Tonry’s Blueprint for the Comparative Study of Sentencing Law and Policy

Abstract This essay explores Michael Tonry’s treatment of sentencing law and policy within the U.S. as an inherently comparative project. The essay draws from Tonry’s “early period” in comparative sentencing from the late 1970s to the middle 1990s, when his writing was largely U.S.-centric, focued on quickly changing conditions in dozens of states and the federal system. Tonry classified the several models of “sentencing reform” that were being tried across the country, drew contrasts in the legal architectures of the new systems, collected data and evaluation research for as many states as possible, and treated the reform-active states as “laboratories” whose experiments could be evaluated for the benefit of other jurisdictions. The essay examines the importance of this body of work and illustrates the impact it has had on research and policy communities over several decades. In addition, the essay suggests that “Tonry’s blueprint” holds great value for future researchers in comparative criminal justice policy.