This collection of Michael Tonry's key writings on penal policy and criminal justice brings together three clusters of topics not usually treated together: penal policy trends in western countries, racial and ethnic disparities, and sentencing policies, practices, and theories. Recent research in the past few decades has shown that these topics are inextricably interrelated.

Michael Tonry is Professor of Law and Public Policy, University of Minnesota, USA

Contents: Introduction; Part I Race and Ethnicity: Malign neglect; Ethnicity, crime and immigration; The malign effects of drugs and crime control policies on black Americans, (with Matthew Melewski). Part II Comparative Penal Policy: Symbol, substance and severity in Western penal policies; Punishment policies and patterns in Western countries; Determinants of penal policies. Part III American Penal Policy: Sense and sensibility in American penal culture; Cycles and sensibilities; Emerging explanations of American punishment policies. Part IV Sentencing Policy: Sentencing reform in America (with Norval Morris); Mandatory penalties; Sentencing matters; Purposes and functions of sentencing. Part V Punishment Theory: Interchangeability of punishments in principle; Proportionality, parsimony, and interchangeability of punishments; Obsolescence and immanence in penal theory and policy. Name Index.