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Sentencing Commissions as Centers for Policy Analysis and Research: Illustrations from the Budget Process
Author(s) -
Hunt Kim
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
law and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.534
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-9930
pISSN - 0265-8240
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9930.00058
Subject(s) - commission , process (computing) , resource (disambiguation) , prison , policy analysis , public administration , operations research , computer science , function (biology) , political science , management science , law , economics , engineering , computer network , evolutionary biology , biology , operating system
Sentencing commissions have become centers for policy analysis and research, studying the problems of prison crowding and resource limits (Reitz 1997). However, more information is needed regarding how commissions perform this function. This paper focuses on the role of sentencing commissions as centers of policy analysis during state budget processes. Also discussed is an important stage for policy research, the evaluation of alternative policies by means of computer simulation, a modeling tool frequently employed by sentencing commissions. Following a discussion of computer simulation principles, several prominent simulation models used by sentencing commissions are reviewed. Finally, the activities of Virginia’s sentencing commission demonstrate how commissions serve as policy research centers.