Prosecuting Adolescents in Juvenile and Criminal Jurisdictions in Selected Counties in New Jersey and New York, 1992-1993

A different model of justice is assumed to be reflected in the prosecution of adolescents in juvenile jurisdictions compared to criminal jurisdictions, with a juvenile justice model in the juvenile jurisdiction and a criminal justice model in the criminal jurisdiction. These two models of justice are believed to be very different from one another across three dimensions: formality of case processing, evaluation of defendants, and punishment. This research project compared the prosecution and punishment of adolescent felony offenders in the New Jersey juvenile jurisdiction and the New York criminal jurisdiction to determine whether these two models of justice varied across the two jurisdiction types. Data from this collection were used by the researcher only to examine the dimension of punishment severity across jurisdiction types and across courts within each jurisdiction type. Data were collected on comparable cases of adolescent felony offenders from counties in New Jersey and New York. Due to the very different boundaries between juvenile and criminal jurisdictions in these adjacent states, the data include cases (matched by offense and offender age) in New Jersey's juvenile jurisdiction and New York's criminal jurisdiction. Cases of 15- and 16-year-old defendants who had been charged with aggravated assault, robbery, or burglary in three counties of New Jersey and three counties of New York City in 1992 and 1993 were sampled. Variables include offender characteristics, such as age at offense, sex, race, and ethnicity, offense characteristics, court action and sentencing information, state, and county.

相较于刑事司法管辖区，少年司法管辖区对青少年的起诉程序被认为体现了一种不同的司法模式——前者采用少年司法模式，后者采用刑事司法模式。这两种司法模式被认为在三个维度上存在显著差异：案件处理的正式性、对被告的评估以及惩罚措施。本研究项目比较了新泽西州少年司法管辖区与纽约州刑事司法管辖区内青少年重罪犯罪者的起诉及惩罚情况，旨在确定这两种司法模式是否因司法管辖区类型而异。本数据集仅被研究者用于考察不同司法管辖区类型之间以及各司法管辖区内不同法院之间的惩罚严厉程度维度。数据收集自新泽西州和纽约州各县青少年重罪犯罪者的可比案例；由于这两个相邻州的少年与刑事司法管辖区边界差异显著，数据包含新泽西州少年司法管辖区及纽约州刑事司法管辖区内（按犯罪类型与犯罪者年龄匹配）的案例。样本为1992年和1993年期间，新泽西州三个县及纽约市三个县中被控犯有严重袭击、抢劫或入室盗窃的15岁及16岁被告案例。变量包括犯罪者特征（如犯罪时年龄、性别、种族及族裔）、犯罪特征、法庭行动与量刑信息、州及县。