Assessing Consistency and Fairness in Sentencing: A Comparative Study in Three States
States that use sentencing guidelines demonstrate more predictability, less discrimination, and increased transparency in their sentencing, a new report from the National Center for State Courts finds. Sponsored by the Pew Center on the States' Public Safety Performance project, the report, Assessing Consistency and Fairness in Sentencing: A Comparative Study in Three States (20 pages, PDF), examined the use of guidelines in Minnesota, Michigan, and Virginia and found that active participation by a sentencing commission was essential to creating effective guidelines.
