NASC conference
Council members are to attend an extensive conference on sentencing and policy in the United States next month.
The 2016 National Association of Sentencing Commissions (NASC) conference is being hosted by the Utah Sentencing Commission in Salt Lake City.
Examining the Interactions between Policy and Sentencing will look at the impact of sentencing bodies within the justice system.
The conference, which has been held for 13 years, brings together a range of experts including prison officials, academics, charities, judges and policy makers.
The conference will enable members to engage with a large number of sentencing bodies gathered in one place, and to build links with colleagues in other jurisdictions.
Many of the commissions are long established and will be able to share valuable experience and expertise with the Council during its early stage of development.
A number of the conference topics are particularly relevant including talks on how sentencing bodies remain relevant; the role of guidelines in delivering justice and how high profile cases impact sentencing policy.
Other topics on the agenda include:
- reversing the school-to-prison pipeline
- short-term interventions for lower level offences
- lessons learned from large-scale reform
- recent sentencing reforms
- sentencing guidelines.
Council members Sheriff Principal Ian Abercrombie and Sue Moody, along with Council Secretary Ondine Tennant will attend the conference from 7 to 9 August.
NASC was set up in the USA as a non-profit organisation to facilitate the exchange and sharing of information, ideas, and expertise in a bid to raise awareness of sentencing policies and guidelines. It currently comprises 23 sentencing commissions and councils.