Illinois State Library

Document Identification

Title

• Illinois Felony Sentencing: a Retrospective

Description

• In response to this growth of the states correctional populations, and to ensure that sentencing policy is effective and efficient, Illinois created the Sentencing Policy Advisory Council (SPAC) and passed the Crime Reduction Act of 2009. Through its enabling legislation, SPAC is mandated to conduct research and analysis regarding sentencing policy and practices in Illinois, and to examine how these impact correctional populations in the state. The purpose of this briefing is to provide an overview of the sentenced populations and the forces that influence the size and type of the sentenced population, how criminal justice practices have changed in Illinois over the past 20 years, with a specific emphasis on changes in sentencing practices. The Research Briefing was written collaboratively by David E. Olson, Ph.D., and Donald Stemen, Ph.D., both from Loyola University Chicago; Kathy Saltmarsh, SPAC Executive Director; and Lindsay Bostwick, Jordan Boulger, Christine Devitt Westley, Cristin Monti Evans, and Mark Powers from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. Data used in the analyses to produce the briefing were obtained from reports published by the Illinois State Police (Crime in Illinois), the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (Annual Report of the Illinois Courts), analyses of data provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections, and analyses of data collected through the 2000 Illinois Probation Outcome Study.

Access This Publication

1. (20120516192602_Research_Brief_SPAC_Felony_Sentences_052011.pdf).
Document Size:553354 Software: Microsoft Office Publisher Version: 2007