On July 1, 1977, California began a major reform in its policy dealing with prison sentences. The Uniform Determinate Sentence Law (to be referred to here as the DSL) became effective on this day, replacing a system of indeterminate sentencing (to be called here ISL) that had been in existence for sixty years. The new DSL thus radically changed the process under which prison term lengths were set, and removing some of the extraordinary uncertainty characterizing the open-ended sentences of the ISL. It is clearly early to begin the process of attempting to assess the effects of the California DSL, as only a few years have passed since it went into effect and its ultimate impacts may take years to be fully worked out. In addition to providing information about how the new law has affected and been mediated by court disposition processes, we also are concerned with a somewhat broader issue, that of the impact or implementation process in general. How does the impact of California DSL inform us about the general process by which public policy is made at the legislative level and then translated into behavioral changes by other decision makers whose job it is to "implement" the policies of the legislature? How, in this case, does implementation of the DSL illuminate the process by which sentencing policy is made, implemented, and modified as time goes by?

A collection of information about what has happened in California since the determinate sentencing law substantially changed courtroom procedures for determining sentences and set a policy designed to assure more just, uniform sentencing practices. The state legislature has assumed direct control of sentencing, establishing definite terms for specified crimes. Judges determine the length of prison terms by selecting among defined ranges and state reasons for selected sentences. The Adult Authority and Women's Board was eliminated and replaced with the Community Release Board which reviews sentencing disparity. One result has been a sharp increase in the commitment rate to prison; between 1977 and 1978 there was a 12 percent increase in the felon population in prison. Proposals for further research include studies of the central role of the legislature in criminal sentencing; correctional programs and security; court implementation of sentencing policy; and the effects of prosecutorial discretion.