Sentencing Matters (Studies in Crime and Public Policy) - Hardcover

Tonry, Michael

3.78

9 ratings by Goodreads

9780195094985: Sentencing Matters (Studies in Crime and Public Policy)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195094980 ISBN 13: 9780195094985

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1996

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Sentencing policies and reform have become critical issues across the nation as the public has become increasingly concerned about crime, prompting changes such as the three strikes and you re out legislation. Every state since 1980 has enacted laws mandating minimum prison sentences based on the premises that harsher penalties will reduce crime rates and that judges cannot otherwise be trusted to impose them. Modern laws often tell judges what sentence to impose rather than set boundaries within which sentencing choices are to be made. Yet the effectiveness of these reforms has not been shown. As the national incarceration rate surges, there needs to be new discussion of the nature, purpose, and effects of current and contemplated sentencing policies.

In Sentencing Matters, Michael Tonry, an internationally recognized authority in the field, offers a comprehensive overview of research, policy developments and practical experience concerning sentencing and sanctions. He examines the effects of increased penalties and whether America has become a safer place as a result. 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 a quarter century, yet the political debates on the subject have changed remarkably little. By offering a comprehensive survey of new developments in research and policy, Sentencing Matters is certain to spark fresh debate on this divisive issue. It will be of great interest to lawyers, criminologists, judges, policy makers, and others concerned with the problem of crime and what to do about it.

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About the Author:

About the author: Michael Tonry is Sonosky Professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Minnesota, and editor of the journals Crime and Justice--A Review of Research and Overcrowded Times. He is the author or editor of many previous works, including Between Prison and Probation (with Norval Morris, Oxford 1990), Modern Policing (1992), Building a Safer Society--Strategic Approaches to Crime Prevention (with David P. Farrington, 1995), and Malign Neglect: Race, Crime, and Punishment in America (Oxford, 1995).

Review:

"Tonry does a masterful job of evaluating this diverse body of research. This book provided me with an invaluable summary of the burgeoning literature on sentencing, much of which is not available through standard academic outlets."--Justice Quarterly

"Among the wide variety of debaters on criminal sentencing, this book is a successful attempt to mesh the facts and the reforms into a beautifully rational polemic."--The Law and Politics Book Review

"Tonry's Sentencing Matters...is an encyclopedic compendium of sentencing theory and reform in the United States, beautifully written and organized around a set of eight prescriptions for change that Tonry says are the logical outcomes of studying the reforms....Tonry marshals his evidence and marches toward politically charged conclusions. He has emerged as the James Q. Wilson of the left."--Law & Society Review

"Tonry has written the most inclusive and up-to-date study of American sentencing practices now available. To my knowledge, no other work approaches Sentencing Matters' field of vision, particularly in its sustained attention to developments in the states. No other scholar has taken on the painstaking and unglamorous work of learning what so many jurisdictions are doing--and then keeping up with their progress over time. The tedious nature of this effort should not be undersold....Without Michael Tonry, virtually no literature on state sentencing would exist....[This book] is a compendium of the best work of the leading scholar on American sentencing innovations."--Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

"A marvelously concise and well-reasoned book on one of criminal justice's most intractable problems--how to sentence offenders effectively without doing violence to the humanity of the wrongdoer."--Choice

"With more than 1,500,000 of our fellow citizens in prison and jail, Michael Tonry's Sentencing Matters matters very much. [Tonry] is formidably well-informed, writes concisely and crisply, and probes the core of our uneasy efforts at the rational punishment of crime."--Norval Morris, University of Chicago

"Michael Tonry is the most knowledgeable person on sentencing in the United States. His overall recommendation on sentencing reform is an essential 'read' for judges, lawyers, and legislators throughout the country. His comprehension of the federal sentencing guidelines is a remarkable contribution and should be helpful to those who are sincerely concerned about the gross inadequacies existing in sentencing guidelines."--Donald P. Lay, Senior Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

"Tonry's broad knowledge and understanding of sentencing issues in the United States and elsewhere make this a 'must read' book for scholars, policy makers, and anyone interested in a serious, but very readable, book on sentencing."--Anthony N. Doob, University of Toronto

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