Sentencing: Theory, History, and Policy

Catalog description

Considers how sentencing in the United States has traditionally been regarded as a matter of wide judicial discretion. Focuses on such questions as: What purposes should judges seek to further in exercising judicial discretion, and how are these purposes most effectively advanced? What procedural protections should be recognized for defendants and crime victims? How has the sentencing process been structured differently over time and in different jurisdictions? Combines consideration of legal doctrine, theory, practice, and social science.