Selective Incapacitation?

Recent sentencing proposals for the selective incapacitation of criminal offenders have generated a great deal of enthusiasm and controversy. The concept has been greeted enthusiastically because it promises simultaneously to decrease the crime rate and to reduce crowding in the nation's prisons. The controversy stems from two sources: concerns of science and of ethics. This article describes the selective incapacitation proposal and the scientific and ethical controversies it has generated. Finally, an alternative strategy for using risk predictions is presented. It is thought to meliorate the ethical concerns discussed and to hold promise for reducing prison crowding without endangering the public.