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Determinate Sentencing Essay

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The sentencing for crimes has changed from its origins of early Greece and Rome, where the most common punishment was banishment or exile. Shifts on what was viewed as maintaining public order had a deep impact on punishments. From banishment or exile to public execution, the advancement in sentencing throughout history has developed into today’s sentencing process for those found guilty in the United States. The goal of our modern sentencing model is to deter future crime, to incapacitate dangerous criminals, to punish offenders fairly and justly, to rehabilitate and treat those who need it, and to seek equity for victims and their families. There are a variety of sentencing structures that are used in the United States. Indeterminate sentences are made to tailor fit individual needs. With this view, criminals were believed to be “sick” rather than bad; instead of “the punishment should fit the crime” approach reformers believe that “the treatment should fit the offender.” Determinate sentences offer a fixed term of incarceration; the maximum set by the legislature for the offender sentenced with a particular crime. Sentencing guidelines have …show more content…

In recent years, the Supreme Court has limited its use of the death penalty to first-degree murder and then only when aggravating circumstances, such as for profit or using extreme cruelty, are present. Other offenses might also end in the death penalty, such as a serious crime against the United States. The US is one of only 58 countries in the world still practicing it. The death penalty has been a controversial issue for a long time. Those that support it argue that it strongly affects the deterrence of crime; while those who oppose it cite the possibility of error and bias in the system. Nevertheless, it is a fact that the legal system has become more thorough in its actions when it comes to the issue of the death penalty

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In the United States, there are two primary models; Indeterminate and determinate sentencing. Indeterminate sentencing refers to blending decisions provided by the sentencing judge and later from a release authority so the actual time served can be determined. The judge will sentence offenders to indeterminate sentencing during the time of the sentence including the maximum or minimum amount of time that’s to be served. Once an offender serves the minimum amount of time they are qualified for a release by the parole board. However, the maximum sentence may have to be served by the offender if the parole board doesn’t grant an early release.

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Three-Strikes Law It is my intention to establish a relationship between the three strikes law and retention rates of prisoners incarcerated for low level offenses. Before I begin to discuss the three-strikes law, it is imperative that I give some background information on sentencing guidelines. During the 1970 's the incarceration sentences imposed were indeterminate, meaning the judge had the discretion to sentence an offender on a case by case basis and sentencing a person to state prison or county jail was supposed to be to rehabilitate that person so he/she could re-enter society. Often time’s prisoners were sentenced to different amounts of time for similar offenses.

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Today’s court and justice systems, as well as our prison system, are flawed and don’t do enough to not only hinder any further crime from occurring, but put those who may cause further complications in our society in jail. In the article “Why Prisons Don’t Work,” Wilbert Rideau, a murderer sentenced to life in jail, explains his reasons and provides evidence on why our prison system is counterproductive. According to Rideau, many of those who are thrown in prison, were convicted due to their unskilled, impulsive, and uneducated actions. Putting these men in prison may seem like a good idea, but there are underlying reasons why prisons don’t work.

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This essay will examine three types of disparities that happen under the United States sentencing today. Judges tend to look at the characteristics of the victim involved in the crime to determine the outcome of the sentence. Why should someone’s race, gender, or even religion effect the time they receive for their jail sentence? The 1984 Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) was created to eliminate disparities, basically explaining how one’s ethnicity, gender, and religion should not affect their sentencing. Even with this act existing, race and gender has still plays a huge part on unnecessary sentencing lengths.

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As we know, there are many ways criminals can be punished. When sentencing happens, the defendant is usually sentenced to the following punishments, listed from minor to extreme: Fines Community service Diversion programs Probation GPS monitoring Jail Prison Death penalty (Rio Salado, 2022). Most of these punishments can be listed under either the utilitarian or retributive theory of punishment. The utilitarian theory seeks to punish offenders to 'deter' future wrongdoings.

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Judges often have the responsibility of sentencing an offender once guilt is determined. While judges have flexibility in deciding a sentence, their powers are limited to prevent egregious sentences. Multiple factors impact judge’s decisions on sentencing, several are the Eighth Amendment, statutory provisions, philosophical rationales, organizational considerations, presentence investigation reports, and the judge’s personal characteristics (Bohm & Haley, 2011). First, through the Bill of Rights, the Eighth Amendment protects individuals from cruel and unusual punishments (Bohm & Haley, 2011). Punishments must proportionately fit the crime or justice has failed and not fairly been served.

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Evaluate the effectiveness of sentencing and punishment as a means of achieving justice. The Australian criminal justice system is moderately effective in relation to sentencing and punishment as a means of achieving justice for offenders, victims and society. Sentencing and punishment is a key process utilised to enforce legislation, resolving and deterring criminal actions. Its effectiveness in upholding the interests of society is determined by the ability of enforcement to consider specific and general deterrence, retribution, rehabilitation and incapacitation.

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Defined as a public policy that imposes an outlined amount of prison time based on the crime committed and the defendant’s criminal history, these sentences dictate that a judge must enact a statutory fixed penalty on individuals convicted of certain crimes, regardless of extenuating circumstances. Such laws have removed discretionary sentencing power from judges, instead focusing on severe punishments in line with national drug and crime concerns. While the original goal of mandatory minimum sentences was to deter potential criminals, reduce drug use, control judicial prudence, the policy has had extreme consequences such as sentencing imbalances and

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So in a nut shell, every state has its own set of rules for the punishment of criminals called sentencing guidelines, which are sentencing policies prosecutors and judges use for people convicted of serious misdemeanors and felonies (Peak,2015). The crime and the criminal 's previous criminal history is considered when a judge hands down a sentence. People that oppose alternative sentencing argue that an individual 's circumstances are unique and should be considered during sentencing, otherwise there is a possibility of

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Although guidelines were placed on lesser crimes and first time offenses, they were ignore and lead to larges increases in percent of people receiving prison sentences and length of sentences for various offenses. These ignored guidelines were created with the idea that it would

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In the criminal justice system, the corrections component is also responsible for the rehabilitation of the convicted individual. It is their duty to attempt to make the defendant a productive member of society once again. Based on the individual’s behavior while incarcerated, the court and corrections officials may decide to place them on parole, which ensures that the individual will comply with the rules of society once they are fully released from the system. The criminal justice system is an essential role in the organizational structure of not only the United States but also in countries around the world. If there were no criminal justice system to administer punishment, the world would be unstructured, disorganized, unjustified, cruel, and not to mention a chaotic place for it citizens.

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