Repeat Offender Laws in the United States: Forms, Uses, and Perceived Value, 1983

This survey of prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges in
jurisdictions with sentence enhancement statutes for repeat offenders
collected information about the characteristics of the laws and
criminal justice professionals regarding the fairness, effectiveness,
and practice of the laws. The jurisdiction file includes variables such
as jurisdiction size, number of provisions in the law, number of felony
cases handled under the law per year, number of defendants sentenced as
repeat offenders, frequency of charging and sentencing under the law,
and minimum and maximum sentences specified in the statutes. The
variables in the three surveys of practitioners contain data related to
their familiarity with the laws, descriptions of recent cases, and
satisfaction with the new statutes.