Elderly Felons and Sentencing Severity: Interregional Variations in Leniency and Sentencing Trends

Abstract

This research examines differences in sentencing severity for 4,848 elderly felons in selected counties in Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee, and from a sample of counties in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, for the period from 1970 to 1984. An examination of sentencing trends for elderly offenders disclosed increasing leniency during the period of the investigation in all jurisdictions. Northern jurisdictions, however, were more severe on elderly offenders than were the southern jurisdictions. The proportion of elderly felony offenders in the southern jurisdictions was significantly higher than for northern jurisdictions, and an examination of the possible interaction effects of sentencing severity and social and regional variables yielded significant results.