Previewing forthcoming FSR issue on reentry issues

FSR editor Michael O’Hear is putting the finishing touches on the next issue of Federal Sentencing Reporter, which is focused on re-entry issues.  Michael’s introductory essay for this issue (FSR Volume 20, No. 2) is now available at SSRN here.  This piece is entitled “The Second Chance Act and the Future of the Reentry Movement,” and here is the abstract:

Recently passed by the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support and currently awaiting action in the Senate, the Second Chance Act of 2007 (H.R. 1593) would authorize about $340 million in new spending on programs that support the reintegration of returning prisoners to their communities.  If enacted, the SCA would represent a new milestone in the growing influence of the prisoner reentry movement, which has focused public attention on the daunting obstacles facing returning prisoners who seek to rebuild their lives as productive citizens. This essay, which introduces a forthcoming issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter devoted to the SCA and the challenges of reentry, critiques aspects of the SCA, considers the implications of the reentry movement for sentencing, and argues that reentry-based reforms should not be conceptualized primarily as recidivism reduction measures, but as opportunities to fulfill ethical obligations to some of the most marginalized and disadvantaged members of society.

Other recent FSR issues:

• FSR Issue 20.1: Learning from Libby
• FSR Issue 19.5: Assessing Crack-Cocaine and Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Provisions
• FSR Issue 19.4: Information-based Sentencing Analysis
• FSR Issue 19.3: Claiborne & Rita: Reasonableness Review in the Supreme Court
• FSR Issue 19.2: Victims and Sentencing II: Beyond the CVRA
• FSR Issue 19.1: Victims and Sentencing I: Victim Impact Evidence, the Crime Victims’ Rights Act and Kenna