Handbook On Sentencing Policies And Practices In The 21st Century

Sentencing Policies and Practices in the 21st Century focuses on the evolution and consequences of sentencing policies and practices, with sentencing broadly defined to include plea bargaining, judicial and juror decision making, and alternatives to incarceration, including participation in problem-solving courts. This collection of essays and reports of original research explores how sentencing policies and practices, both in the United States and internationally, have evolved, explores important issues raised by guideline and non-guideline sentencing, and provides an overview of recent research on plea bargaining in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Other topics include the role of criminal history in sentencing, the past and future of capital punishment, strategies for reducing mass incarceration, problem-solving courts, and restorative justice practices. Each chapter summarizes what is known, identifies the gaps in the research, and discusses the theoretical, empirical, and policy implications of the research findings. The volume is grounded in current knowledge about the specific topics, but also presents new material that reflects the thinking of the leading minds in the field and that outlines a research agenda for the future. This is Volume 4 of the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Corrections and Sentencing handbook series. Previous volumes focused on risk assessment, disparities in punishment, and the consequences of punishment decisions. The handbooks provide a comprehensive overview of these topics for scholars, students, practitioners, and policymakers.

Sentencing Policies and Practices in Western Countries: Comparative and Cross-national Perspectives is the forty-fifth addition to the Crime and Justice series. Contributors include Thomas Weigend on criminal sentencing in Germany since 2000; Julian V. Roberts and Andrew Ashworth on the evolution of sentencing policy and practice in England and Wales from 2003 to 2015; Jacqueline Hodgson and Laurène Soubise on understanding the sentencing process in France; Anthony N. Doob and Cheryl Marie Webster on Canadian sentencing policy in the twenty-first century; Arie Freiberg on Australian sentencing policies and practices; Krzysztof Krajewski on sentencing in Poland; Alessandro Corda on Italian policies; Michael Tonry on American sentencing; and Tapio Lappi-Seppälä on penal policy and sentencing in the Nordic countries.

This handbook surveys American sentencing and corrections from global and historical views, from theoretical and policy perspectives, and with attention to a number of problem-specific issues.

"This volume will address major issues and research in corrections and sentencing with the goal of using previous research and findings as a platform for recommendations about future research, evaluation, and policy. The last several decades witnessed major policy changes in sentencing and corrections in the United States, as well as considerable research to identify the most effective strategies for addressing criminal behavior. These efforts, driven in part by drug epidemics and increases in crime in the late 20th century, included changes in sentencing led by the federal government that eliminated parole and imposed draconian sentences for violent and drug crimes. The federal government, followed by most states, implemented sentencing guidelines that greatly reduced the discretion of the courts to impose sentences. The results were a multi-fold increase in the numbers of individuals in jails, prisons, and on community supervision-increases that have only recently crested. In addition to changes in sentencing practices, there were efforts to engage prosecutors and the courts in diversion and oversight. These efforts included the development of prosecutorial diversion programs, as well as a variety of specialty courts including those addressing offenders with drug or mental health issues and those focused on individuals with other types of special needs such as youths or veterans. Penal reform has included efforts to rehabilitate prisoners, including a variety of federal-led efforts focused on reentry programming. Community corrections reforms have ranged from increased surveillance through drug testing, electronic monitoring, and in some cases, judicial oversight, to rehabilitative efforts driven by risk and needs assessment. More recently, the focus has included pretrial reform to reduce the number of people held in jail pending trial, efforts that have brought attention to the use of bail and its disproportionate impact on the poor. Other parts of the justice system have also increasingly turned to fees-for supervision, for drug testing, for "lodging" in jail-and fines to cover the agency costs and, in some cases, general fund expenditures. Inability to pay these fees and fines can lead to a cycle of incarceration that is difficult for an individual to break. This collection of essays from leading researchers in the field addresses a wide array of the latest research in the field, covering the broader areas of courts and sentencing; community supervision; and prisons, jails, and reentry. A unique approach featuring responses to the original essays by active researchers spurs discussion and provides a foundation for developing directions for future research and policymaking"--

One of the foremost books in Sentencing Law, the new fourth edition continues in the tradition of its predecessors by giving students a comprehensive overview of modern sentencing practices. Authored by leading scholars, this casebook provides thorough examination of underlying doctrine, motivates students to tackle the important policy and political issues that animate sentencing practices, and poses challenging questions and hypotheticals to stimulate class discussion and independent thought. Key Features: More streamlined focus. Material covered in the third edition has been updated and streamlined reducing the length by more than 400 pages. Chapters 7-11 in the previous edition have been expanded and updated and are now available online. Thoroughly updated to address important statutory and case law changes, including important U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, state appellate court decisions and recent scholarship. Coverage of modern policy issues, including mass incarceration, prosecutorial and judicial discretion, punishment for drug crimes, revised federal and state sentencing guidelines, racial and other disparities in sentencing, and topics associated with administration of the death penalty. Expanded Teachers Manual with sample syllabi and other supporting materials to help professors construct personalized teaching plans that integrate the text and online materials.

With contributions from leading authorities, this is the definitive guide to current criminological theory, research, and policy.The Oxford Handbook of Criminology provides a comprehensive collection of chapters covering the core and emerging topics studied on criminology courses, indispensable to students, academics, and professionals alike.· 43 chapters written by over 85 leading academics exploringrelevant theory, cutting-edge research, policy developments, and current debates, encouraging students to appreciate the diverse and interdisciplinary nature of criminological discourse· Includes detailedreferences to aid further research· Chapters updated to reflect recent cases, statistics, and scholarship, as well as significant current events such as Covid-19 and social justice movements.· New chapters added presenting research on topical issues including victimology, hate crime, desistance, cybercrime, atrocity crimes, convict criminology, security and smart cities, prison abolitionism, comparative criminology, sex offending, and networkcriminology.Digital formats and resourcesThe seventh edition is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats, and is supported by online resources.- Thee-book offers a mobile experience and convenient access along with functionality tools, navigation features and links that offer extra learning support: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks- The accompanying online resources include essay questions and links to useful websites for each chapter, along with guidance on answering essay questions and access to chapters from previous editions.

Michael Tonry, an internationally recognized authority on criminology, offers in these pages a comprehensive overview of current research, policy developments, and practical experiences concerning sentencing and sanctions. He examines the effects of increased penalties and considers whether they have made America a safer place. Tonry contends that in order for sentencing to be fair and effective, comprehensive and defensible policies must be in place and mechanisms must exist to implement those policies. He also looks at mandatory penalties, community sanctions, and sentencing changes in other countries, and proposes sentencing policies for the twenty-first century. Sentencing has been going through reform for over twenty-five years, yet political debate on the subject has changed remarkably little. By offering a complete survey of new developments in both research and policy, Sentencing Matters is certain to spark fresh dialogue on this divisive issue.

Smart Decarceration is a forward-thinking, practical volume that provides innovative concepts and concrete strategies for ushering in an era of decarceration -- a proactive and effective undoing of the era of mass incarceration. The text grapples with tough questions and takes up the challenge of transforming America's approach to criminal justice in the 21st century. This timely work consists of chapters written from multiple perspectives and disciplines including advocates, researchers, academics, practitioners, and persons with incarceration histories who are now leaders in the movement. The primary purpose of this book is to inform both academic and public understanding -- to place the challenge of smart decarceration at the center of the current national discourse, taking into account the realities of the current sociopolitical context -- and to propose beginning action steps. This is achieved by first outlining and addressing questions such as: What if incarceration were not an option for most?; Whose voices are essential in this era of decarceration?; What is the state of evidence for solutions?; How do we generate and adopt empirically driven reforms?; How do we redefine and rethink justice in the United States? Smart Decarceration offers a way forward in building a field for decarceration through provocative but reasoned challenges to existing approaches to criminal justice reforms, lively focus on potential solutions, and action steps for reform.

The United States is experiencing a mass incarceration crisis. More Americans are imprisoned per capita than any other people on earth, and by a large margin. The financial toll of current rates of imprisonment on the American community is no longer sustainable, and the hardship inflicted by imprisonment on the great majority of prisoners is morally unjustifiable. The striking aspect about this crisis is that it was utterly predictable. For decades, sentencing experts have noted that several objectives that have been pursued to justify harsher sentences, such as general deterrence and general incapacitation, are flawed. These warnings have been ignored by law-makers, who instead have pursued an unremitting “tough on crime” agenda. This has resulted in an almost total disregard of expertise in sentencing law and a substantial gulf between practice and what is achievable in sentencing law. This Article argues that the major causes of the crisis are long-standing punitive attitudes to criminal justice in American society. These attitudes have been fueled by discrimination against African Americans, as well as the crime wave from about 1960 to 1980; economic instability over the past three decades and the privatization of aspects of criminal justice policy. In addition, the failure of lawmakers and scholars to give content and meaning to the principle of proportionality has enabled the “tough on crime” agenda to flourish unabated. This Article proposes solutions that will overcome or reduce these obstacles, thereby clearing the path for evidence-based sentencing reforms. Implementing the reforms will considerably reduce the incarceration rate, save the community billions of dollars and not diminish community safety. Importantly, now is the opportune time to undertake an analysis of this nature. Criminals have no political capital and engender little community empathy, however, for the first time in recent decades there is some prospect that law-makers will consider undertaking principled reform of this area. The unsustainable cost of current incarceration levels has led to wide-ranging political and community debate regarding sentencing reform, and it is now a common topic in mainstream media. This Article proposes measures to capitalize on the receptiveness to sentencing reform with a view to being a further catalyst for wide-ranging, progressive sentencing changes.

Corrections in the 21st Century takes a practical approach to introducing students to the ideas and practices characteristic of modern corrections. It equips them with the skills necessary to succeed in the field. Its three-pronged approach to corrections includes a thorough description of correctional ideology, including professionalism, policy issues, and society's avowed goals for the correctional enterprise; a comprehensive overview of correctional practice, including the everyday operations of correctional agencies, prisons, jails, and the procedures of parole and probation; and the development of personal skills that are applicable to the corrections field. A central theme throughout the text is professionalism in corrections.The Tutorial with Simulation Applications that accompanies the text is a browser-based version of the textbook on CD-ROM. It includes key words, activities, and review games. Simulations on the CD present real-world situations for students to apply chapter concepts. Student responses receive immediate feedback regarding the appropriateness of their responses.