About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

52 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 465 (2010-2011)
Changing the Sentence without Hiding the Truth: Judicial Sentence Modification as a Promising Method of Early Release

handle is hein.journals/wmlr52 and id is 469 raw text is: CHANGING THE SENTENCE WITHOUT HIDING THE TRUTH: JUDICIAL SENTENCE MODIFICATION AS A PROMISING METHOD OF EARLY RELEASE CECELIA KLINGELE* ABSTRACT Last year, as the State of California struggled with a $42 billion budget deficit, its financial inability to correct constitutionally deficient prison conditions led a federal court to order the release of 40,000 state prisoners. In Oregon, Michigan, Connecticut, Vermont, and Delaware, spending on corrections now exceeds spending on higher education. Across the nation, more than one of every one hundred Americans is behind bars. When the financial crisis of 2008 dealt its blow, state correctional budgets were already nearing a breaking point. Now, in the wake of unprecedented budget shortfalls, state governments have been forced to confront a difficult reality: the ever-increasing prison population has come at too high a price. The question is no longer whether to reduce the number of prisoners, but how. Reversing years of ever-harsher sentencing policies, jurisdictions throughout the United States are trying to cut costs by expanding good time credit, increasing parole eligibility, and authorizing new forms of early release. This Article examines judicial sentence modification, an often overlooked ameliorative mechanism that has potential benefits many other forms of early release lack. For states wishing to promote early release in a manner that is both trans- parent and publicly accountable, judicial sentence modification is a * Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin Law School. Many thanks to Michael E. Smith and Walter J. Dickey for years of thought-provoking conversations on the subject of sentence modification; to Howard Erlanger, Margaret Colgate Love, Michael Tonry, Justin Murray, Hank Shea, Robert Visher, Lahny Silva, Meredith Ross, Keith Findley, Anuj Desai, Andy Coan, and Ben Kempinen for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this Article; to Jesse Norris for his research assistance; and to Brad, Kateri, Th6rdse, Trea, Felicity, and Zlie Klingele for their patience. 465

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most