Sentencing under Jeff Sessions about to get much more punitive

May 2017

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has instructed the 93 U.S. attorneys to prosecute people for the most serious offense possible, and send them to prison for as long as possible -- a reversal of Obama-era policies that aimed to reduce sentencing and prevent low-level offenders from serving long prison terms.

Criminology, Law and Society Professor Mona Lynch spoke with Slate about the ramifications of Sessions' recent policy memo, and outlined how it departs from recent bipartisan consensus on sentencing reform. The main takeaway? "It’s about to get much more punitive."

Read the Q&A here.