TY - JOUR
T1 - The Politics and Processes of Sentencing Commissions
AU - Tonry, Michael
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1991/7
Y1 - 1991/7
N2 - Prison overcrowding has intensified interest in sentencing commissions and guidelines. Minnesota and Washington have demonstrated that such systems can conserve state resources and buffer political pressures while achieving a reasonably consistent and accountable sentencing system. More commissions fail, however, than succeed. The successes have been characterized by talented staffs, adequate resources, effective political leadership, and processes that encompass all affected constituencies. Difficult policy issues, such as abolition of mandatory sentencing laws, should be faced at the outset. Where criminal justice policy is so politicized that hard choices cannot be addressed, the sentencing commission approach is likely to fail.
AB - Prison overcrowding has intensified interest in sentencing commissions and guidelines. Minnesota and Washington have demonstrated that such systems can conserve state resources and buffer political pressures while achieving a reasonably consistent and accountable sentencing system. More commissions fail, however, than succeed. The successes have been characterized by talented staffs, adequate resources, effective political leadership, and processes that encompass all affected constituencies. Difficult policy issues, such as abolition of mandatory sentencing laws, should be faced at the outset. Where criminal justice policy is so politicized that hard choices cannot be addressed, the sentencing commission approach is likely to fail.
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U2 - 10.1177/0011128791037003001
DO - 10.1177/0011128791037003001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84973824845
SN - 0011-1287
VL - 37
SP - 307
EP - 329
JO - Crime & Delinquency
JF - Crime & Delinquency
IS - 3
ER -