Disparities in Sentencing: Causes and Solutions

Disparities in Sentencing: Causes and Solutions PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Criminal justice, Administration of
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Disparities in Sentencing

Disparities in Sentencing PDF Author: Council of Europe
Publisher: Manhattan Publishing Company
ISBN: 9789287116215
Category : Sentences (Criminal procedure)
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
Inequalities in sentencing by Marc Robert.

The Growth of Incarceration in the United States

The Growth of Incarceration in the United States PDF Author: Committee on Causes and Consequences of High Rates of Incarceration
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 9780309298018
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 800

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Book Description
After decades of stability from the 1920s to the early 1970s, the rate of imprisonment in the United States has increased fivefold during the last four decades. The U.S. penal population of 2.2 million adults is by far the largest in the world. Just under one-quarter of the world's prisoners are held in American prisons. The U.S. rate of incarceration, with nearly 1 out of every 100 adults in prison or jail, is 5 to 10 times higher than the rates in Western Europe and other democracies. The U.S. prison population is largely drawn from the most disadvantaged part of the nation's population: mostly men under age 40, disproportionately minority, and poorly educated. Prisoners often carry additional deficits of drug and alcohol addictions, mental and physical illnesses, and lack of work preparation or experience. The growth of incarceration in the United States during four decades has prompted numerous critiques and a growing body of scientific knowledge about what prompted the rise and what its consequences have been for the people imprisoned, their families and communities, and for U.S. society. The Growth of Incarceration in the United States examines research and analysis of the dramatic rise of incarceration rates and its affects. This study makes the case that the United States has gone far past the point where the numbers of people in prison can be justified by social benefits and has reached a level where these high rates of incarceration themselves constitute a source of injustice and social harm. The Growth of Incarceration in the United States examines policy changes that created an increasingly punitive political climate and offers specific policy advice in sentencing policy, prison policy, and social policy. The report also identifies important research questions that must be answered to provide a firmer basis for policy. This report is a call for change in the way society views criminals, punishment, and prison. This landmark study assesses the evidence and its implications for public policy to inform an extensive and thoughtful public debate about and reconsideration of policies.

Communities in Action

Communities in Action PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309452961
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 583

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Book Description
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Guidelines Manual

Guidelines Manual PDF Author: United States Sentencing Commission
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Criminal justice, Administration of
Languages : en
Pages : 556

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Justice for All

Justice for All PDF Author: Charles E. 'Chuck' MacLean
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781003163411
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
"Justice for All identifies ten central flaws in the criminal justice system and offers an array of solutions - from status quo to evolution to revolution - to address the inequities and injustices that far too often result in courtrooms across the United States. From the investigatory stage to the sentencing and appellate stages, many criminal defendants, particularly those from marginalized communities, often face procedural and structural barriers that taint the criminal justice system with the stain of unfairness, prejudice, and arbitrariness. Systematic flaws in the criminal justice system underscore the inequitable processes by which courts deprive citizens of liberty and, in some instances, their lives. Comprehensive in its scope and applicability, the book focuses upon the procedural and substantive barriers that often prohibit defendants from receiving fair treatment within the United States criminal justice system. Each chapter is devoted to a particular flaw in the criminal justice system and is divided into two parts. First, the authors discuss in depth the underlying causes and effects of the flaw at issue. Second, the authors present a wide range of possible solutions to address this flaw and lead to greater equality in the administration of criminal justice. The reader is encouraged throughout to consider and assess all possible options, then defendant their choices and preferences. Confronting these issues is critical to reducing racial disparities and guaranteeing Justice for All. Describing the problems and assessing the solutions, Justice for All will be of immeasurable value to criminal justice students and scholars, as well as attorneys, judges, and legislators, who strive to address the pervasive flaws in the criminal justice system"--

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing PDF Author: Margaret Haerens
Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Offers opposing viewpoints on mandatory minimum sentencing to give the reader both sides of the legal debate.

Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System

Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System PDF Author: Joan Petersilia
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
This 2-year study compared the treatment of white and minority offenders at key decision points in the criminal justice processing of approximately 1,400 male prison inmates in California, Michigan, and Texas. Study data came from the California Offender-Based Transaction Statistics which tracks offender-processing from arrest to sentencing, and the Rand Inmate Survey which yielded data from self-reports of approximately 1,400 male prison inmates in California, Michigan, and Texas. Prior research on discrimination in the criminal justice system produced controversial and contradictory findings. Section II discusses the problems with this research and briefly describes the data and methodology. Section III describes the workings of the criminal justice system and identifies racial differences in case-processing revealed in some of the data. Section IV analyzes more of the data for racial differences in crime-commission rates and the probability of being arrested. Section V looks at racial differences following the imposition of a court sentence. Section VI explores racial differences in offender characteristics, specifically: crime motivation, weapon use, and prison violence. Section VII summarizes the findings and presents the conclusions of the study. Although the case-processing system generally treated offenders similarly, there were racial differences at two key points. Minority suspects were more likely than whites to be released after arrest; however, after a felony conviction, minority offenders were more likely than whites to be given longer sentences and to be put in prison instead of jail. There were no statistically significant differences that implied discrimination against minorities in corrections.

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 PDF Author: United States
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Criminal justice, Administration of
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Punishment Without Crime

Punishment Without Crime PDF Author: Alexandra Natapoff
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465093809
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
A revelatory account of the misdemeanor machine that unjustly brands millions of Americans as criminals. Punishment Without Crime offers an urgent new interpretation of inequality and injustice in America by examining the paradigmatic American offense: the lowly misdemeanor. Based on extensive original research, legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff reveals the inner workings of a massive petty offense system that produces over 13 million cases each year. People arrested for minor crimes are swept through courts where defendants often lack lawyers, judges process cases in mere minutes, and nearly everyone pleads guilty. This misdemeanor machine starts punishing people long before they are convicted; it punishes the innocent; and it punishes conduct that never should have been a crime. As a result, vast numbers of Americans -- most of them poor and people of color -- are stigmatized as criminals, impoverished through fines and fees, and stripped of drivers' licenses, jobs, and housing. For too long, misdemeanors have been ignored. But they are crucial to understanding our punitive criminal system and our widening economic and racial divides. A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018