ICES Experimental Economics Brown Bag Lecture
When District Attorneys Decide: Election Cycles and Prosecuting Behaviors
Thursday, April 11, 2024 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EDT
Vernon Smith Hall (formerly Metropolitan Building), Room 5075
The Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science (ICES) presents an ICES Brown Bag Lecture featuring:
George Mason University
When District Attorneys Decide: Election Cycles and Prosecuting Behaviors
Abstract
Understanding how injustice may arise within the legal system has always been the central debate of criminal justice reform. While existing literature has established the electoral incentives of judicial behaviors and their unintended consequences on criminal sentencing, the role of district attorneys has been largely overlooked. District attorneys play a pivotal role in selecting cases entered into the court, pressing charges, and negotiating plea bargains. Thus, we contribute to the literature by investigating the electoral incentives of district attorneys. We leverage over 20 million administrative criminal case records spanning two decades from the Commonwealth of Virginia to conduct a "supply-side" analysis of electoral incentives within the courtroom..
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