“Punishment Policies, Practices, and Patterns in Europe”

The title of this post is the title of this new article authored by Michael Tonry now available via SSRN.  Here is its abstract:

Three things foster European moderation in relation to crime and punishment.  The first is the influence of the European Union and the Council of Europe.  Both establish or promote principles and policies, for example, the European Prison Rules and recommendations on restorative justice, mediation, and resettlement of released prisoners, that conduce to moderation.  The second is that, with some exceptions, mostly in the United Kingdom and parts of Eastern and Central Europe, crime in recent decades has seldom been a galvanizing, partisan political issue.  The third is that almost all judges and prosecutors are career civil servants, socialized into professional cultures and compliance with ethical standards, rather than elected officials who are more susceptible to influence by political considerations, public opinion, and the media.  Laws and policies in Western Europe, and their application, tend to be substantive and rational rather than expressive and emotional.  Despite substantial differences between countries, shared characteristics stand out: imprisonment rates that are relatively low by international standards, sustained efforts to limit prison use, relatively decent prison conditions, and relatively sympathetic consideration of defendants’ and convicted peoples’ interests and needs.  “Relatively” may seem faint praise.  It’s not.  Prisons are pretty terrible places in most countries.