Social context and prosecutorial charging decisions A multilevel analysis of case- and county-level factors

Researchers have recently recognized the importance of social context for developing a more complete understanding of the sentencing process where community characteristics help to account for variation in sentencing practices from one legal jurisdiction to the next. Similar developments, however, have been nearly absent in the study of prosecutorial decision making. This is particularly important in light of recent sentencing reforms (e.g., sentencing guidelines) that have essentially acted to reduce judicial discretion while simultaneously increasing prosecutorial discretion. Given the fact that prosecutors have the authority to determine whether defendants will face criminal charges, what those charges will be, the number of charges to pursue, and whether charges will be discontinued, it is critical to expand our understanding of how social context might influence not only judicial discretion, but also prosecutorial discretion. To accomplish this task, the current research has identified several connections between prosecutorial decision making and community context. Each connection was derived from existing theoretical frameworks, including racial and economic threat theories, the crime control hypothesis, the organizational efficiency hypothesis, the political conservatism hypothesis, and the southern subculture of punitiveness hypothesis. The potential links between prosecutorial discretion and community context were tested using a sample of 15,669 felony defendants processed in 39 of the nation's 75 largest counties; specific measures of community context were provided by a county-level data set with relevant information for each of the 39 jurisdictions. The results of hierarchical generalized linear models indicate that an important prosecutorial outcome--case dismissal--varies across the counties included in the analysis and community context is, in fact, important for understanding this variation. Theoretical, research, and policy implications of the current findings are discussed at length