Examined court records from Dade County, Florida, to investigate whether age shielded elderly misdemeanant theft defendants from more retributive reactions of the courts. Results revealed that, compared to younger defendants, elderly defendants were more likely to be fined. Majority of elderly defendants received some form of economic penalty if…

Approximately 200,000 persons aged 60 and older are arrested annually in the United States and over 50,000 of these persons are formally accused of a crime each year. An exploratory study was conducted to probe the adversarial posture of elderly misdemeanant defendants. An analysis of 4,976 cases drawn from the official dockets of the Dade County…

The goals of this study of the relationship between judges and elderly offenders were: (1) to describe beliefs and attitudes held by judges about the elderly and elderly delinquents, (2) to catalogue sanctions judges use and recommend as ideal for elderly shoplifters and other elderly misdemeanants, and (3) to poll judges about their willingness…