Sentencing of Convicted Offenders: An Analysis of the Public's View
![handle is hein.journals/lwsocrw14 and id is 225 raw text is: SENTENCING OF CONVICTED OFFENDERS:
AN ANALYSIS OF THE PUBLIC'S VIEW
ALFRED BLUMSTEIN
JACQUELINE COHEN
The results of a survey of public attitudes about appropriate length
of prison sentences for convicted offenders are reported. Two main
questions are addressed: 1) degree of consensus within the population
about appropriate sentences for different offenses and 2) the
relationship between the desired sentences expressed by the public
and the actual time served by offenders in prison. The analysis
suggests considerable agreement across various demographic groups
on the relative severity of sentences to be imposed for different
offenses, but disagreement over the absolute magnitude of these
sentences. These results suggest the feasibility of generating
consensus on a proportional, just deserts sentencing schedule, but
difficulty in establishing the constant of proportionality. The
sentences desired by the public are found to be consistently more
severe than sentences actually imposed, suggesting the need for
greater public awareness of current imprisonment practices so that
expectations of the determinate sentencing schedules will be realistic
and consistent with limited prison capacity.
I. INTRODUCTION
Few social problems generate as much public interest as do
crime and the treatment of criminals.' This concern is evident
in the periodic public outcries demanding more effective ways
of dealing with crime. Such public concern led, in the middle of
this century, to the widespread implementation of a variety of
treatment programs and the use of indeterminate sentences to
rehabilitate offenders. More recently, the growing
disillusionment over the possibility of such rehabilitation, and
the inequities associated with indeterminate sentences, have
led to a call for fixed sentences for convicted offenders.
Legislatures in many states have already passed or are
now considering bills to change the sentencing provisions for
convicted offenders.2 These bills include statutes: 1) to abolish
1 In a 1976 national survey by the Associated Press, crime was ranked
second only to economic issues as the most serious domestic problem during
that Presidential election year (New York Times, 1976 (June 4]: 12).
2 Maine, California, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas, and
Minnesota are already implementing new sentencing procedures. North
LAW & SOCIETY REVIEW, Volume 14, Number 2 (Winter, 1980)](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/lwsocrw14&div=16&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Sentencing of Convicted Offenders: An Analysis of the Public's View
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