1st Edition
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.
INTRODUCTION
Cassia Spohn and Pauline Brennan
I. THE EVOLUTION OF SENTENCING POLICIES AND PRACTICES
1. The Transformation of Sentencing in the 21st Century
Megan C. Kurlychek and John H. Kramer
2. Sentencing Guidelines in the U.S.
Richard S. Frase and Kelly Lyn Mitchell
3. Sentencing Guidelines Outside the United States
Julian V. Roberts and Lyndon Harris
II. ISSUES IN GUIDELINE AND NON-GUIDELINE SENTENCING
4. Inter-District Differences and Extra-Legal Disparity under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines: The Trees Are "Substantially" more Important than the Forest
Richard D. Hartley
5. Minimum Sentencing for Serious Offences: Lessons from Australia
Kate Fitz-Gibbon and James Roffee
6. Discretionary Release Practices for Juveniles Facing Life: A Review of State Parole and Resentencing Procedures
Stuti S. Kokkalera and Simon I. Singer
III. PLEA BARGAINING
7. Plea Negotiations: An Australian Perspective
Arie Freiberg and Asher Flynn
8. Plea Bargaining in the Shadow of the Trial
Amy Dezember and Allison D. Redlich
9. Estimating the Size of Plea Discounts: Why Does It Matter?
Shi Yan
10. To Plead or Not to Plead? ‘Guilt is the Question. Re-Thinking Plea Decision-Making in Anglo-American Countries
Jay Gormley and Cyrus Tata
IV. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
11. Evolving Attitudes Toward Capital Punishment
Amy L. Anderson, Weng-Fong Chao and Philip Schwadel
12. Disparities in Death Penalty Prosecution and Punishment: A Review of Recent Research
Jeffery T. Ulmer and Lily Hanrath
V. CURRENT CONTROVERSIES
13. Rethinking the Role of Criminal History in Sentencing
Rhys Hester, Richard S. Frase, Julia Laskorunsky and Kelly Lyn Mitchell
14. AB109 in California; Realignment, Decarceration and Crime in Los Angeles County
Katharine Tellis and Cassia Spohn
15. The Problem with Problem-Solving Courts: The Black Box Remains Unopened After Thirty Years
Eileen M. Ahlin and Anne S. Douds
16. Restorative Justice Practices and Challenges in the United States
Jennifer L. Lanterman
Biography
Cassia Spohn is a Foundation Professor and Director of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology, a Fellow of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and a Fellow of the Western Society of Criminology. Her research interests include prosecutorial and judicial decision making, the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, crime and justice, and sexual assault case processing decisions.
Pauline K. Brennan is a Professor and the Ph.D. Program Director for the School of Criminology and Justice Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Her research focuses on racial and gender inequities in court processing, corrections policy, and issues related to female offenders and victims. Her work has appeared in the top journals in the field, including Justice Quarterly, The Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Criminal Justice and Behavior.
