NCJ Number
98931
Date Published
1984
Length
142 pages
Annotation
These proceedings and papers cover such issues as sentencing goals, alternatives to imprisonment, selective incapacitation, the just deserts theory, and sentencing decisionmaking.
Abstract
The retreat proceedings were designed to draw policy team members into an examination of sentencing rationales. Team members used Frames of Reference in Sentencing and Parole Inventory as an instrument to study and discuss sentencing and parole decisions. Members used the survey instrument to rank themselves according to the frames of reference. Presentations focused on such topics as the abolition of prisons and the expansion of alternative corrections options, factors involved in sentencing and parole decisionmaking. A Michigan State appellate defender and a Michigan count prosecutor responded to the speakers in formal presentations. Team members then separated into groups according to their preference for different sentencing philosphies: nonincarceration, selective incapacitation, and just deserts. The groups then formally addressed one another with questions intended to challenge other group philosophies. In addition to transcripts and minutes on the papers and proceedings, this report also contains papers on the history of sentencing guidelines and reaching a consensus (the latter intended to help team members in subsequent deliberations). The retreat agenda and faculty biographical sketches are provided.