The timeline of rehabilitation policies has had its peaks and valleys, and these have usually been keyed to the underlying philosophy of the period, such as religious instruction, vocational training or social psychology. Still, the U.S. Supreme Court has recently reminded us that rehabilitation is always relevant. At the same time, the latest discoveries about the brain’s operations and effective behavioral treatments are igniting another peak in the progress of the rehabilitative ideal.
Rehabilitation Is Relevant
When sentencing is revisited, decision makers are faced with the question of whether new information ought to be considered. In last year’s Pepper v. United States, 131 S.Ct. 1229 (2011), the Supreme Court shed light on the importance of rehabilitation evidence when a case is remanded for resentencing.
