A Database of Persons Convicted of Felonies in Washtenaw County, Michigan, 1990-2007

Abstract

This study is a database of information from Washtenaw County, Michigan, court records of approximately one-fourth of its convicted felons from 1990 to 2007. It includes 3,123 sentencing appearances for 3,992 crimes committed by 2,495 defendants. It includes 1126 probation violation resentencings for a total of 5,118 sentences. It contains demographics of defendants and the dynamics of their crimes and the sentencing process. Several official court reports in each case were examined.

Preliminary descriptive and frequency analyses are reported to describe the database in detail and lay the groundwork for future sophisticated regression and other analyzes. Special attention is given to issues of racial and gender disparities. Suggestions for future research based on this data are included. To the extent that this research and these analyzes add to our knowledge of offenders, offenses, and sentencing, they may contribute to more knowledgeable criminal justice policy decisions.

Keywords: criminal justice,crime statistics, sentencing