NCJ Number
121145
Date Published
1989
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This chapter addresses some of the provisions of the U.S. sentencing guidelines that will likely impact prison populations, the examples of selected States that have developed and implemented determinate and presumptive sentencing (some using sentencing guidelines), the mechanisms for controlling the flow of inmates in and out, and some of the policy options facing the Federal Government.
Abstract
Since the Federal Government has just started using sentencing guidelines, this study draws on the experiences of some States that have been using determinate sentencing for some years to project the likely impact of such sentencing at the Federal level. Determinate sentencing typically ends the use of parole and generally increases prison populations. The tendency over time is for sentencing to become more punitive, even with dispositional guidelines. Prison and jail populations are intimately linked in these trends. The policy option confronting the Federal Government is whether to influence sentencing policy by adjusting prison policy or to control prison policies and resources by changing sentencing policies. 9 notes.