U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

SYMPOSIUM ON SENTENCING REFORM IN THE STATES

NCJ Number
144132
Journal
University of Colorado Law Review Volume: 64 Issue: 3 Dated: (1993) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
G B Hughes
Date Published
1993
Length
286 pages
Annotation
A 1993 symposium at the University of Colorado Law School focused on sentencing reform at the State level and emphasized the imbalance between attention to Federal sentencing guidelines and attention to State reforms enacted since the late 1970's.
Abstract
The symposium was divided into three parts: global sentencing reform issues, race and sentencing, and drug sentences. Presentations in the first part examined the continued advisability of sentencing commissions and guidelines, structural issues faced by policymakers in designing new sentencing systems or improving old ones, and sentencing reform concerns State commissions should address. The second part of the symposium looked at multidisciplinary issues related to racial equity in sentencing, theories of racial sentencing disparities, racial discrimination and disproportionality in sentencing, race and drug law enforcement, and the ability of sentencing guidelines to address the causes of racial sentencing disparities. Presentations in the third part discussed drug sentences, drug treatment as a sentencing option, the rehabilitation issue, and community-based treatment versus imprisonment for drug offenders. The symposium also dealt with discretion and accountability in sentencing. Footnotes, tables, and figures