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Center for Media and Democracy Alec Model Legislation Judicial Sentencing Disclosure Act

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D I D Y O U K N O W ? Corporations VOTED to adopt this. Through ALEC, global companies

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“ALEC”
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BigLegislation
Business and
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“conservative” politicians.
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Behind closed doors, they
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and Economic
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work as “equals” in “unison” with politicians to write laws to govern your life. Big
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Model Legislation

Public Safety and Elections

Juducial Sentencing Disclosure Act
Summary

Did you know the
NRA--the National
Rifle Association-was the corporate
co-chair in 2011?

This Act would require that the clerk of every district court maintain a complete public
record of each judge's sentencing history, available for inspection by the public during
normal working hours.

Model Legislation
{Title, enacting clause, etc.}
Section 1. {Title.} This Act may be cited as the Judicial Sentencing Disclosure Act.
Section 2. {Record of criminal sentences.} The clerk of the district court shall
maintain a register listing under the name of each judge all criminal convictions over
which the judge has presided, in chronological order beginning on or after [a certain
date], to include the following information:
(A) the name of the case;
(B) the charges against the defendant;
(C) the charges of which the defendant was convicted;
(D) the sentence handed down by the judge; and
(E) the date the sentence was handed down.

Section 3. {Public record.} The register shall be a public record of the state and

shall be available for inspection at the office of the clerk during regular office hours and
at such other times as may be provided by law.

Section 4. {Severability clause.}
Section 5. {Repealer clause.}
Section 6. {Effective date.}

ALEC’s’Corporate Board

ALEC's Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995

--in recent past or present

• AT&T Services, Inc.
• centerpoint360
• UPS
• Bayer Corporation
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Energy Future Holdings
• Johnson & Johnson
• Coca-Cola Company
• PhRMA
• Kraft Foods, Inc.
• Coca-Cola Co.
• Pfizer Inc.
• Reed Elsevier, Inc.
• DIAGEO
• Peabody Energy
• Intuit, Inc.
• Koch Industries, Inc.
• ExxonMobil
• Verizon
• Reynolds American Inc.
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
• Salt River Project
• Altria Client Services, Inc.
• American Bail Coalition
• State Farm Insurance
For more on these corporations,
search at www.SourceWatch.org.

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Center for Media
and Democracy's
quick summary
This bill requires that courts maintain a record of a judge's sentencing that will be subjected to public
scrutiny. This will incentivize judges to increase sentences, regardless of whether they are justified, so
that their "numbers" don't make them appear soft-on-crime (especially likely if judges are elected). Judicial
sentencing is far more complex than can be captured through "numbers." Evidence suggests that longer
sentences do little to improve long-term public safety and often do not help a person become
rehabilitated. Creative alternatives to incarceration will not be reflected in a judge's "numbers."
Incarcerating a person is also very expensive for taxpayers. Incarceration does, however, increase the
profits of the Corrections Corporation of America, a member of the Executive Committee of ALEC's Public
Safety & Elections Task Force.