| Summary: | This study presents an initial attempt to develop a model of a decision-making process which lawyers could employ in seeking the most lenient sentence possible for their clients. Regression equations depicting the direct effect of a number of legal and nonlegal (social) factors on the length of prison sentence were constructed on the basis of data collected from the Division of Corrections and the Bureau. of Research and Reporting of the State of Virginia.
Analysis of the data revealed that the type of crime one was convicted of, acted as a specifying variable; thus, the regression equations were developed in crime specific terms. Comparing the regression equations for the seven different types of crime sampled, it was found that no two of them were the same. Moreover, the ability of the regression equations to explain the variance in the length of prison sentence was found to fluctuate drastically. Nevertheless, it was felt that the advocated model could be of some utility to lawyers. === Master of Science
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