Letter from the Editor

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

The American Criminal Law Review, in partnership with the National Association

of Criminal Defense Lawyers (“NACDL”), is proud to present the Volume 58

Symposium Issue, Prison Brake: Rethinking the Sentencing Status Quo.

Over the past half-century, there has never been broader agreement that the

American criminal legal system is broken. Today, leaders from across the ideological

spectrum acknowledge that the United States over-prosecutes, over-charges, and

over-incarcerates. In this climate, advocates for reform have seen modest success.

But the movement for more transformational change continues. As part of that move-

ment, this Symposium and Issue seek to foster a deeper discussion to rethink the sen-

tencing status quo in America. Through presentations and Articles addressing topics

from innovative constitutional sentencing arguments, to establishing and implement-

ing Second Look sentencing regimes, to prison abolition, we hope to equip leaders,

scholars, practitioners, and activists alike with the strategies and scholarship to spur

fundamental change for a more just and more humane criminal sentencing system.

The editorial board and staff of Volume 58 would like to extend our sincere

thanks to all of our Authors, panelists, and guests who joined us for the virtual

Symposium in October 2020. We are also grateful for the generous support of our

colleagues and friends from NACDL, especially President Christopher W. Adams,

Executive Director Norman L. Reimer, and Associate Executive Director for

Policy Kyle W. O’Dowd. We are further indebted to our Faculty Advisor,

Professor Shon Hopwood, as well as Professor Douglas A. Berman of The Ohio

State University Moritz College of Law for their guidance and direction in plan-

ning this Symposium. We would also like to thank Joshua L. Mogil, Senior

Symposium Editor, and Abbe R. Dembowitz, Editor-in-Chief, of Volume 57, for

their leadership in the initial organization of this event. Finally, and most impor-

tantly, we would like to congratulate and thank Teressa Hamsher, Senior

Symposium Editor of Volume 58, for her extraordinary efforts—under the most

challenging of circumstances in the middle of a global pandemic—to make this

Symposium and Issue possible.

We hope that you enjoy this Symposium Issue of the American Criminal Law

Review. Thank you for reading!

Sincerely,

Jordan L. Hughes

Editor-in-Chief, Volume 58

American Criminal Law Review

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