Counting the Cost of Sentencing in North Carolina, 1980-2000

Abstract

North Carolina's Fair Sentencing Act of 1979 emphasized the need to reduce sentence disparities. Because the statute lacked any enforcement mechanism, judges reverted to earlier practices within five years. In the Structured Sentencing Act of 1993, legislators put concerns about disparity to the side and concentrated on changing the state's prison use priorities. The new law lengthened prison terms for violent crimes and assigned more property offenders to nonprison sanctions. It also guided judicial choices among and punishments for lesser crimes. Tight controls on judges made it possible to match corrections resources to sentencing practices. The intended effects took hold during the first five years. Judges imposed longer prison terms for violent crimes and sentenced a larger proportion of property felons to intermediate and community sanctions. The longer-term effects may prove more difficult to manage. Appellate judges have remained uninvolved in sentencing policy; no comm...