NCJ Number
140237
Journal
State Legislative Report Volume: 17 Issue: 5 Dated: (March 1992) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1992
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Expert panelists at a December 1991 meeting attended by legislators from eight States examined public opinion about crime and punishment, sentencing options and the information policymakers need to make decisions about criminal penalties, the effects of mandatory sentencing, and efforts in Alabama and Delaware to increase the safe use of alternatives to incarceration.
Abstract
The realities that crime occurs, that a government response is required, and that punishment generally does not end the problem are confronted by the political right's fantasies that crime will end if more offenders are incapacitated and the political left's understanding and help to offenders will stop crime. States can adapt to these problematic realities with strategic that tries to balance these two fantasies. Mandatory sentences have been a popular policy response, but empirical data show that they overburden courts and corrections while failing to deter crime. Thus, sentencing guidelines may be the most constructive way to achieve predictability and equity in criminal penalties. Delaware and Alabama have undertaken reform efforts that have been helped by public opinion surveys that reveal that after the public was informed about various alternatives to incarceration, public support for them was broad and deep. These findings indicate a constituency exists for new approaches in corrections and that state legislators and other policymakers can provide information and education that helps build this constituency and facilitates reform. Figures and 6 references