The United States Sentencing Commission is responsible for sentencing policy in federal courts. In 1980 they reformed the federal sentencing. The intent was to provide determinate sentencing. Determinate sentencing is a fixed period of incarceration without the possibility of parole, but time served can be reduced by accumulating good time. “Coinciding with the development of determinate sentencing has been the development of sentencing guidelines to control and structure the process and make it more rational. Guidelines are usually based on the seriousness of a crime and the background of an offender: The more serious the crime and the more extensive the offender’s criminal background, the longer the prison term recommended by the guidelines.” (Segel & Senna 2006). These guidelines were designed to eliminate judicial discretion and get tough on crime.…
In this paper the topics that will be discussed will be what are the state and federal objectives of punishment? How does sentencing affect the state and federal corrections systems overall? With support for that answer, what is the determinate and indeterminate sentencing? As well as which sentencing model that is felt the most appropriate? With an explanation as to why and examples will be provided.…
The following paragraphs will define and explain the differences between determinate and indeterminate sentences. This discussion may seem, at first blush, to be somewhat theoretical. However, the issue is a life-altering one for parole as an institution. In a determinate sentencing structure, there is no role for a paroling authority in making release decisions.…
Punishment may sound like painful word, but in fact it is nothing more but a consequence given to a criminal offender. The state and federal correction system have similar objectives for criminal offenders as a form of punishment. Due to request for harsher punishment, sentencing affects both the state and federal correction system. Upon pleading or finding an offender guilty, the determinate and indeterminate sentencing model is implied in which the federal and state correctional system assigns to criminals for time given in prison.…
Judges have lost the ability to tailor the sentence to fit the circumstances of each individual case. One size does not fit all. The Guidelines are one cause of the dramatic growth in the federal justice system. A system intended to streamline and simplify the sentencing process has instead created a far more complex system that has clogged the courts with appeals over Guidelines' applications. Furthermore, the federal Guidelines are not simply guidelines, as the name suggests: they are mandatory. Judges are required to follow them, no matter how inappropriate the result (Anderson,…
To me Indeterminate Sentencing is a very degraded and/or very disturbed type of sentencing. In this sentencing a legislature is the one who has say as to what the terms will be for the crime that has been committed and a judge gets the decision as to what the sentence will be for the offender. As I look at this information I feel that the judge should have a say in what the sentence will be, but not have all the power as to what it will be. A Parole Board gets to determine as to what the amount of time is that the offender will spend in prison for the crime he or she has committed. In this type of sentencing, one of the guidelines is that when determining the sentence it should meet all of the needs of the offender.…
Mandatory sentencing /Habitual offender laws / three strikes laws 11. Sentencing guidelines 12. Cost to keep an inmate in prison for life 13. Capital punishment:…
Today in our country our justice system runs by two models in order to keep peace and order to the public the first model is the determinate sentencing model what the Determinate model is when the judge is about to pass a sentence on to defendant and to address the problem with crimes that has been going around since the 1980s for example the government of some states in our country passed the three strike laws where when someone commits a crime that is considered serious then they get harsher sentences and to tell people who are more likely to commit the crime to don’t do it and it is not worth it . One of the pros for the determinate sentencing model is that the defendant could be eligible for probation, parole and alternative programs…
The last stage of a criminal trial is known as sentencing. During sentencing the convening authority over the criminal court proceedings makes a determination of how the guilty party should be punished. Prior to that determination being made both the defense attorneys and prosecutors may make their arguments as to why or why not the defendant should be punished to the fullest of the law. The judge taking these arguments into consideration makes his or her decision on what type sentence to hand down. While the main goal is to punish those that are found guilty there are five sentencing rationales in use in the American criminal justice system. These rationales are retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, restoration, and incapacitation. In the case of State v. Stu Dents, the judge will use the rationales of rehabilitation and incapacitation. The defense and prosecutors will make their arguments and propose the type of sentence Mr. Dents should receive which in turn will protect him and society.…
The complexities of human nature, emotions, thought, morals and ethics have been debated for centuries, and the dilemma of sentencing another human to a form of corporal punishment, incarceration or death, requires a firm foundation in the laws of the land, tempered by years of study and dedication to the law one has sworn to uphold. The several reasons for sentencing of a crime is: Revenge, for an actual or perceived need for vengeance on a violation, usually one that is very personal and emotional in nature. Incapacitation, which is to prevent the criminal from repeating crimes against society by placing them into a correctional facility on a long term or permanent basis. Restoration, is a form of sentencing when the convening authority is attempting to protect the victims by helping them to feel safe and secure. Deterrence is a sentence where the courts attempt to prevent the subject of a crime from offending again. Retribution, which is probably the oldest reason for sentencing was utilized for equal punishment to the crime, drawing from the old adage “eye for an eye”. Lastly is the sentence of rehabilitation, which in societies modern view, the ideal and preferred sentence,…
With a determinate sentence the convicted person is given a sentence that has a defined length to be served and cant’ be changed by a parole board or any other agency but may reduced by factors such as “good time”. While with an indeterminate sentence it consists of a range of the years that will be served. There is always a minimum sentence but the release date if any is uncertain. It is determined by a parole board when it periodically reviews the case, and could be given the possibility for parole. The problems that criminals with mental health problems face with determinate sentencing are the parole chance. The fact that there is no chance of parole with determinate sentencing makes it hard for the individual to get treatment for his or her disorder. Being in prison is a harsh place and with the fact that a individual with mental health problems is put into a penitentiary without getting help just add fuel to the fire making it harder and harder for them to recover. Also there is no probation given because they are sent straight to jail or prison were they are told to serve an exact time, which then leads to no chance of actual treatment for the individual. With prevention being one of the main goals of determinate sentencing it also leads to a chance of greater occurrence after the individual being released. Yes they are preventing crimes from happening while the criminal is incarcerated but what about when he’s released? He still has the same mental problems as before if they haven’t increased. They are given little to no treatment to help their mental problems therefore increasing the possibility of reoccurrence later. I believe that if a criminal with mental health issues is being served with a determinate sentence that he or she should first spend a set amount of time in a mental hospital until progress has been made and been noted as being safe to serve out the rest of his sentence in a prison or…
As violent crime continued to rise, the public demanded harsher and more definite sentences. The rehabilitative concept was called into question as to its effectiveness, leading to the birth of the determinate sentencing structure. The determinate sentencing structure is that which gives an offender a fixed term of incarceration. This type of structured sentencing reform can be used to deter potential offenders and incapacitate dangerous offenders. For example, bringing drug paraphernalia into a prison requires a fixed prison sentence of two years. Judges, in such a case, do not have discretion when the statute “determines” what the sentence is to…
There are various forms of sentencing that are used in the criminal justice system and each has its’ own rationale. These include but are not limited to the death penalty, incarceration, suspended sentence, probation, and restitution. The death penalty must be requested by the prosecutor and in some rare cases the defense. The death penalty can also be recommended by a jury, however only specific crimes are eligible for the death penalty. Most states require a certain number of witnesses in order to qualify the defendant for the death penalty. These crimes vary from state to state and include aggravated rape of a victim under 14 (including repeat offenses), espionage, piracy, ransom kidnapping, treason, and most commonly aggravated first degree murder. Incarceration is another popular form of sentencing. Although jail and prison are often used interchangeably, they differ. A prison sentence is typically longer and for those who commit felonies. A jail sentence is shorter and for those who commit misdemeanors, who are awaiting trial, or waiting to be transferred to a state facility. The ideology behind prisons is easy to recognize. We follow prisons in every…
The inmate prison population of the BOP increased over the past few years due to federal sentencing of drug offenses and immigration. Changes in sentencing policies have increased the mandatory minimum sentencing as well as changes in the federal criminal code in which it increased the amount of crimes seen as federal offenses, also the repeal of parole. Since these changes certain crimes are now deemed as federal offenses, which require a longer period of prison time. War on drugs has cause an increase in the prison populations due to high level of harsh prison sentencing’s. Although the attempts at the three strikes system was an effort in decreasing the prison population it did not work. Focus needs to be placed on rehabilitation of inmates…
The four fundamental philosophies surrounding the purpose of sentencing are; retribution, this philosophy is the belief that those who commit criminal acts should be punished according to the seriousness of the crime and that no other circumstances are considered, deterrence, this strategy is the thought that if the punishment given is severe enough that it will stop the potential criminal from committing the crime or to be a repeat offender. Incapacitate is the third philosophy that is a belief that if the criminal is detained for a crime, thereby being separated from the community reduces the criminal activity and once released will not be as likely to be a repeat offender. Rehabilitation is the fourth and final philosophy that surrounds the purpose of sentencing, some believe that society is best served when those who break the law are not simply punished but are provided with resources needed to eliminate the need or want to engage in criminal…