Impact of the Sentencing Reform Act

• NCJ Number: 111432
• Author(s): R Krell
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 43 pages
• Corporate Author: Washington State Legislature
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Report No. 87-2 to the Washington State Legislature, January 1987

Annotation

This study assesses the impact of the Washington State Sentencing Reform Act on the State's prison and jail populations and reviews the use of community corrections and treatment programs under the act.

Abstract

Passed in 1981, the law requires sentencing within specified guidelines in most cases and emphasizes confinement for violent offenders and alternatives to total incarceration for nonviolent offenders. Data on prison populations indicate that the law has reduced inmate populations compared to what they would have been without the law. In addition, the proportion of violent offenders in the prisons has increased substantially. Preliminary data also suggest that the law has increased the population in the State's jails, although a more comprehensive analysis of this issue is needed. In addition, community corrections programs do not appear to be used to the extent envisioned by the law. Requiring judges to state in writing their reasons for not imposing alternative sentences and conducting further analysis of the use of alternative sentences are recommended. Additional recommendations, data tables, and appended tables, methodological information, and agency correspondence.