Manslaughter Crimes 24 .021
Additional Murder, Manslaughters 25 .019
Additional Property Crimes 26 .014
Additional Escapes or Weapons 27 .014
Prior Florida Prison Sentences 28 -.011
Race of Offender(4) 29 .006
Gender of Offender(4) 30 .006
Additional Drug Crimes(4) 31 .006
Model Explains 42.2% of the Length of Prison Sentence.
(1) See Methodology section for details on how the factors were measured
(2) Standardized Beta coefficient from oridnary least squares regression model.
(3) P.B.L.=Punishable by life
(4) Race of offender=-.0062, gender of offender=.0059, additional drug crimes=.0055
Sentencing Guidelines
1996-97 Annual Report
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