Beyond the Numbers: Toward a Moral Vision for Criminal Justice Reform

Drake Law Review Discourse:101-110 (2015)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The diverse coalition of activists trying to cut the prison population has thus far failed to articulate a coherent moral foundation for criminal justice reform. Since the various constituents of this coalition support reform for different reasons, it may seem savvy to avoid conversation about moral questions. We argue, however, that failing to work toward developing a moral basis for reform puts the coalition at risk of repeating the failures of the sentencing reform movement of the 1970s and 1980s. This initially promising movement culminated in the passage of the widely disliked and deeply flawed United States Sentencing Guidelines. We lay out and analyze the downsides of avoiding moral discourse in criminal justice reform movements and argue for more collaboration and dialogue between moral thinkers and activists.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 103,343

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Analytics

Added to PP
2017-05-16

Downloads
37 (#640,129)

6 months
5 (#702,808)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Seth Mayer
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references