SADO Conducts Training on Use of COMPAS at Sentencing

Critical Session Scheduled for Defense Attorneys at Cooley Law School Campuses
The Thomas M. Cooley Law School and the Criminal Defense Resource Center of the State Appellate Defender Office presents a criminal justice training event for criminal defense attorneys, probation agents, prosecutors & judges.  Use of COMPAS at Sentencing - What Every Defense Attorney Needs to Know is a a primer with an emphasis on the meaning of the COMPAS scores, reliability of the scores, limitations on their use and the constitutional and state-law objections to raise at sentencing hearings.  COMPAS (Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions) is a computerized assessment and case management system created by the Northpointe Institute for Public Management.  Michigan will begin using the risk assessment results at sentencing in the summer of 2014.  All presentence investigation reports must include risk assessment information from that point forward, pursuant to a new Michigan Department of Corrections’ Policy.  The results are intended to inform sentencing discretion in terms of the rehabilitation and supervision needs of an offender in the community.  Registration details and form are here.