The development of the federal sentencing guidelines  played an important role in shaping America’s criminal legal system. In 1984, Congress passed the Sentencing Reform Act  which established the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The Sentencing Commission’s primary purpose was to reduce disparities in federal sentencing. To address these disparities, the Commission would ask judges to consider a variety of factors  in their rulings including the nature of the offense committed, th

In the United States, we pride ourselves on the notion that an individual is innocent until proven guilty. However, wrongful convictions...

Every hour, every person sheds 200,000,000 skin cells . Each of those cells holds a person's deoxyribonucleic acid —or, “DNA”— the...

People who have been sentenced to time in prison are often treated as “others,” and our prison systems frequently fail to rehabilitate...