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SENTENCING REFORM AND THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM: A Case Study of the Implementation of Minnesota's Determinate Sentencing Law
Author(s) -
GOODSTEIN LYNNE
Publication year - 1983
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/j.1467-9930.1983.tb00310.x
Subject(s) - equity (law) , predictability , certainty , law , political science , criminology , sociology , mathematics , statistics , geometry
In recent years, various determinate sentencing models have been proposed to promote equity in sentencing and prisoner release certainty. This article examines the implementation of Minnesota's determinate sentencing law as it relates to prisoners and the state correctional system, It reviews the extent of the reform's success in achieving predictability in prisoner release dates and equity in sentencing. Organizational, political, and transitional problems in the implementation of the determinacy concept are discussed. In particular, resistance to change among parole board and correctional treatment staff members and a prisoner movement for retroactivity are highlighted. Conditions that could lead to replications of Minnesota's experience in other states are reviewed.