Sentencing: Theory, History, and Policy

Catalog description

In the United States, sentencing has traditionally been regarded as a matter of wide judicial discretion. In exercising this discretion, what purposes should judges seek to further, and how are these purposes most effectively advanced? What procedural protections should be recognized for defendants and crime victims? And how has the sentencing process been structured differently over time and in different jurisdictions? These and related questions are the focus of this course, which combines consideration of legal doctrine, theory, practice, and social science.