Determinate sentencing and agenda building: A case study of the failure of a reform

Abstract

This essay uses an agenda-building model to examine the failure of the movement for determinate sentencing in New York State. Proposals to abolish parole and adopt fixed sentences initially appealed to a wide spectrum of New York policymakers and practitioners, as well as to the New York media. Yet, after more than a decade of flirtation with determinacy, former proponents became opponents when the vague concepts inherent in the determinate model were reduced to a concrete proposal put forward by a sentencing guidelines committee. Data sources include reports of seven blue-ribbon commissions, transcripts from public hearings, editorial coverage by two opposing New York City newspapers, and in-depth interviews with influential policymakers.