2024
This study summary prepared by WestEd’s Jonathan Nakamoto and Trent Baskerville explores the impact of prison sentences on recidivism rates. The study, conducted by Ojmarrh Mitchell, Joshua C. Cochran, Daniel P. Mears, and William D. Bales, focuses on Florida’s point system for sentencing and uses a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) to evaluate the effects of prison versus nonprison sanctions on subsequent reconviction rates.
The authors analyzed data from the Florida Department of Corrections and found that there was no statistically significant difference in reconviction rates between cases just above and cases just below the cutoff score for imprisonment. This suggests that prison sentences did not lead to a reduction in recidivism over a 3-year period for mostly nonviolent property and drug offenders near the cutoff score. The study concludes that alternative sanctions may be more effective for these types of offenders considering he high costs associated with imprisonment.