Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Sentencing Law and Policy

Criminal Law

: Sentencing Law and Policy

A fascinating view of a different approach to prison architecture

By Douglas A. Berman

This morning's New York Times includes this must-read article from the magazine section.  The piece is headlined "Behind Bars ... Sort Of," and it is focused on prison near the Austrian town of Leoben that is "a sleek structure made of glass, wood and concrete, stately but agile, sure in its rhythms and proportions: each part bears an obvious relationship to the whole. In the daytime, the corridors and rooms are flooded with sunshine. At night, the whole structure glows from within."  As the pictures in this slideshow highlight, the facility looks more like an Ikea store than a prison.  The article does a great job discussing not only the architecture of places in which people are imprisoned, but also the relationship between prison construction and crime rates and a bunch of other important punishment topics...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 14, 2009 (boomark / email).