Criminal Law

Will I wonder if Massachusetts has a similar system as California where a representative of the Probation or Corrections department is responsible for interviewing researching and making a post sentencing recommendation to the Judge when deciding what sentence is to be imposed on a convicted person? If so does the Commonwealth have a legal framework …

Continue reading “Role of Probation Dept in Sentencing Recommendations”

Readers took the time to offer frank criticism — both online and offline — of the piece I published last week about reforming criminal justice by shifting resources from incarceration to treatment. I appreciate the dialog. Keeping the public safe is the top goal of government, and we are starting to get past knee-jerk answers and get smart on crime.

I spent a Saturday in early April in Denver at a national meeting about criminal justice reform. The chance to hear what people are doing and thinking in other states was worth the plane time. The country is in the middle of a national attitude change on criminal justice issues: there is an increasing sense that we have gone too far with incarceration.

Once a person has paid a penalty for a crime, we should let them put their past behind them. Last week, the legislature took one small step in that direction by raising the monetary threshold that divides misdemeanor larceny from felony larceny.

I spoke last week at a forum on reforming criminal justice policy for young adults. I can’t let go of the fact that we are incarcerating 5 times as many people in Massachusetts as we were 40 years ago, even though crime rates aren’t that different. We need to recognize the needs and risk factors that impel people to crime and do a better job of reducing recidivism by addressing those needs and risk factors.