University of Virginia School of Law, VA, USA.
University of Lynchburg, VA, USA.
Behav Sci Law. 2020 Jan;38(1):1-11. doi: 10.1002/bsl.2435. Epub 2019 Dec 3.
Research on risk assessment in sentencing has focused heavily on the role of judges. Ignoring the role of other courtroom actors in the sentencing process, however, leaves unexamined the potentially significant effects on judicial decision making of arguments made by prosecutors and defense attorneys at sentencing hearings. Unduly focusing on judges also overlooks the vast majority of sentences arrived at through negotiated guilty pleas. We explored the extent to which considerations of risk are made among prosecutors and defense attorneys when advocating for given sentences in open court or during plea negotiations. We surveyed all prosecutors and defense attorneys in 14 judicial circuits in Virginia and found that most prosecutors and defense attorneys at least "sometimes" explicitly invoked actuarial risk estimates both at sentencing hearings and during plea negotiations. However, defense attorneys were much more likely than prosecutors to be averse to the use of risk assessment in either form of case disposition.
量刑风险评估的研究主要集中在法官的作用上。然而，忽视量刑过程中其他法庭参与者的作用，就无法考察检察官和辩护律师在量刑听证会上的辩论对司法决策可能产生的重大影响。过分关注法官也忽略了通过协商认罪而达成的绝大多数判决。我们探讨了在公开法庭或辩诉谈判中，检察官和辩护律师在主张特定判决时，考虑风险的程度。我们对弗吉尼亚州 14 个司法管辖区的所有检察官和辩护律师进行了调查，发现大多数检察官和辩护律师在量刑听证会上和辩诉谈判中至少“有时”明确援引了概率风险评估。然而，与检察官相比，辩护律师更不愿意在任何形式的案件处理中使用风险评估。
