Arming the Courts With Research

The Pew Center On The States

For many years, conventional wisdom has been that “nothing works” to change offender behavior—that once an offender has turned to crime little can be done to help turn his or her life around. Today, however, there is a voluminous body of solid research showing that certain “evidence-based” sentencing and corrections practices do work and can reduce crime rates as effectively as prisons at much lower cost.

This policy brief outlines 10 strategies for evidence-based sentencing that would allow states to reduce their crime rates while conserving state resources to meet other important needs.  The brief is adapted from a longer paper by Roger Warren, president emeritus of the National Center for State Courts, that was originally published in a special 2007 issue of the Indiana Law Journal.

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May 05, 2009 - 
Evidence-Based Sentencing Brief (Adobe PDF)