New Essays on Restitution and Sentencing Commissions

I have two new essays on SSRN assessing the history and future prospects of restitution and sentencing commissions, respectively. These essays will be published later this year in the Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

The restitution essay covers such topics as Randy Barnett’s proposal that restitution be used in lieu of imprisonment as our basic form of criminal punishment, debates regarding which types of victims should be able to recover for which types of injuries, and the question of whether victims seeking restitution should be given a right to legal representation.

The sentencing commissions essay focuses particularly on the Minnesota and federal sentencing commissions. In considering these case studies, as well as the experience with sentencing commissions in a few other states, my primary theme is the relationship between sentencing commissions and legislatures. (As I point out in the essay, although sentencing commissions are predominantly legislative creations, commissions have often struggled to maintain their relevance in the face of ongoing legislative policymaking in the sentencing area, which frequently takes the form of harsh statutory responses to the “crime du jour.”) A secondary theme is the relationship between commissions and judges—another relationship that has sometimes proven quite challenging for the commissions to manage effectively.

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Health Commissioner: Milwaukee Must Deal with Race and Poverty Issues

If Milwaukee is to become a healthy city in both broad terms and in terms of specific issues, it must deal with issues in an honest, constructive way with poverty and race, City of Milwaukee Health Commission Bevan Baker said Thursday during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” session at Eckstein Hall.

“Milwaukee will not be the greatest, most relevant, healthiest city in America until we deal with our dirty linen,” Baker, health commissioner since 2004, told an audience of about 150.

“To do that,” he continued, “we have got to do what other cities have done, and that is to address race, to address poverty, to look at these issues, and say, it is tough, it is unimaginable, it makes me sick, it is ugly, but to be great we have got to do the unimaginable thing, and that is to once and for all say, and in true fashion, to take our spiritual and moral compass and say, Milwaukee will not be the healthiest, greatest, most relevant city in America until we deal with our dirty linen. That’s what New York has done and that is what Miami is trying to do and that’s what other cities in this nation I have lived in have done.”

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International Law in U.S. Foreign Policymaking: Prof. Jeffrey Bergner to Speak at Marquette on Jan. 23

A well-designed foreign policy is essential to U.S. national interests, including our security and economic performance. Few, however, have the opportunity directly to witness and influence the process of creating foreign policy. Next Wednesday, January 23, Professor Jeffrey Bergner will visit the Law School to share his insights on that process. A former Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, Staff Director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Chief of Staff to former Senator Richard Lugar, Professor Bergner has extensive foreign policy experience and a rare, insider’s understanding of how the United States conducts foreign relations. He will discuss topics such as the influence of international law on U.S. policy and the roles of the President and Congress in this domain. All are welcome to attend. The discussion will begin at 12:10 in Room 257, and lunch will be provided by the International Law Society.

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