Handbook on Moving Corrections and Sentencing Forward

“This is a timely and thought-provoking book that focuses on the results of landmark evaluation research on courts, sentencing and corrections. The authors’ recommendations for improving this research will move us closer to definitive answers regarding ‘what works’ in courts and corrections.” Cassia Spohn, Regents Professor, Foundation Professor, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona State University “This remarkable handbook documents the major contributions of a three-decades movement in evidence-based corrections. In so doing, it offers an invaluable education to a new generation of scholars, takes stock of knowledge on intervention effectiveness, and maps out key directions for future research and practice. Comprehensive and erudite, this volume is an essential resource for all those wishing to understand and improve the quality of American corrections.” Francis T. Cullen, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, University of Cincinnati (Past President, American Society of Criminology) “Policy and practice in sentencing and corrections is often far from objective; instead of being based on evidence the agenda is frequently driven by political ideology, anecdotal evidence, and the fad of the month instead of research evidence. By comprehensively and rigorously examining landmark studies, this distinguished group of scholars examines what works and what doesn’t and where new methods or approaches are needed. A must read for policymakers, practitioners and academics; this book will be invaluable in providing guidance to decision makers as they consider critical questions in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.” Doris Layton MacKenzie, Professor, Pennsylvania State University, ret., University of Maryland, ret. “The First Step Act was a minimum effort to make the criminal justice system more effective in reducing crime, increasing fairness, and facilitating rehabilitation. This volume presents evaluations of a rich variety of approaches and evaluations for doing that and for pursuing research to achieve those ends.” Alfred Blumstein, J. Erik Jonsson University Professor of Urban Systems and Operations Research, Emeritus Carnegie Mellon University, Past President of the Operations Research Society of America, The Institute of Management Sciences, and the American Society of Criminology, Fellow of the AAAS and ASC “The Covid-19 pandemic has brought into sharp relief the urgent need for large reductions in jail and prison populations. This volume is a must read for policy makers looking for practical steps forward for achieving this goal.” Daniel Nagin, Teresa and H. John Heinz III University Professor of Public Policy and Statistics, Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University “This important new book by major scholars brings together seminal empirical research in one place. It also comes at an important time. Recent declines in crime and widespread uncertainty by elected public officials across the United States about the effectiveness of costly imprisonment provide a window for significant changes in criminal justice policy and practice. This change is already happening in many places, but the science reviewed in this volume provides a solid empirical foundation on which policy makers can rely to move our country forward toward more peaceful communities and a more effective and humane system of justice.” Sally T. Hillsman, Former Executive Officer, American Sociological Association; former Deputy Director, National Institute of Justice; former Director of Research, the Vera Institute of Justice; former Vice President for Research and Technology, National Center for State Courts; Elected Fellow, AAAS, NAPA “What a treasure of important landmark studies in the field of sentencing and corrections. Scholars and policymakers will find this volume invaluable for documenting prior work, but also clearly pointing the way for a productive future.” Susan F. Turner, Professor, Department of Criminology, Law and Society; Director, Center for Evidence-Based Corrections; Director, Online Graduate Program in Criminology, Law & Society, University of California, Irvine “Identifying successful or even ‘promising’ practices in criminal justice is like catching lightning in a bottle, flashes of insight that help illuminate, if only for a moment, the next step along the path. In this new version of the Handbook, Lattimore, Taxman and Huebner have done remarkable work in capturing and distilling key knowledge in a broad range of criminal justice topics that will make the work of criminal justice professionals more productive, and the lives of millions of American citizens involved in the criminal justice system, better and easier. All those working in this critical public policy field are greatly indebted to them.” Brent Orrell, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute