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Misdemeanor Prosecution

Author

Listed:
  • Amanda Y. Agan
  • Jennifer L. Doleac
  • Anna Harvey

Abstract

Communities across the United States are reconsidering the public safety benefits of prosecuting nonviolent misdemeanor offenses, yet there is little empirical evidence to inform policy in this area. In this paper we report the first estimates of the causal effects of misdemeanor prosecution on defendants' subsequent criminal justice involvement. We leverage the as-if random assignment of nonviolent misdemeanor cases to Assistant District Attorneys (ADAs) who decide whether a case should be prosecuted in the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office in Massachusetts. These ADAs vary in the average leniency of their prosecution decisions. We find that, for the marginal defendant, nonprosecution of a nonviolent misdemeanor offense leads to a 53% reduction in the likelihood of a new criminal complaint, and to a 60% reduction in the number of new criminal complaints, over the next two years. These local average treatment effects are largest for defendants without prior criminal records, suggesting that averting criminal record acquisition is an important mechanism driving our findings. We also present evidence that a recent policy change in Suffolk County imposing a presumption of nonprosecution for nonviolent misdemeanor offenses had similar beneficial effects, decreasing the likelihood of subsequent criminal justice involvement.

Suggested Citation

  • Amanda Y. Agan & Jennifer L. Doleac & Anna Harvey, 2021. "Misdemeanor Prosecution," NBER Working Papers 28600, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28600
    Note: LE LS
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    Cited by:

    1. Jessica W. Gillooly, 2022. "“Lights and Sirens”: Variation in 911 Call‐Taker Risk Appraisal and its Effects on Police Officer Perceptions at the Scene," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(3), pages 762-786, June.
    2. Sönke Hendrik Matthewes & Guglielmo Ventura, 2022. "On Track to Success? Returns to vocational education against different alternatives," CVER Research Papers 038, Centre for Vocational Education Research.
    3. Manasi Deshpande & Michael G. Mueller-Smith, 2022. "Does Welfare Prevent Crime? The Criminal Justice Outcomes of Youth Removed From SSI," NBER Working Papers 29800, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Sönke Hendrik Matthewes & Guglielmo Ventura, 2022. "On Track to Success? Returns to Vocational Education Against Different Alternatives," CEPA Discussion Papers 58, Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
    5. Vitor Possebom, 2026. "Crime and Mismeasured Punishment: Marginal Treatment Effect with Misclassification," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 108(1), pages 44-56, January.
    6. William Arbour & Steeve Marchand, 2022. "Parole, Recidivism, and the Role of Supervised Transition," Working Papers tecipa-725, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • K4 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior

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