NCJ Number
118863
Date Published
1989
Length
165 pages
Annotation
This 1988 report of the Tennessee Sentencing Commission includes the chairman's review of the commission's work along with commission recommendations and the presentation of commission research results.
Abstract
The commission was charged by the State legislature to overhaul an antiquated criminal code and develop a consistent and equitable sentencing policy. The chairman's overview of the commission's work notes that the commission's efforts have simplified laws, reduced sentencing disparity, produced proportionality in sentencing, and reserved discretion for sentencing judges. The commission was also mandated to collect, develop, and maintain statistical information on sentencing so the commission's work would be based on valid, accurate, and relevant data. Ten commission recommendations summarized by the chairman are designed to benefit the criminal justice system in a number of areas. The report on research results pertains to a study of sentence dispositions and the characteristics of offenders for each type of disposition and a study of sentence duration for various types of offenses. Extensive tabular data.