Several factors have led to the rapid changes in sentencing structures in the United States. According to Latessa and Smith: “Following a very long period of relative inactivity (1930-1974), American sentencing laws and practices began to undergo rapid change, a fundamental restructuring of the sentencing process” (2015, p. 19). This is supported by Phelps (2011, p. 33), who argued that “Scholars of mass incarceration point to the 1970s as a pivotal turning point in US penal history, marked by a shift towards more punitive policies and a consensus that ‘nothing works’ in rehabilitating inmates.”
Four main factors have been identified by Latessa and Smith (2015) as leading to the the rapid changes in sentencing structures in the United States since 1974. First, there were more prison uprisings, particularly in New York, California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Florida. Second, there was a position that there was greater abuse of power/discretion by prosecutors, judges, and parole boards, which led to concerns about individual rights and a call for more accountability in official decision making processes and outcomes. Third, as highlighted by Phelps (2011), there was an ideological challenge to the concept that offenders could be/should be rehabilitated, which affected the view on discretionary parole. Third, research showed that there was an increase in sentencing disparity, particularly significant racial and class discrimination, leading to the conclusion that (discretionary). sentences practices were unfair. Fourth, it has been argued that crime control and corrections became a political game played by individuals seeking office, as highlighted by Latessa and Smith (2015, p. 20): “Such political opportunists led the general public to believe that lenient judges and parole boards were releasing dangerous offenders back into the community, with little concern for public safety.”
Overall, that has been seen is that these factors led to a rapid change in the changes in sentencing structures in the United States and an overall change towards a more punitive approach to sentencing (Phelps, 2011). These and other factors led to dramatic changes in the rationales for prison sentences and crime policies overall and the concomitant approach to sentencing. For example, the 30-year ‘War on Drugs’ was a key rationale behind the imposition of harsh mandatory minimum sentences for low-level offenses.
What are these changes that took place? Since the 1970s, Phelps (2011) has highlighted a range of sentencing and policy changes that took place over a short space of time, including (1) a shift from discretionary sentencing to determinant sentencing based on sentencing guidelines and rubrics, (2) a range of mandatory minimum sentencing laws, (3) the elimination of discretionary parole, and (4) habitual offender laws such as “three strikes” legislations. This is supported by Latessa and Smith’s (2015) research showing that dramatic changes in sentences structures and practices have become evident over the last three decades, including discretionary release by parole board abolished in many states, US Federal Sentencing Guidelines promulgated in 1987, and the imposition of “three strikes” sentencing laws in some states.
Since then, there have continued to be changes in sentence structures as the changes in the 1970s have led to negative outcomes including the rapid increase in the American prison population and research showing that longer sentences have no led to decreases in rates of crime (Latessa and Smith, 2015). Over the last few years, this has been met with more changes as it relates to sentencing. For example, the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 was signed into law in August 2010 and the aim of this law was to reduce the 100 to 1 disparity in sentencing between crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses. Since the passage of this Act, the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 has been the next major piece of legislation, which aims to reduce some of the mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offences.
References
Latessa, E. and Smith, P. (2015). Corrections in the Community. New York: Routledge.
Pew Charitable Trusts (2015). Fact Sheet: Growth in Federal Prison System Exceeds States.’ January 22. http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2015/01/growth-in-federal-prison-system- exceeds-states.
Phelps, M. (2011). Rehabilitation in the Punitive Era: The Gap between Rhetoric and Reality in U.S. Prison Programs. Law Society Review, 45(1): 33–68. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3762476/
United States Sentencing Commission (2014). U.S.S.C. Annual Report to Congress, Fiscal Year 2014. http://www.ussc.gov/research-and-publications/annual-reports-sourcebooks/2014/annual-report-2014.
