Is America Really So Punitive? Exploring a Continuum of U.S. State Criminal Justice Policies

Is America Really So Punitive? Exploring a Continuum of U.S. State Criminal Justice Policies
Besiki Kutateladze
December 2009

ISBN-13:  978-1-59332-395-0 / Hardcover
Dimensions:  5.5 x 8.5 / viii, 298 pages

Price   $75.00

Description

Kutateladze explores variations in punitiveness among American states. He uses state punitiveness to refer to criminal justice policies that target suspects, defendants, convicts, inmates, and releasees. Based on the examination of 44 variables across 50 states and the four regions, into which these states were grouped, Florida emerged as the most punitive, and Maine as the least punitive. The study also suggests that the American South is highly punitive, the West and the Midwest moderately punitive, and the Northeast relatively non-punitive. The success of this method in measuring state punitiveness suggests that the instrument may be useful for both within-nation and between-nation comparisons.

About the Author

Besiki Kutateladze is a senior research associate for the International Indicators Group of the Vera Institute of Justice. He works on developing and testing an empirical measure of the rule of law for post-conflict settings as a part of the United Nations Rule of Law Indicators Project. Previously, he served as a researcher on the World Justice Project and taught courses on comparative criminal justice and statistics at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In 2008, Besiki received his PhD in criminal justice from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is also a jurist from the Republic of Georgia with post-graduate training in procedural criminal law.