Michael Tonry

Can punishments ever meaningfully be proportioned in severity to the seriousness of the crimes for which they are imposed? Meer

Punishment is a complex human institution. It has normative, political, social, psychological, and legal dimensions, and ways of thinking about each of them change over time. Meer

The imprisonment rate in America has grown by a factor of five since 1972. In that time, punishment policies have toughened, compassion for prisoners has diminished, and prisons have gotten worse-a stark contrast to the origins of the prison 200 years ago as a humanitarian reform, a substitute for capital and corporal punishment and banishment. Meer

This volume gathers together a topical collection of articles on penal reform in the United States, Europe, Japan and other English-speaking countries. Meer