Routledge Handbook on Moving Corrections and Sentencing Forward: Building on the Record: 0005 (The ASC Division on Corrections & Sentencing Handbook Series)

This volume addresses major issues and research in corrections and sentencing with the goal of using previous research and findings as a platform for recommendations about future research, evaluation, and policy. The last several decades witnessed major policy changes in sentencing and corrections in the United States, as well as considerable research to identify the most effective strategies for addressing criminal behavior. These efforts included changes in sentencing that eliminated parole and imposed draconian sentences for violent and drug crimes. The federal government, followed by most states, implemented sentencing guidelines that greatly reduced the discretion of the courts to impose sentences. The results were a multifold increase in the numbers of individuals in jails and prisons and on community supervision―increases that have only recently crested. There were also efforts to engage prosecutors and the courts in diversion and oversight, including the development of prosecutorial diversion programs, as well as a variety of specialty courts. Penal reform has included efforts to understand the transitions from prison to the community, including federal-led efforts focused on reentry programming. Community corrections reforms have ranged from increased surveillance through drug testing, electronic monitoring, and in some cases, judicial oversight, to rehabilitative efforts driven by risk and needs assessment. More recently, the focus has included pretrial reform to reduce the number of people held in jail pending trial, efforts that have brought attention to the use of bail and its disproportionate impact on people of color and the poor. This collection of chapters from leading researchers addresses a wide array of the latest research in the field. A unique approach featuring responses to the original essays by active researchers spurs discussion and provides a foundation for developing directions for future research and policymaking. Review “This is a timely and thought-provoking book that focuses on the results of landmark evaluation research on courts, sentencing and corrections. The authors’ recommendations for improving this research will move us closer to definitive answers regarding ‘what works’ in courts and corrections.” Cassia Spohn, Regents Professor, Foundation Professor, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona State University   “This remarkable handbook documents the major contributions of a three-decades movement in evidence-based corrections. In so doing, it offers an invaluable education to a new generation of scholars, takes stock of knowledge on intervention effectiveness, and maps out key directions for future research and practice. Comprehensive and erudite, this volume is an essential resource for all those wishing to understand and improve the quality of American corrections.” Francis T. Cullen, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, University of Cincinnati (Past President, American Society of Criminology)   “Policy and practice in sentencing and corrections is often far from objective; instead of being based on evidence the agenda is frequently driven by political ideology, anecdotal evidence, and the fad of the month instead of research evidence. By comprehensively and rigorously examining landmark studies, this distinguished group of scholars examines what works and what doesn’t and where new methods or approaches are needed. A must read for policymakers, practitioners and academics; this book will be invaluable in providing guidance to decision makers as they consider critical questions in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.” Doris Layton MacKenzie, Professor, Pennsylvania State University, ret., University of Maryland, ret.   “The First Step Act was a minimum effort to make the criminal justice system more effective in reducing crime, increasing fairness, and facilitating rehabilitation. This volume presents evaluations of a rich variety of a