Are Too Many People Behind Bars?
Do Some Mandatory Minimum Sentences Violate the Eigthth Amendment?
Are Federal Drug-Sentencing Laws Unfair to Blacks?

Are Too Many People Behind Bars?

When They Get Out A 1999 Atlantic Monthly article claiming that by putting such a high percentage of the population behind bars "we are creating a disaster that instead of dissipating over time will accumulate with the years."

Correctional Populations in the United States, 1997 This Bureau of Justice Statistics report presents data on the number of persons in the United States under some form of correctional supervision in 1997.

Prison Statistics Links to the Bureau of Justice Statistics publications on prisons, which include information on incarceration rates, demographic characteristics, and more.

The Punishing Decade: Prison and Jail Estimates at the Millennium Detailed prison and jail population estimates for the 1990s from the National Policy Institute, which opposes massive incarceration.

Crunching Numbers: Crime and Incarceration at the End of the Millennium Bureau of Justice Statistics Director Jan Chaiken explores some of the complex trends in property crime, rape, and violence among intimates and highlights some of the implications of the high rates of incarceration. (PDF file)

Right-Sizing Justice: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Imprisonment in Three States A 1999 report from John DiIulio Jr. and others about whether too many people are behind bars.

Effects of Judges' Sentencing Decisions on Criminal Careers Findings of a study designed to determine how much judicial sentencing decisions affect offenders' subsequent criminal careers. (National Institute of Justice)

Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences: Throwing Away the Key or the Tax-Payers Money? RAND study estimating the cost-effectiveness of mandatory minimum sentences for crimes related to cocaine distribution.

Imprisonment This National Center for Policy Analysis site contains extensive information about imprisonment, including incarceration rates, the costs and benefits of imprisonment, prisoner profiles, and views on capital punishment.

The "Three Strikes" Law Pros and cons of California's three-strikes law.

Looking for a Strike Out Discussion of efforts to revamp California's three-strikes law.

Families to Amend California's 3-Strikes The home page of a state-wide California organization with the purpose of amending the California three-strikes law.

Three Strikes Was the Right Call Criminologist John J. DiIulio, Jr. argues in favor of the "three strikes" law.

Three Strikes and You're Out Online resource favoring the California three-strikes law. (Mike Reynolds.)

"Three Strikes" Law: Does It Really Work? An examination of studies conducted on three-strikes laws. (Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy)

A Get-Tough Policy that Failed A 1999 article arguing that mandatory sentencing is not accomplishing its objectives. (Time)

Lock 'Em Up? Conversation at the Hoover Institution over get-tough-on-crime measures.

Does Punishment Deter? A detailed argument that punishment does deter crime.

Truth-In-Sentencing Annotated bibliography from the Wisconsin Legislature's library.

Truth in Sentencing in State Prisons Report on the development and use of truth-in-sentencing laws and data on the growing number of states that have adopted them. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

The Prison-Industrial Complex A 1998 Atlantic Monthly article by Eric Schlosser argues that a prison-industrial complex has developed in America.

The Sentencing Project Resources and information about criminal justice and sentencing issues from an organization opposing massive incarceration.

The Debate on Rehabilitating Criminals: Is It True that Nothing Works? A 1989 Washington Post article by Jerome G. Miller arguing that rehabilitation should be central to American corrections.

Do Some Mandatory Minimum Sentences Violate the Eigthth Amendment?

Solem v. Helm (1983) U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that a criminal sentence must be proportionate to the crime committed.

Harmelin v. Michigan (1991)

In 2003, the Supreme Court issued two rulings upholding California's three-strikes law:

In Lockyer v. Andrade, defendant Andrade stole $150 of videotapes from two different stores and was convicted of two felonies. Since these crimes were his third strikes, he was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 25 years to life.

In Ewing v. California, defendant Ewing stole three golf clubs, each worth $399, was convicted of grand theft, his third strike, and was sentenced to 25 years to life.

Both defendants appealed their sentences, saying they were grossly disproportionate to their crimes. In two 5-4 decisions, the Supreme Court upheld both sentences. The court stated that neither sentence was grossly disproportionate and that the court would only overturn the "exceedingly rare" "excessive" case.

Are Federal Drug-Sentencing Laws Unfair to Blacks?

Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy A 1995 report of the U.S. Sentencing Commission discussing the federal structure of differing penalties for powder cocaine and crack cocaine offenses and recommending doing away with the differences in penalties.

Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy A 2002 report of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Crack's Legacy A New York Times article discussing the effects that crack cocaine and the war on drugs have had on American society.

Punishment and Prejudice: Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs A report from Human Rights Watch concluding that the war on drugs has been waged disproportionately against black Americans.

State v. Russell Study guide for students on this Minnesota case that the state's disparity in punishment between crack and powder cocaine violated the state's guarantee of equal protection. (PDF File)

U.S. v. Armstrong (1996) U.S. Supreme Court case striking down a selective prosecution argument involving crack.

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