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Show-Me State now showing sentencing judges information about the costs of punishments

By Douglas A. Berman

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has this fascinating new article headlined "Missouri judges get penalty cost before sentencing." Here is how it begins: Justice in Missouri now comes with a price tag. It is the first state to provide judges with defendant-specific data on what particular sentences would cost the taxpayers, and on the likelihood that the person in the dock will reoffend. Not everyone is happy about it. "I don't think it has any purpose in a process of balancing justice," complained Jack Banas, the St. Charles County prosecuting attorney. "Justice doesn't come down to dollars and cents.  You have to look at the system as a whole picture." But Kristy Ridings, a defense lawyer practicing in St. Louis, said: "I think it's fantastic...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on September 14, 2010 (boomark / email).