Parole: Villain or Victim in the Determinate Sentencing Debate

This paper counters the idea that the alleged failure of parole justifies abandoning the indeterminate sentencing system in favor of determinate sentencing. The author argues that, instead, we should assess the relevance of the rehabilitative ideal; only then can we logically talk of adopting a new sentencing system. The paper examines the present and historical role of parole and the positions taken in a recent series of papers on determinate sentencing published in Crime & Delinquency.