New York State Committee on Sentencing Guidelines Correspondence and Subject Files

Boxes 1-5: Arranged alphabetically by name of organization/subject.

Box 6: Unarranged.

These files contain correspondence, publications, internal drafts, working documents, unpublished reports, and other material.

Most of the correspondence in the series is with interested individuals, organizations (e.g. Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, N.Y.S.' Bar Association), and state and local agencies (e.g. county sheriffs' departments, correctional facilities, Department of Correctional Services, and Division of Criminal Justice Service). Much of the correspondence with individuals and organizations concerns either the solicitation of input to the Committee's work, requests for information from the committee or comments on the committee's reports and work. Most of the correspondence with state agencies concerns the cooperation of these agencies with the Committee's work, particularly in research, data collection, and data processing. The files contain a number of unpublished research reports provided by the agencies to the Committee.

The publications in the files mostly concern the issue of determinate sentencing and other criminal justice topics such as probation. They include reports of other special New York State committees/commissions/task forces concerned with criminal justice topics (e.g. Executive Advisory Committee on Sentencing, 1979 (Morganthau Committee), Executive Advisory Commission on the Administration of Justice, 1982 (Liman Commission), reports from other states on determinate sentencing, and scholarly articles on determinate sentencing and other criminal justice topics (e.g. parole, "good time").

The series also contains the working documents of the Committee including internal memoranda, draft reports, draft legislation, materials prepared by Committee staff for Committee members, work plans, and staff assignments. These records concern the Committee's research and data collection efforts, the production of various sentencing guideline grids and reports, and the operation of the Committee staff and Committee members. Of special note are legal papers and other materials concerning a legal suit by Mayor Edward Koch and the city of New York against the Committee.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.