A Legal Model of Judicial Decision Making

Abstract

The task of this chapter is to develop a legal model of judicial decision making describing, first, how judges decide whether a tariff sentence or an individualized measure is the more appropriate disposition in a particular case and, second, for tariff sentences, how judges determine the appropriate quantum of sentence (see Chapter 1). This discussion initially turns to the problem of scaling culpability in the course of determining a tariff sentence and then considers the choice between a tariff sentence and an individualized measure. The model is developed and particularized in relation to cases in which the legal offense category of burglary is the principal offense. Burglary is an apposite offense because it is an offense for which both offense and offender characteristics are ordinarily given substantial weight in the determination of sentence (Thomas, 1979).