What golf rule reform can teach everyone about sentencing reform
A colleague who is a fellow golf nut sent me an e-mail from the US Golf Association announcing rule changes for 2008. Here is the heart of the announcement:
2008/2009 Rules Of Golf: Learn about the modifications to the Rules effective Jan. 1, 2008. Changes to the Rules generally fall into two broad categories:
- those that improve the clarity of the Rules
- those that reduce the penalties in certain circumstances to ensure that they are proportionate.
Intriguingly, know that some of the most thoughtful persons working on sentencing issues are also golf nuts, and they are trying to improve the clarity of sentencing rules and trying to “reduce the penalties in certain circumstances to ensure that they are proportionate.” Indeed, given the mess that the Supreme Court and others have made of sentencing rules lately, perhaps this is a cosmic sign that the Justices and others working on sentencing law and policy need to hit the links a lot more (and, of course, invite me along).