Word: provisionals
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The major provision of the bill is the limitation of discretion in the sentencing of convicted criminals. Indeterminate sentences would be abolished, possible sentence ranges would be narrowed, and a standard 10 per cent reduction of sentences for good behavior would be instituted.
Both James Vorenberg '49, professor of Law, and Alan M. Dershowitz, professor of Law, worked on the sentencing portion of the bill, and yesterday both viewed the curtailment of judicial discretion as an important, if still inadequate, step in the right direction. Dershowitz said the provision represents a "major new...
Countryman also objected to the bill's many lesser-known political and social provisions. He thought that an amendment tacked onto the bill by Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kans.), allowing judges to deny pre-trial release to persons accused of murder, treason, rape, sabotage, or trafficking in narcotics, is probably...
Countryman criticized the provision, however, claiming that corporate officers should be treated like ordinary offenders.
Countryman was more wary of the new provision, however, stating that the government can still prosecute under the old "destruction of the government by fraud" provision. The government based its unsuccessful prosecution of Daniel Ellsberg '52 in the Pentagon papers case on that provision.