Doug Berman points us to a new blog, Corrections Sentencing, "a place for corrections/sentencing policy readers seeking latest information and research, answers to questions and concerns, or just general conversation on shared worlds." The current (as of Wednesday morning) post is titled "What Works and How do we know it works." It is a discussion of evidence-based policy in sentencing, the idea that policy should be based on methods proven to work with hard evidence rather than ideology. Insistence on hard evidence might have prevented the disaster of the 1960s and 1970s, when our sentencing policy went soft on the unfounded assumption that we knew how to "fix" criminals. Crimes rates soared. As those who have forgotten this history prepare to repeat it, skeptical and critical examination of the proposals are very much in order.

We welcome Corrections Sentencing to the discussion and look forward to a stimulating exchange of ideas and information.