UC Berkeley

This series of papers investigates money as a criminal sanction using a variety of approaches. Paper 1, "Money As A Criminal Penalty: Its Uses and Meanings," explores the theoretical underpinnings and empirical use of monetary penalties, providing a thorough assessment of the complexities entailed in the fair and efficient use of these sanctions. Paper 2, "Substitute & Supplement: The Multiple Functions of Monetary Penalties in Federal Sentencing," uses an innovative approach of focusing on severity and likelihood for both sanctions. The results of hierarchical linear modeling suggest that monetary penalties are used as both a substitute and supplement to incarceration. The main contribution is a more accurate characterization of the relationship between prison and monetary penalties. Paper 3, "Assessing the Effect of Booker on Monetary Penalties and Prison," explores the effect of the Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Booker (2005) on the use of monetary penalties and incarceration in federal sentencing. This analysis uses a matching algorithm to create comparison groups with more balanced observable characteristics. The result is consistent evidence that race and gender continue to be quite influential in sentencing outcomes and that greater post-Booker judicial discretion is associated with more volatility in the use of monetary penalties than prison. By providing a thorough, multi-faceted, and methodologically rigorous account of monetary penalties, these papers significantly advance our understanding of a ubiquitous and complex criminal sanction.