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Good thoughts on good and bad works at sentencing

By Douglas A. Berman

Professor Carissa Byrne Hessick now has posted here on SSRN a great new paper on a sentencing topic I have always found very interesting (and underexplored in the academic literature). This piece is titled "Why are Only Bad Acts Good Sentencing Factors?" and here is the abstract: Few pieces of information play a larger role in determining a criminal offender's sentence than her prior criminal history.  The notion that an offender's prior bad acts ought to be considered an aggravating sentencing factor enjoys near-universal acceptance.  But fewer jurisdictions appear to consider an offender's prior good acts (such as honorable military service or charitable works) as a mitigating factor at sentencing.  This Article discusses the potential relationship between aggravating and mitigating sentencing factors...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 14, 2008 (boomark / email).