Chapter 4Sentencing

Sentencing:

-court imposed penalty

-convicted of a crime

Sentencing policies:

-complex

-fines, community service, probation, incarceration

-no typical punishment

SENTENCING STRUCTURES:

Determinate: -specific and fixed penalties

Indeterminate:-officials other than judges decide release

“truth in sentencing”

Indeterminate sentencing:

-rehabilitation/behavior change

-disparity

-statutory penalties

-statutory maximums

Criticisms:

-individualized sentences were unfair

-poverty

-discrimination

-really rehabilitated

Determinate sentencing:

-political debate

-fixed term

-release % of sentence served

SENTENCING PRACTICES:

-indeterminate v. determinate

-just deserts

-collective incapacitation (Ch 2)

-aggravating/mitigating circumstances

SENTENCING GUIDELINES:

-predefined sentence length

-crime severity/offender history

-judge depart

-voluntary

-presumptive

Sentencing commissions

-sentences in advance

-appointed

-diverse group

http://www.ussc.gov/Guidelines/2011_Guidelines/Manual_PDF/Sentencing_Table.pdf

Presentence report:

-aggravatinggreater sufferingmore vulnerableleadership role

-mitigatingreduced culpability

Federal Sentencing guidelines: -not consider certain factors

-36 % cases departed

-which way you think up or down?

“substantial assistance ”

Mandatory sentencing: some crimes/offenders-3rd strike

-weapons

-DUI

-overcrowding

-costs

Pre-sentence Investigation : PSI

-multiple sources

-victim impact statement

-complete offender history

-judges follow as high as 91%

Reducing prison time:

-pre-trial jail time

-good time

-parole

-early release

Concurrent Sentence:-multiple sentences served together

Consecutive Sentence:-multiple sentences served individually