Geographic variation in sentencing outcomes is associated with characteristics of the local legal... more Geographic variation in sentencing outcomes is associated with characteristics of the local legal and/or social environments, inter alia, in which sentencing takes place. Among the research on criminal sentencing the importance of contextual influences has been recognized but empirical work is still needed. In this study, we examine contextual variations in sentencing, the connections of contextual factors on the levels of punishments, given for three types of offence: assault, theft and drunk driving. The research data (N = 162) consists of statistics over court work, justice and population of Finland in the 2010s. The annual observations cover each 27 district courts of Finland which are mostly shaped by regions. This data is analyzed with cumulative logistic regression. The dependent variable has five levels according to the punishments from fine to unconditional imprisonment. Independent variables include a number of different community characteristics, e.g., crime rate of the area of jurisdiction of the district court and degree of urbanization. According to the preliminary results, the explanatory variables have strong connections to the levels of punishments, which is not acceptable from the standpoint of equality.
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 2017
ABSTRACT Sentences and prosecutors’ demands for aggravated drunk driving are categorised into thr... more ABSTRACT Sentences and prosecutors’ demands for aggravated drunk driving are categorised into three classes: The sentence is more lenient than, is compatible with, or is harsher than the prosecutor’s demand. The probability of a sentence falling into one of the three ordered categories is explained by a cumulative logit model. The following circumstances affect the probability of a more lenient or harsher sentence, in decreasing order of importance: driving a truck, facing at least four counts, having a legal assistant, and being present in the trial. The hypothesis that factors known by the prosecutor, at the time of writing the demand, should not systematically affect sentences is refuted. The judges assess circumstances differently than the prosecutors. The prosecutors’ role is nevertheless prominent in the sense that the sentences follow, to a great extent, their demands. Notable gender effects of the actors in the courtroom are found.
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 2017
ABSTRACT Sentences and prosecutors’ demands for aggravated drunk driving are categorised into thr... more ABSTRACT Sentences and prosecutors’ demands for aggravated drunk driving are categorised into three classes: The sentence is more lenient than, is compatible with, or is harsher than the prosecutor’s demand. The probability of a sentence falling into one of the three ordered categories is explained by a cumulative logit model. The following circumstances affect the probability of a more lenient or harsher sentence, in decreasing order of importance: driving a truck, facing at least four counts, having a legal assistant, and being present in the trial. The hypothesis that factors known by the prosecutor, at the time of writing the demand, should not systematically affect sentences is refuted. The judges assess circumstances differently than the prosecutors. The prosecutors’ role is nevertheless prominent in the sense that the sentences follow, to a great extent, their demands. Notable gender effects of the actors in the courtroom are found.
The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles, 2020
Speeding is dangerous and contributes significantly to traffic safety. Despite that, speeding is ... more Speeding is dangerous and contributes significantly to traffic safety. Despite that, speeding is not perceived as serious crime, and has been a relatively neglected topic in criminology. The purpose of this study is to analyse the effects of different temporal characteristics and weather conditions on speeding sanction rates in automatic traffic enforcement. The analysis focuses on two major highways in Finland. Generalized additive models are used to analyse factors influencing the sanction rates. The findings indicate e.g., that high temperatures are associated with higher rates of speeding, and the converse is true for rainfall.
Geographic variation in sentencing outcomes is associated with characteristics of the local legal... more Geographic variation in sentencing outcomes is associated with characteristics of the local legal and/or social environments, inter alia, in which sentencing takes place. Among the research on criminal sentencing the importance of contextual influences has been recognized but empirical work is still needed. In this study, we examine contextual variations in sentencing, the connections of contextual factors on the levels of punishments, given for three types of offence: assault, theft and drunk driving. The research data (N = 162) consists of statistics over court work, justice and population of Finland in the 2010s. The annual observations cover each 27 district courts of Finland which are mostly shaped by regions. This data is analyzed with cumulative logistic regression. The dependent variable has five levels according to the punishments from fine to unconditional imprisonment. Independent variables include a number of different community characteristics, e.g., crime rate of the area of jurisdiction of the district court and degree of urbanization. According to the preliminary results, the explanatory variables have strong connections to the levels of punishments, which is not acceptable from the standpoint of equality.
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 2017
ABSTRACT Sentences and prosecutors’ demands for aggravated drunk driving are categorised into thr... more ABSTRACT Sentences and prosecutors’ demands for aggravated drunk driving are categorised into three classes: The sentence is more lenient than, is compatible with, or is harsher than the prosecutor’s demand. The probability of a sentence falling into one of the three ordered categories is explained by a cumulative logit model. The following circumstances affect the probability of a more lenient or harsher sentence, in decreasing order of importance: driving a truck, facing at least four counts, having a legal assistant, and being present in the trial. The hypothesis that factors known by the prosecutor, at the time of writing the demand, should not systematically affect sentences is refuted. The judges assess circumstances differently than the prosecutors. The prosecutors’ role is nevertheless prominent in the sense that the sentences follow, to a great extent, their demands. Notable gender effects of the actors in the courtroom are found.
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 2017
ABSTRACT Sentences and prosecutors’ demands for aggravated drunk driving are categorised into thr... more ABSTRACT Sentences and prosecutors’ demands for aggravated drunk driving are categorised into three classes: The sentence is more lenient than, is compatible with, or is harsher than the prosecutor’s demand. The probability of a sentence falling into one of the three ordered categories is explained by a cumulative logit model. The following circumstances affect the probability of a more lenient or harsher sentence, in decreasing order of importance: driving a truck, facing at least four counts, having a legal assistant, and being present in the trial. The hypothesis that factors known by the prosecutor, at the time of writing the demand, should not systematically affect sentences is refuted. The judges assess circumstances differently than the prosecutors. The prosecutors’ role is nevertheless prominent in the sense that the sentences follow, to a great extent, their demands. Notable gender effects of the actors in the courtroom are found.
The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles, 2020
Speeding is dangerous and contributes significantly to traffic safety. Despite that, speeding is ... more Speeding is dangerous and contributes significantly to traffic safety. Despite that, speeding is not perceived as serious crime, and has been a relatively neglected topic in criminology. The purpose of this study is to analyse the effects of different temporal characteristics and weather conditions on speeding sanction rates in automatic traffic enforcement. The analysis focuses on two major highways in Finland. Generalized additive models are used to analyse factors influencing the sanction rates. The findings indicate e.g., that high temperatures are associated with higher rates of speeding, and the converse is true for rainfall.
According to section 6 of the Constitution of Finland, everyone is equal before the law. In sente... more According to section 6 of the Constitution of Finland, everyone is equal before the law. In sentencing equality means that, in principle, the same criminal act should be sentenced by the same punishment regardless of where the act has been committed and who gives the judgment. In this multilevel study, we analyze criminal sentencing decisions with linear mixed models. We examine in particular the variation in the severity of punishments between individual judges and prosecutors. The research data consists of the aggravated drunk driving (1.20- ‰) cases (N = 477) in Finnish district courts during years 2006–2010. With the mixed models it is possible to take into account the hierarchical and nested structure of sentencing data. For instance, individual judges or prosecutors are nested with courts, and criminal cases are nested with individual judges and prosecutors. In the analysis, judges and prosecutors are handled as random effects, as well as district courts and years. Individual characteristics of courtroom actors and procedural/organizational/community-level factors are handled as fixed effects. Preliminary results show that legal factors are significant but also the variation between prosecutors is rather large.
Geographic variation in sentencing outcomes is associated with characteristics of the local legal... more Geographic variation in sentencing outcomes is associated with characteristics of the local legal and/or social environments, inter alia, in which sentencing takes place. Among the research on criminal sentencing the importance of contextual influences has been recognized but empirical work is still needed. In this study, we examine contextual variations in sentencing, the connections of contextual factors on the levels of punishments, given for three types of offence: assault, theft and drunk driving. The research data (N = 162) consists of statistics over court work, justice and population of Finland in the 2010s. The annual observations cover each 27 district courts of Finland which are mostly shaped by regions. This data is analyzed with cumulative logistic regression. The dependent variable has five levels according to the punishments from fine to unconditional imprisonment. Independent variables include a number of different community characteristics, e.g., crime rate of the area of jurisdiction of the district court and degree of urbanization. According to the preliminary results, the explanatory variables have strong connections to the levels of punishments, which is not acceptable from the standpoint of equality.
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Papers by Mika Sutela