Criminal Justice in America, 4th Edition
Chapter 13: Corrections and Society

The Purpose of Punishment | A Brief History of Punishment | Sentencing

The Purpose of Punishment

Punishment An overview of the philosophy of punishment. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Legal Punishment (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Sentencing An extensive slide show on the purpose of punishment. (Southern Oregon University)
Punishment Essay by philosopher John Rawls on the justification for punishment.
Wikipedia: Punishment
The History and Philosophy of Punishment and Penology A short article laying out the history of some of the philosophies of punishment. (MegaLinks in Criminal Justice)

A Brief History of Punishment

Yahoo Directory: Prison History
History of the North Carolina Prison System 1870–1970
Punishment: A Brief History An extensive slide show on the history. (Southern Oregon University)
Early Prisons An extensive slide show on the history of prisons. (Southern Oregon University)
Jails An extensive slide show on 19th and 20th century jails.

Sentencing

Encyclopedia of Everyday Law: Sentencing and Sentencing Guidelines
State Sentencing Commissions Contact information for state sentencing commissions. (National Association of State Sentencing Commissions)
U.S. Sentencing Commission Information and publications from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent federal agency in the judicial branch that develops guidelines for sentencing in federal courts, collects data about crime and sentencing, and serves as a resource on crime and sentencing policy.
Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines and Commentary (Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission)
Reconsidering Indeterminate and Structured Sentencing Overview of indeterminate and structured sentencing in America and elaborates on the contrasts between them. (National Institute of Justice)
Appeals Judges’ Time Wasted Parsing Out Sentencing Guidelines Article discussing Congress’ sentencing guidelines for federal judges and the resulting flow of appeals over hair-splitting issues. (Law.com)
NCJRS: Sentencing and Sanctions Publications and links from the federal government. (National Criminal Justice Reference Service)
National Institute of Corrections: Digital Resource Library Publications on all aspects of corrections.

Return to Criminal Justice in America Links

Updated January 20, 2006

Disclaimer: The links on this page lead to other web sites that do not necessarily reflect the views of the Constitutional Rights Foundation. These links do not constitute an endorsement of other sites nor do they guarantee the accuracy or age-appropriateness of information presented on other sites.

We welcome your comments: If you have comments on these links or recommendations for additional sites, please e-mail us your message.