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The Federal SRA: A Social Experiment Gone Astray
In 1984 Congress confronted the rise in drug and firearm related crimes by instituting a social experiment. The social experiment became known as the Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) of 1984. Congress assumed longer federal prison sentences--without parole--would serve as a serious deterrent to crime, particularly in the case of those ...
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More from this issue:
- Law Librarian Liable for Access Violations
- Choice Between Exercise and Access Struck Down
- Officer's Family Awarded $120,000 for Contracting TB
- Service Complete When Delivered to Prison Officials
- Non-Stenographic Depositions, by Paul Wright
- Federal Tort Claims Act Requires Exhaustion
- No Waiver of Witness Fees for IFP Litigants
- No Cause of Action for Defamation
- Opening Legal Mail States Claim
- Some Evidence Standard Meets Due Process
- Rules for Appointment of Counsel Clarified
- Disobeying State Court Order Basis for Section 1983 Liability
- Texas Studies Housing Prisoners in Foreign Countries, by F Lee Weiss
- Sanctions Against Pro Se Litigant Reversed
- Ad-Seg WACs Do Not Create Liberty Interest
- Section 1988 Attorney Fee Awards Explained
- Texas Proposes to Build State "Jails"
- California Visitor Search Ruling Modified
- The Federal SRA: A Social Experiment Gone Astray, by Lee Alphonso Moore
- No Right to Cross Dress
- Increasing Parole Review Time is Ex Post Facto
- Shackling Plainitff Violates Right to Fair Trial
- Money Damages Available for Consent Decree Violations
- US Marshals Liable for Beating
- Probation Officers Only Entitled to Qualified Immunity
- 9th Circuit Announces New Qualified Immunity Rule
- Dismissal Error for Failing to Obey Local Rules
- Ad Seg Right to Eyeglasses and Toilet Paper
- WA Repeals Cons Tolling Statute
- Retaliatory Transfer States Claim
- Default Appropriate for Obstructing Discovery
- Overcrowding Emergency Measures Get Old
- California Prisons Grow
- Court Reporters Entitled to Only Qualified Immunity
- Prisoners Retain Right of Bodily Privacy
- Disciplinary Isolation Triggers Due Process
- Florida Conditions Lawsuit Settled After 21 years
- Periodical Reviews
- City of Refuge, by David Finney
More from Lee Alphonso Moore:
- The Federal SRA: A Social Experiment Gone Astray, Aug. 15, 1993
More from these topics:
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- U.S. Sentencing Commission Adopts 2025 Amendments to Resolve Circuit Conflicts, Aug. 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Criminal History, Arrest/Arraignment, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.
- Summary of the 2025 Drug Offenses Amendment by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Aug. 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Methamphetamine, Drug Mule, Machine Guns, Safety Valve.
- Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission Amended Compassionate Release Policy, July 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Compassionate Release.
- Percentage Of Prisoners Serving Life Without Parole Is Up Despite Overall Decrease in Prison Population, July 15, 2025. Parole, Life without Parole (LWOP), Implementing the Total Sentence.
- Fourth Circuit: A Finding of Offering Money to Minor for Videos Depicting Specific Conduct Without Establishing Order of Events Insufficient to Establish Offer ‘Caused’ Minor to Produce Explicit Material Within Meaning of Guidelines § 2G2.2(c)(1) Cros, July 1, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Applicable Guidelines Issues.
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- Fourth Circuit: District Court Failed to Provide Sufficient Explanation for Sentence Imposed and Did Not Address Defendant’s Arguments for Downward Variant Sentence, May 15, 2025. Sentencing, Drug Laws/Offenses.
- Fourth Circuit: Procedurally Unreasonable Sentence Where District Court Failed to Address Defendant’s Non-Frivolous Downward Variance Argument Based on Sentencing Disparity Due to Which State’s Statute Prior Conviction Based Upon, May 15, 2025. Sentencing, Failure To Consider Disparity, Federal-State Differences/Disparity/Conflicts, Disparity in Charging/Sentencing Practices.