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The fragmentation of sentencing and corrections in America

Tonry, Michael
June 4, 2015

Source: (1999) Sentencing & Corrections: Issues for the 21st Century (Research in Brief). No. 1 (September). Papers from the Executive Sessions on Sentencing and Corrections. Washington, DC: United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.

This document presents an overview of sentencing and corrections at the end of the twentieth century in America. As recently as 1975, indeterminate sentencing generally characterized the approach to sentencing and corrections in America. Tonry contends that is no longer the case; rather, there are now a number of systems or approaches. Indeed, he asserts that sentencing and corrections are fractured or fracturing. With this in view, Tonry examines four competing conceptions of sentencing and corrections in America: indeterminate sentencing; comprehensive structured sentencing; community/restorative sentencing; and “risk-based sentencing.â€?

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