Sentencing Policies and Practices in the 21st Century

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the relationship between punishment ideology and sentencing policy, and highlights shifts in ideological thinking and policy over time. It provides an overview of the purposes of guidelines reforms, including reduced sentencing disparity, improved sentencing policy, improved management of correctional resources, encouraged use of intermediate sanctions, and enhanced transparency in sentencing. The book focuses on drug offenders is justified in that approximately 60% of the substantial assistance departures granted over a five-year period were for defendants with drug charges, and the use of such departures is often intended to mitigate sentences for those facing mandatory minimum prison sentences. It reviews discretionary release practices for juveniles facing life sentences. The book argues that plea bargaining “is an accepted element of the criminal justice process in many common law jurisdictions and Australia is no exception.”