INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A legislative panel studying whether Indiana’s criminal sentencing system needs sweeping changes is mulling over new research into the role a defendant’s criminal history should play in determining their sentence.
Two IUPUI professors studied the cases of all convicted Class D felons who entered the Indiana Department of Correction during a three-month period in 2011.
The Criminal Code Evaluation Commission learned at Thursday’s meeting that one of the researchers’ major findings was that the criminal history of certain defendants matters more in sentencing than the charge for which they were convicted.
The study is part of an effort started by Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2010 to overhaul Indiana’s criminal justice system based on troubling prison population trends.
That overhaul has stalled in the legislature.
