Illinois Government Research no. 56 1983: Prison Capacity and Sentencing Severity: A Look at Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania

摘要

After a brief lull in the late seventies and early eighties, crimeis once again a prime concern among a large number ofAmericans. More people are mentioning crime in periodicsurveys of public problems than in the previous decade, andthe 1982 governor's race in California may have been won atthe eleventh hour by a strong law and order appeal. In theminds of many, criminal punishment is an integral part of thecrime problem and society's efforts to combat it. It is viewedas both a real and a symbolic deterrent to crime, every bitas important as a mobile, effective police force. This has ledto a reexamination of sentencing practices and a revision ofsentencing codes, an increase in minimum punishments, andeven new prison construction. Illinois, for example, movedfrom an interdeterminate to a determinate sentencing code,abolished its parole board, and enacted Class X legislationproviding more severe sentences for selected heinous crimes.More recently it has embarked upon a campaign to increaseits state penal capacity. Indeed, a recent report of the IllinoisEconomic and Fiscal Commission shows that the Departmentof Corrections received 75 percent of all new capital projectdollars for FY 1983 ??? in excess of $80 million.Many students of criminal courts have doubted the effectivenessof these reforms. They note the low visibility of mostsentencing decisions and the vested interest of most criminalcourt practitioners in the status quo. Of particular concernare the long-established "going rates" for routine offenseson which county plea bargaining practices are based. Tobetter understand the sentencing process ??? and improveour chances to reform it ??? we undertook a long-term comparativestudy of criminal courts. The focus of the presentessay is on factors that affect sentencing severity. Suchfactors are, of course, of special interest to those concernedwith increasing the deterrent effect of sentencing.