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1 Patrick A Langan & Helen A. Graziadei, Felony Sentences in State Courts, 1992 1 (1995)

handle is hein.agopinions/fsisc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Felony in State By Patrick A. Langan, Ph.D. and Helen A. Graziadei BJS Statisticians In 1992 State courts convicted nearly 900,000 adults of a felony. Forty-four percent of convicted felons were sen- tenced to a State prison, and 26% ere sentenced to a local jail (usually for a year or less). The remaining 30% Iwere sentenced to straight probation with no jail or prison time to serve. These findings come from a survey that is done every 2 years and that provides the only detailed description of the sentences felons receive in State courts nationwide. National Judicial Reporting Program The National Judicial Reporting Program (NJRP) compiles detailed information on the sentences and characteristics of convicted felons. Previous surveys of felony sentencing in State courts were conducted in 1986, 1988, and 1990.1 'See Felony Sentences in State Courts, 1986, NCJ-115210, February 1989; Felony Sentences in State Couls, 1988, NCJ-126923, December 1990; and Felony Sentences in State Courts, 1990, NCJ-1 401 86, March 1993. January 1995, NCJ-151167 sentences Courts, 1992 * State courts convicted 893,600 adults of a felony in 1992. * From 1988 to 1992 the volume of felony convictions rose 34%. Convic- tions rose the most for aggravated assault (up 57%) and drug trafficking (up 53%). * The growth in convictions outpaced that in adult arrests. Despite the relatively large increase in convic- tions, processing was not slower in 1992 than in 1988. In both years average elapsed time from arrest to sentencing was around 7 months. * The proportions of felons sen- tenced to incarceration or probation in 1992 were generally unchanged from 1988. Prison sentences ac- counted for 44% of felony sentences in both years. * Drug traffickers (19%) and drug possessors (12%) together made up 31% of felons convicted in State courts in 1992. Violent offenders - consisting of murderers (1%), rapists (2%), robbers (6%), assaulters (7%), and others convicted of a violent crime (2%) - made up 18%. Bur- glars (13%) and larcenists (13%) made up most of the rest. * State courts sentenced 44% of convicted felons to a State prison, 26% to a local jail, and 30% to straight probation with no jail or prison time to serve. * State courts sentenced to death 2% of those convicted of murder. * Felons sentenced to a State prison in 1992 had an average sentence of 61/2 years but were likely to serve roughly a third of that sentence - or about 21/2 years - before release, assuming that current release policies continued. * The average sentence to local jail was 7 months. The average proba- tion sentence was about 4 years. In addition, a fine was imposed on 18% of convicted felons, restitution on 16%, community service on 6%, and treatment was ordered for 7%. * Of the total number of convicted felons in 1992, 92% had pleaded guilty to their crime. The remaining 8% had been found guilty at trial. * Nationally, of the felons convicted in 1992, 52% were white, 47% were black, and 1% were of other races. *

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