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"Beyond Rehabilitation: A New Theory of Indeterminate Sentencing"

By Douglas A. Berman

The title of this post is the title of this great looking new piece by Professor Michael M. O'Hear. here is the abstract: Indeterminate sentencing -- that is, sentencing offenders to a range of potential imprisonment with the actual release date determined later, typically by a parole board -- fell into disrepute among theorists and policymakers in the last three decades of the twentieth century.  This sentencing practice had been closely associated with the rehabilitative paradigm in criminal law, which also fell from favor in the 1970?s.  In the years that followed, most states eliminated or pared back the various devices that had been used to implement indeterminate sentencing, especially parole release.  Yet, sentencing remained indeterminate most places to varying degrees, and now parole and similar mechanisms are staging an unexpected comeback...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 01, 2011 (boomark / email).