ABSTRACT
States have increasingly begun to rely on actuarial risk assessment in the courtroom to inform criminal sentencing decisions. Despite this, we know little about the importance of risk for punishment decisions, particularly as the consideration of risk might contribute to racial/ethnic and gender disparity in sentencing. This chapter explores the implications of moving toward a sentencing model with an actuarial consideration of risk by putting risk assessment into a broader context of structured sentencing and judicial decision-making. It examines how legal and extra-legal factors mobilize to signal risk of re-offense at sentencing and discusses the possibilities of bias and disparate impact. A discussion on the relationship between sentencing guidelines and risk assessment policy follows, and recommendations for future lines of research are made.
