Prosecutor Mercy

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-366
Author(s):  
Lee Kovarsky
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Love Affair ◽  
Half Century ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Mandatory Minimums ◽  
American Prison

The tailwinds might be behind criminal justice reform, but American mercy power remains locked in a sputtering clemency model. Centralized leadership should be braver or the centralized institutions should be streamlined, the arguments go—but what if the more basic mercy problem is centralization itself? In this essay, I explore that question. In so doing, I defend the normative premise that post-conviction mercy is justified, and I address the questions of institutional design and political economy that follow. I ultimately encourage jurisdictions to layer decentralized mercy powers on top of their clemency mechanisms, and for the newer authority to be vested in local prosecutors. I present less a single proposal than a collection of principles for mercy decentralization. Governors and presidents simply cannot deliver the punishment remissions appropriate for an American prison population bloated by a half-century love affair with over-criminalization, mandatory minimums, and recidivism enhancements.

States' Budget Investments in Technology and Improving Criminal Justice Outcomes

2018 ◽  
pp. 90-105
Author(s):  
Deborah Mohammed-Spigner ◽  
Brian E. Porter ◽  
Lois M. Warner
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Public Safety ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Rate Of Return ◽  
Drug Courts ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Prison Populations

Investments in criminal justice have been expanding over the decades especially as specific outcomes have been sought to address the issues surrounding crime and public safety. Reducing crime and the rate of imprisonment can both significantly impact public safety and cost savings, as well as address outcomes for the justice-involved population in reducing the rate of return to imprisonment, or recidivism. Lessening sentences for non-violent crimes and expanding drug courts as an alternative to incarceration, along with other major criminal justice reform, have led some states to experience a reduction in crime and prison population. New Jersey, Hawaii, and California have made significant strides to reduce its crime and prison populations and are leaders in achieving major criminal justice reform. This chapter seeks to examine corrections spending for these three leading states that have implemented evidence-based policies and adapted information technology to improve criminal justice outcomes. It will also outline states spending on corrections over the past five years.

scholarly journals From Tough Justice to Smart on Crime

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Brooks
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of imprisonment in the OECD. The current Labour prime minister and the most recent National prime minister have both expressed support for addressing the rate of imprisonment. Nonetheless, New Zealand’s prison population continues to grow and is forecast to continue growing. This article investigates Texas’s experience of criminal justice reform; in particular, how they achieved a bipartisan consensus in favour of reform. It then looks at what lessons Texas’s experience might offer New Zealand. Finally, it highlights shortcomings of the Texan approach and what these might mean for New Zealand.

scholarly journals Welfare state development and Finnish criminal justice reform from the 1910s to the 1960s

2020 ◽  
pp. 146247452096493
Author(s):  
Esko Häkkinen
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Difficult Case ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Population Sizes ◽  
Nordic Welfare State ◽  
Restricted Use ◽  
The 1960S

In contemporary research, Nordic countries are considered to have comparatively lenient penal policies, such as the restricted use of imprisonment. However, criminal justice in Finland during the early decades of its independence was exceptionally harsh. Due to its history, Finland is considered a difficult case for institutionalist theories that have related the Nordic welfare state model with lenient penal policy. This analysis argues that Finland’s development away from this severity was, in fact, caused by the shift of its social policy toward that of a (Nordic) welfare state in the 1940s, which is associated with the adoption of the model of democratic corporatism after decades of intense political conflict. The 1940s were a turning point when regulation of prison population sizes started to become an objective in legislation concerning the penal system. Meanwhile, independent of legislation, judges’ attitudes and sentencing practices began to relax. A generational replacement began among the criminal justice elite that manifested as generational disagreement in the 1950s, and by the 1970s, a reformist consensus was achieved.

Further US prison reforms could come

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Immediate Release ◽  
Advocacy Groups ◽  
Federal Prison ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform

Significance The act, which had overwhelming bipartisan support, establishes a range of criminal justice reform measures and heralds a significant push to reduce the federal prison population. Impacts Advocacy groups will likely intensify campaigns for an overhaul of the criminal justice system. The immediate release of prisoners will reduce costs, estimated at 40-60 million dollars per year in the first instance. The legislation could come under critics’ fire if reoffending rates go up after prisoner releases.

The End of an Era? Understanding the Contradictions of Criminal Justice Reform

2016 ◽  
Vol 664 (1) ◽  
pp. 238-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Beckett ◽  
Anna Reosti ◽  
Emily Knaphus
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Crime And Punishment ◽  
Sentencing Reform

Recent drops in the U.S. rate of incarceration have triggered much discussion regarding the fate of mass incarceration. Some observers suggest that the political consensus in favor of getting tough on crime has been shattered and replaced by a new consensus that the prison population must be downsized. In this article, we explore the possibility that neither legislation nor public discourse around crime and punishment has shifted so dramatically, and that the cultural dynamics surrounding reform efforts may undermine the prospects of comprehensive sentencing reform. To assess these hypotheses, we analyze trends in criminal justice policy reform from 2000 to 2013 and newspaper stories and editorials on criminal justice reform since 2008. While we do find important examples of changing rhetoric and policy, we suggest that these changes do not constitute a “paradigm shift.” Rather, they are indicative of a more subtle, complex, and contradictory modification of the way punishment is conceived, discussed, and ultimately enacted.

Peaks and Troughs

2019 ◽  
pp. 58-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donato Masciandaro ◽  
Davide Romelli
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Central Bank ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Central Bank Independence ◽  
Banking Supervision ◽  
Macroeconomic Shocks ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
The 2008 Financial Crisis ◽  
Exchange Rate Shocks

This chapter investigates the endogenous evolution of central bank institutional design over the past four decades. From a theoretical perspective, it employs a stylized political economy model to highlight some key determinants of the level of central bank independence as a function of macroeconomic shocks and political economy characteristics of countries. It then employs recently developed dynamic indices of central bank design to describe the evolution of central bank independence over the period 1972–2014. In a sample of sixty-five countries, it shows that the increasing trend in central bank independence during 1972–2007 has been reversing after the 2008 financial crisis, mainly due to significant changes to the roles of central banks in banking supervision. The authors find that this evolution can be related to several macroeconomic shocks, such as inflationary, fiscal, and exchange-rate shocks.

Norfolk’s “Model Prison Community”: Howard Belding Gill and the Social Process of Prison Reform

2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-146
Author(s):  
Matthew DelSesto
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Prison Reform ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Spatial Design ◽  
The Social ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
Prison Community ◽  
The Relationship

This article explores the social process of criminal justice reform, from Howard Belding Gill’s 1927 appointment as the first superintendent of the Norfolk Prison Colony to his dramatic State House hearing and dismissal in 1934. In order to understand the social and spatial design of Norfolk’s “model prison community,” this article reviews Gills’ tenure as superintendent through administrative documents, newspaper reports, and his writings on criminal justice reform. Particular attention is given to the relationship between correctional administration and public consciousness. Concluding insights are offered on the possible lessons from Norfolk Prison Colony for contemporary reform efforts.

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