Resources and Data – Criminal Sentencing Task Force

Resources and Data from within Washington

Here you can find a list of data and reports that have been identified as potential resources to help inform the Task Force. Resources (external links) can be found in alphabetic order below by source agency or organization. Please scroll down for working group specific resources.

• The Caseload Forecasting Council

  • Annual Dispositions Summary

• Department of Corrections

  • Various Reports on DOC population – Research and Data Analytics Division
  • 2019-2023 Strategic Plan, Achieving Results
  • iCOACH and Wrap-Around Reentry Services
  • Budget Reduction Strategy, 2021-2023 (pdf)

• Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC)

  • Annual Crime in Washington (Statewide statistics on criminal arrests)

• Washington Institute for Public Policy

  • Statewide Recidivism Report
  • Review of Adult Correctional Programs
  • Cost-benefit Analyses of Adult Corrections Programs
  • Review of Juvenile Justice System & Policies
  • Impact Report on 50% Earned Release Time

• Washington State Supreme Court Minority & Justice Commission

  • Report on Legal Financial Obligation (LFOs) Consortium

Other Resources

• Sentencing Reform in the Other Washington – Boerner and Lieb 2001

The journal articles are behind paywalls. We have included the citations for reference.

• Crime & Justice Journal

  • 40 Years of American Sentencing Guidelines: What have we Learned?
    • Frase, R.S. (2019). Forty years of American sentencing guidelines: what have we learned? Crime & Justice Journal, 48, 79-135. https://doi.org/10.1086/701503.

• Criminology Journal

  • Cumulative Impact: Why Prison Sentences Have Increased
    • King, R.D. (2018). Cumulative impact: why prison sentences have increased. Criminology, 57(1), 157-180. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12197.

• Pew

  • Supervision Report

• US Sentencing Commission

  • First Step Act Implementation Report
  • Mandatory Minimum Penalties for Firearm Offenses

Sentencing Effectiveness Working Group Resources

Here you can find a list of publicly available data and reports that have been identified as potential resources to help inform the Sentencing Effectiveness working group. Resources (external links) are organized by topic area below. Some journal articles may be behind paywalls. We have included their citation for reference.

• Collateral Consequences Literature

  • Collateral Consequences of Punishment: A Critical Review and Path Forward
    • Kirk, D.S. & Wakefield, S. (2018). Collateral Consequences of Punishment: A Critical Review and Path Forward. Consequences of Punishment: A Critical Review and Path Forward. Annual Review of Criminology 2018(1), 171-194. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092045.

• Discretion and Disparity

  • Discretion and Disparity
  • Discretion and Disparity Under Sentencing Guidelines
  • Disparity Changes in Federal Sentencing

• Earned Early Release Time

  • CA Proposition 57: credit-earning for inmates FAQ (external link)
  • Cutting Corrections Costs: earned time policies for state prisoners
  • Earned release time summary (prepared by Caseload Forecasting Council)
  • History of earned release (prepared by CFC) 
  • History of earned release time amounts in WA (prepared by Sentencing Guideline Commission staff) 
  • Prison Fellowship earned time credit overview (external link)
  • Summary of the Department of Corrections earned release time policy (prepared by SGC staff) 

• Firearm/ Deadly Weapon Enhancements

  • Mandatory Minimum Firearm Penalties: A Source of Sentencing Disparity?
    • Farrell, J. (2003). Mandatory Minimum Firearm Penalties: A Source of Sentencing Disparity? Justice Research and Policy 5(1), 96-115. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3818/JRP.5.1.2003.95.
  • Mandatory Minimum Penalties for Firearm Offenses
  • Mandatory Sentencing and Racial Disparity, Assessing the Role of Prosecutors and the Effects of Booker
    • Starr, S.B. & Rehavi, M.M. (2013). Mandatory Sentencing and Racial Disparity, Assessing the Role of Prosecutors and the Effects of Booker. The Yale Law Journal 123(1), 2-80.

• Failure to Register

  • Catch Me If You Can: An Analysis of Fugitive Sex Offenders
    • Levenson, J.S., A.R. Ackerman, & A.J. Harris. (2013). Catch Me If You Can: An Analysis of Fugitive Sex Offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment 26(2), 129-148. DOI: 10.1177/1079063213480820.
  • Failure to Register as a Predictor of Sex Offense Recidivism: The Big Bad Wolf or a Red Herring?
    • Zgoba, K.M. & J. Levenson. (2012). Failure to Register as a Predictor of Sex Offense Recidivism: The Big Bad Wolf or a Red Herring? Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment 24(4), 328-249. DOI: 10.11771079063211421019.
  • Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Is it Associated with Recidivism?
    • Levenson, J., E. Letourneau, K. Armstrong, & K.M. Zgoba. (2010) Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Is it Associated with Recidivism? Justice Quarterly
      27(3), 305-331. DOI: 10.1080/07418820902972399.
  • Failure-to-Register Laws and Public Safety: An Examination of Risk Factors and Sex Offense Recidivism
    • Levenson, J.S., J.C. Sandler, & N.J. Freeman. (2012). Failure-to-Register Laws and
      Public Safety: An Examination of Risk Factors and Sex Offense Recidivism. Law and Human
      Behavior. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1037/b0000002.
  • WSIPP 2019 Benefit-Cost Estimates: Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Benefit-Cost Estimates
  • The Effects of Failure to Register on Sex Offender Recidivism
    • Duwe, G. & W. Donnay. (2010). The Effects of Failure to Register on Sex Offender Recidivism. Criminal Justice & Behavior 37(5), 520-536. DOI: 10.1177/0093854810364106.

• Protected Zone Laws and Enhancements

  • An empirical study of the school zone law in three cities in MA
  • Disparity by Design: How drug-free zone laws impact racial disparity − and fail to protect youth
  • Drug-free school zones could contribute to NJ prison system racial inequality
  • Drug-free zone laws: An overview of state policies
  • Fighting against excessive and ineffective geography-based penalties
  • MA drug-free zone law ineffective, not evenly enforced
  • Tennessee Passes drug-free school zone reform following Reason investigation

• Truth in Sentencing

  • Truth in sentencing in state prisons

Reentry & Reducing Recidivism Working Group

Here you can find a list of data and reports that have been identified as potential resources to help inform the Reentry & Reducing Recidivism working group. Resources (external links) are organized by topic area below. Some journal articles may be behind paywalls. We have included their citation for reference.

• Legal Financial Obligations

  • Washington State Minority & Justice Commission, The Assessment and Consequences of Legal Financial Obligations in Washington State, 2008 (pdf)
  • Washington State Minority & Justice Commission, Annual Report 2017-18 (pdf)
  • 2017-2019 Washington State LFO Stakeholder Consortium Progress Report, 2018 LFO Symposium (pdf)
  • The Steep Costs of Criminal Justice Fees and Fines, The Brennan Report 
  • Bill Report E2SHB 1783 – Concerning legal financial obligations (2017-18 session)
  • Bill Report SB 6220 – an act relating to restitution (2020)
  • Restitution Payment and Recidivism: An Experimental Analysis
    • Ruback, R. Barry et al (2018). Restitution Payment and Recidivism: An Experimental Analysis. Criminology & Public Policy, Vol. 14, Issue 4, 789-813.
  • A Pound of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions as Punishment for the Poor
    • Harris, Alexes (2016). A Pound of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions as Punishment for the Poor. Russell Sage Foundation

• Community Supervision

  • Less is More: How Reducing Probation Populations Can Improve Outcomes, Executive Sessions at Harvard Kennedy School, 2017 (pdf)

• Programs & Services

  • Executive Order 16-05 – Building safe and strong communities through successful reentry (pdf)
  • A Summary and Overview – Reentry Division, Washington Department of Corrections (pdf)