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8 Crim. L.F. 1 (1997)

handle is hein.journals/crimlfm8 and id is 1 raw text is: Vol. 8 No. 1 (1997) 1 One Perspective on Sentencing Reform in the United States* Paul H. Robinson** Let me begin by outlining my general plan for this essay. The first part will give an overview of the sentencing reform effort in the United States over the past several decades. It begins with a description of what I see as the three problems that prompted the reform movement, what I will call the problems of irrationality, disparity, and deception. The second part describes how reforms attempted to address each of these three problems, with a word about the degree of success in each instance. While these first two parts are primarily descriptive, the remaining parts of the essay are more prescriptive, giving the reader my own views on the solutions to what I consider the continuing problems in criminal sentencing in the United States. Sentencing reform is a controversial matter in the United States, giving rise to strong feelings on all sides of the debate. We academics like to think of ourselves as dispassionate, objective observers, but in this instance it would be wrong for me to claim that position. I have been a participant in the reform process, in both the legislative and the This essay is based upon lectures given at the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute (UNAFEI) for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan. Professor of Law, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States; B.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1970; LL.M., Harvard University 1975; J.D., University of California-Los Angeles 1973; Dip. Leg. Stud., Cambridge University 1976. Vol. 8 No. 1 (1997) 1

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