Replication data for: Resource Constraints and the Criminal Justice System: Evidence from Judicial Vacancies

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Crystal S. Yang

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Data_2015_0150			10/13/2019 04:10:AM
LICENSE.txt	text/plain	14.6 KB	10/13/2019 12:10:AM

Project Citation:

Yang, Crystal S. Replication data for: Resource Constraints and the Criminal Justice System: Evidence from Judicial Vacancies. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2016. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-13. https://doi.org/10.3886/E114641V1

Project Description

Summary: Ten percent of federal judgeships are currently vacant, yet little is known on the impact of these vacancies on criminal justice outcomes. Using judge deaths and pension eligibility as instruments for vacancies, I find that prosecutors dismiss more cases during vacancies. Prosecuted defendants are more likely to plead guilty and less likely to be incarcerated during vacancies, with defendants who are detained pretrial more likely to be incarcerated. The current rate of vacancies has resulted in 1,000 fewer prison inmates annually compared to a fully-staffed court system, a 1.5 percent decrease.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      K14 Criminal Law
      K41 Litigation Process
      K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

Related Publications

Download this project

Published Versions

V1 [2019-10-13]

Export Metadata

Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

Report a Problem

Found a serious problem with the data, such as disclosure risk or copyrighted content? Let us know.

This material is distributed exactly as it arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.