NCJ Number
173750
Date Published
1998
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This is a report to the US House of Representatives from the General Accounting Office (GAO) on States' responses to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
Abstract
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 provided incentive grants to States that have truth-in-sentencing (TIS) laws requiring violent offenders to serve at least 85 percent of their imposed sentences. The GAO attempted to determine: (1) the number of States that have enacted TIS laws that meet Federal grant eligibility requirements; (2) whether the availability of Federal grants was a factor in these States' decisions to enact TIS laws; and (3) reasons why other States have not enacted TIS laws that meet Federal grant requirements. Twenty-seven States had TIS laws that met requirements for receiving Federal grants: TIS grants were not a factor for 12 States, were a partial factor for 11 States, and were a key factor for four States. The 23 States and the District of Columbia that did not enact TIS legislation considered that prison construction and operation costs would be too high even with Federal grant money (16 States), current sentencing practices appeared to be working well (5 States), and various other reasons (2 States and the District of Columbia). Notes, tables, figures, appendixes