2026-09-21T17:57:08Zhttps://api.mountainscholar.org/server/oai/request

oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/1953182025-12-30T03:38:42Zcom_10217_100532com_10217_100000com_10217_100508com_10217_100303col_10217_100538col_10217_100510

Parks, Megan, author Nowacki, Jeffrey, advisor Unnithan, Prabha, committee member Hughes, Shannon, committee member 2019-06-14T17:06:06Z 2019-06-14T17:06:06Z 2019 Parks_colostate_0053N_15356.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10217/195318 https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018924 Using State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) data from 2009, I examine the effects of personal characteristics on the amount of legal financial obligations (LFOs) imposed on defendants and the monetary amount of these LFOs. Drawing on focal concerns theory, first developed by Steffensmeier (1980), which identifies three factors used by court actors in criminal sentencing: blameworthiness of the offender, protection of community, and practical constraints and consequences. Adjusting to these practical constraints causes court actors to employ "perceptual shorthand", utilizing defendant's characteristics in sentencing decisions. Applying focal concerns perspective is a novel approach to evaluating the effect of race/ethnicity, age, and gender on LFO imposition and LFO amounts. born digital masters theses English eng Colorado State University. Libraries 2000-2019 Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright. Legal financial obligations: a focal concerns perspective Text Master of Arts (M.A.) Masters Sociology Colorado State University This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). open.access