Organizational Imperatives and Sentencing Reform Implementation - The Impact of Prison Practices and Priorities on the Attainment of the Objective of Determinate Sentencing

• NCJ Number: 102347
• Journal: Crime and Delinquency Volume: 32 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1986) Pages: 339-365
• Author(s): J R Hepburn; L Goodstein
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 27 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier version of this article was presented at the 1985 meetings of the American Society of Criminology, San Diego, CA.

Annotation

This article concentrates on the implementation of determinate sentencing reform by the correctional system and proposes that its objectives will be compromised by its low priority relative to more visible, immediate, and central mandates of prison administration.

Abstract

Determinate sentencing, advocated as a means of increasing sentencing equity and reducing inmate release uncertainty and coerced program participation, has been heralded as a major criminal justice reform. Yet organizational theorists caution that successful implementation of a legal reform may be impeded by a number of factors. Focusing on the reform States of Illinois, Minnesota, and Connecticut, this article explores the prison practices and policies governing good time, supervised release, and program participation. It concludes that the objectives of determinate sentencing were affected, to varying degrees, by more central and salient correctional concerns, such as prison crowding and the need to exert social control. (Author abstract)