Getting Tough on Crime: the History and Political Context of Sentencing Reform Developments Leading to the Passage of the 1994 Crime Act

The concept of'truth in sentencing' is embedded in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 through provisions for Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing incentive grants (under Title II, Subtitle A) that provide funds for expansion of state prison bed capacity. The roots of this concept may be traced back in time to two fairly distinct streams of American criminal justice reform which were born more than two decades ago.