Stasis Grid

Author Info

Source Type

Categorical

Definitional

Causal

Evaluation

Action

Jurisdiction

Up to three names,
write them all; 4+,
write first name et
al. (i.e., Smith et
al.)

(popular, scholarly,
trade, government)

Does X exist?

Is X a Y?

Does X cause Y?
Is Y a result of X?

Is it good or bad?
Fair or unfair?
Harmful or
beneficial?

What should be
done about X?

Who is responsible?

1.Mark
Brenner,
Author

The Long
Shadow of
Mass
Incarceration: A
Generation
Imprisoned
(Popular
Article)

It was under
Reagan's
leadership that
stars aligned
for the get
tougher on
drugs and
crime crowd
to flourish.

How do we
strengthen the
growing
movement to find
alternatives to
locking people in
cages?

2. Zeeshan
Aleem,
Journalist

8 Jarring Facts
That Every
American
Needs to Know
About Our
Prison System
(Popular
Article)

The United
States has of
the world's
prisoner
population, but
is only 5% of
the entire
global
population.

The prison
system is indeed
in desperate need
of a
fundamental
transformation
The way that the
United States
punished
criminals is
overly harsh and
ineffective as a
means of
rehabilitating its
inmates.

The struggle of
eradicating the
effects of the
War on
Drugs is one
we as a country
can't afford to
lose and one we
ignore at our
own peril

Stasis Grid
3. Matt Ferner,
Journalist

Americans are
sick of the
'Tough on
Crime' Era
(Popular
Article)

The penal system

currently in place
costs too much
and produces too
little that's good.
Americans
consider the
federal prison
population too
large, too
expensive, and
too often
incarcerating the
wrong people.

4. The
Washington
Times,
Publication

5. Maya
Rhodan and
Alex Altman,
Journalists

Authentic
Criminal
Justice Reform
(Popular
Article)

Senate
Introduces
'Gamechanger'
Criminal
Justice Reform
Bill (Article)

The United
States
imprisons more
people than any
other country
in the world.
In some states,
the cost of the
prison system
approaches that
of the spending
on education.
Bill would curb
the use of
juvenile
solitary
confinement
and allow
nonviolent
juvenile
offenders to
have their

8 out of 10
voters want
judges to have
the flexibility
to use facts of
a specific case
to determine
sentencing for
drug cases

Men and women

are going to
prison to punish
crimes that don't
make any sense.

Huge step for the

Senate to be able
to work together
on something
bigger than
politics

Proposed
package reins
in the
draconian
sentencing
that sent
prison
populations
soaring.

Stasis Grid
records
expunged

Author Info

Source Type

Categorical

Definitional

Causal

Evaluation

Action

Jurisdiction

Up to three names,
write them all; 4+,
write first name et
al. (i.e., Smith et
al.)

(popular, scholarly,
trade, government)

Does X exist?

Is X a Y?

Does X cause Y?
Is Y a result of X?

Is it good or bad?
Fair or unfair?
Harmful or
beneficial?

What should be
done about X?

Who is responsible?

Imprisonment
reduces the
number of
future victims
of crime and
subsequently
reduces the
potential
negative
"societal' costs
we'd have to
incur due to
these criminals
being on the
street

Mandatory
minimum
sentences
eliminate any
potential
dishonesty in
sentencing,
guarantee that
sentences are
uniform
throughout the
federal system

6. Paul Larkin
"Reconsidering
and Evan
Mandatory
Bernik, Experts Minimum
Sentences: The
Arguments for
and Against
Potential
Reforms"
(Article)

Mandatory
minimums act as
an important law
enforcement tool
by supplying the
police and
prosecutors
leverage to
secure
cooperation and
testimony from
suspected
criminals

Stasis Grid
7. Michael J.
Sullivan,
former Acting
Director of the
Bureau of
Alcohol,
Tobacco, and
Firearms

"Mandatory
Minimums and
Unintended
Consequences"
(Hearing)

Mandatory
minimum
sentences are
keeping serious
offenders off our
streets longer,
keeping our
communities
safer.

8. Richard B.
Roper III,
former United
States Attorney
for the
Northern
District of
Texas

"Mandatory
Minimum
Sentencing
Laws - The
Issues,"
(Hearing)

The Department
of Justice believes
that the system of
mandatory
minimums is fair
and effective promoting the
interests of public
safety while
protecting the
rights of
individuals.

9. Jodi L.
Avergun,
Member of the
DEA

"Defending
Americas Most
Vulnerable:
Safe Access to
Drug Treatment
and Child
Protection Act
of 2005 -- H.R.
1528,"
(Testimony)

Mandatory
minimums have
allowed the
government to
make a case
against the
highest ranking
members of
national and
international
criminal
organizations,
from organized
crime figures, to
major drug
traffickers.
The gains made
by our nation in
crime control and
reducing
unwarranted
sentencing
disparity fuel the
continued and
widespread
understanding that
mandatory
sentencing
systems work

The
Department of
Justice
supports
mandatory
minimum
sentences
[because]
mandatory
minimum
statutes
provide a level
of uniformity
and
predictability in
sentencing..

Uniformity in
sentencing, certain
offenses carrying
certainty in
punishment, and
repeat violent
offenders receiving
enhanced
punishment are
some collateral
benefits that come
with the
implementation of
mandatory
minimums
The mandatory
sentencing system
in place, complete
with mandatory
minimum sentences
for certain serious
offenses, best
serves this nation's
interests in reducing
crime.

Mandatory minimum
sentences can also
withhold dangerous
offenders for long
periods of time,
thereby increasing
public safety at the
same time.
The offer of relief from a
mandatory minimum
sentence in exchange for
Truthful testimony allows the
Government to move steadily
and effectively up the chain
of supply, using the lesser
distributors to prosecute the
more serious dealers and
their leaders and suppliers.

Stasis Grid
10. PEW
Charitable
Trusts, Non
Profit
Organization

Federal drug
sentencing laws
bring high cost,
low return
(Scholarly)

11 Robert C.
NeSmith,
Author/Law
Student

Tough on
Crime or Tough
Luck for the
Incarcerated?
Exploring the
Adverse
Psychological
Impacts of
Mandatory
Minimum
Sentencing and
Pushing for
Action
(Scholarly)

These laws have

applied broadly:
As of 2010, more
than 8 in 10 drug
offenders in
federal prisons
were convicted
of crimes that
carried
mandatory
minimum
sentences.

A nonviolent
offender
serving a long
prison term is
more likely to
become
dependent on
the institution
in decisionmaking
because of the
length of the
sentence

Despite
substantial
expenditures on
longer prison
terms for drug
offenders,
taxpayers have
not realized a
strong public
safety return.
The selfreported use of
illegal drugs has
increased over
the long term as
drug prices have
fallen and purity
has risen.
The
imprisonment
of a parent
undermines a
childs sense of
stability and
security as well
as
compromises
her sense of
self-worth and
connectedness

The availability
and use of illegal
drugs has increased
even as tens of
thousands of drug
offenders have
served lengthy
terms in federal
prisons.
Recidivism rates
for drug offenders
have remained
largely unchanged.

These offenders
when released,
may find
themselves lower
on the proverbial
hyper-masculine
totem pole and
as a result, be
subjected to more
psychological
abuse than say, a
more aggressive
and more violent
offender serving
a term for
murder.

Stasis Grid
12 Nick Pinto,
author

Why can't we
end Mass
Incarceration?
(Scholarly)

13 Patti Sarris,
Author

A Generational
Shift for
Federal Drug
Sentences
(Scholarly)

Crime rates have

fallen
dramatically...
Violent crime
rates in the last
few years have
been at their
lowest point.

Some
criminologists
recognize that
more
enforcement and
longer sentences
may have
contributed to
reductions in
crime, but see a
variety of other
factors as having
played at least as
large a role-economic and
demographic
changes, better
policing
methods, and
changes in
culture and
attitudes, among
other factors.

A handful of
pardons don't
amount to much
when there are
hundreds of
thousands of
federal prisoners,
and an attorney
general's directive
for prosecutors to
show a slither of
restraint isn't
guaranteed to
outlast this
administration.
The category of
offenders most
often subject to
mandatory
minimum penalties
at the time of
sentencing were
levels down from
kingpins and
organizers, which
does nothing for
drug trafficking in
the long run.

Lawmakers on
both sides of
the aisle agree
that Draconian
mandatoryminimum
sentences have
to go so why
is it so hard to
pass a bill that
will actually
make a
difference?

Unless we
significantly
reduce the
number of drug
prosecutions, the
math is
inevitable: Over
time, we're going
to keep filling up
our prisons."

Stasis Grid
14 Michael
Tonry,
Professor

Remolding
American
Sentencing: A
Ten-Step
Blueprint for
Moving Past
Mass
Incarceration
(Scholarly)

15 Karen
Lutjen, Author

Culpability and
Sentencing under
Mandatory
Minimums and
the Federal
Sentencing
Guidelines: The
Punishment No
Longer Fits the
Criminal
(Scholarly)

The sentencing
policy
developments of
the 1980s and
1990s in
retrospect are
explainable, even
if regrettable.

A combination of
retributive and
retaliatory
philosophies fathered
the outburst of
mandatory minimum
statutes. Mandatory
minimums are
retaliatory in the
sense that they often
were enacted in a
political climate
which demanded
"tough on crime"
measures from the
legislatures.

Instead of
controlling and
deterring crime,
discretionary
sentencing had
resulted only in
uncertain and
widely disparate
sentences.
By shifting the focus
of sentencing almost
completely away from
the offender, not only
does the criminal
justice system fail to
consider the
culpability of the individual, but the
interests of society as
well.

When and if
the will to roll
back mass
incarceration
and to create
just, fair, and
effective
sentencing
systems
becomes
manifest, the
way forward
is clear:
Reform the
entire system
with new
legislation.

Decreasing
rates of
imprisonment
by half in the
United States, a
country with
comparatively
low crime rates,
to a level that
will remain 3 to
3.5 times those
of other
developed
Western
countries, can
hardly be
considered
overly
ambitious.

Stasis Grid

Works Cited
Aleem, Zeeshan. "8 Jarring Facts That Every American Needs to Know About Our Prison System."
Mic. N.p., 20 Feb. 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

Stasis Grid
Brenner, Mark. "The Long Shadow of Mass Incarceration: A Generation Imprisoned." The Long
Shadow of Mass Incarceration: A Generation Imprisoned. Solidarity,Mar. 2005. Web .
01 Mar. 2016.
Ferner, Matt. "Americans Are Sick of the 'Tough on Crime' Era." Huffingtonpost.com. N.p., 12 Feb.
2016. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
Larkin, Paul, and Evan Bernik. "Reconsidering Mandatory Minimum Sentences: The Arguments for
and Against Potential Reforms." Heritage.org. Heritage, 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
Lutjen, Karen. "Culpability and Sentencing under Mandatory Minimums and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines: The Punishment No
Longer Fits the Criminal." Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy 10.1 (1996): 389-466.
Mueller, Robert S.. Mandatory Minimum Sentencing. Federal Sentencing Reporter 4.4 (1992): 230233. Web...
NESMITH, ROBERT C. "Tough On Crime Or Tough Luck For The Incarcerated? Exploring The Adverse Psychological Impacts Of
Mandatory Minimum Sentencing And Pushing For Action." Law & Psychology Review 39.(2015): 253-266.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
Pinto, Nick. "Why Can't We End Mass Incarceration?." Rolling Stone 1247 (2015): 36-39. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Mar.
2016

ProCon.org. "Have Mandatory Minimum Jail Sentences Been an Effective Tool in the War on Drugs?" ProCon.org. 24 Nov. 2009.
Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

Stasis Grid
Rhodan, Maya, and Alex Altman. "Senate Introduces Gamechanger Criminal Justice Reform Bill." Time.com. N.p., 1 Oct. 2015.
Web. 1 Mar. 2016
Saris, Patti B. "A Generational Shift For Federal Drug Sentences." American Criminal Law Review 52.1 (2015): 1-24. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
Tonry, Michael. "Remodeling American Sentencing: A Ten-Step Blueprint For Moving Past Mass Incarceration.
Criminology & Public Policy 13.4 (2014): 503-533. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
"Authentic Criminal Justice Reform." Washingtontimes.com. N.p., 18 Feb. 2016. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
"Federal Drug Sentencing Laws Bring High Cost Low Return." Federal Drug Sentencing Laws Bring High Cost Low Return. PEW
Charitable Trusts, 27 Aug. 2015. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.