SENTENCING POLICYS AND CORRECTIONS The state and federal objectives for punishment have three main reasons as to why punishment is imposed on offenders, these being to punish the guilty, to protect the public and to rehabilitate the offender. Punishment being the most obvious goal of the correctional system, the guilty have to be punished for the crime they are found guilty of having committed. The theory behind punishment is that it is supposedly to serve as a deterrent against someone repeating the criminal activity, as well as set an example to others of why they should avoid committing the same acts. Incarceration is the most common form of punishment, but the death penalty and other lesser penalties such as probation are also designed …show more content…
For instance, blacks who murder whites are more likely to be sentenced to death than blacks who murder blacks or than whites who murder blacks or whites. Racial and other kinds of sentencing disparities make a mockery of the principle of “equal justice under the law.”
Indeterminate sentences
Indeterminate sentencing is a system of sentencing in which a legislature establishes maximum and minimum terms for each crime and a judge makes a discretionary decision as to what the maximum and minimum sentences should be for each convicted offender (Grimes & Rogers,2002) For those whose sentence is prison, a parole board determines the amount of time each inmate serves under correctional supervision.
The theory behind indeterminate‐sentencing statutes is rehabilitation—the sentence should meet the needs of the individual offender, and the offender should be locked up until there is evidence that he or she has been “cured.” In states with indeterminate sentencing, parole boards can release inmates once they have served the minimum part of their sentences. Good‐time laws further reduce the amount of time served. Good time reduces a portion of an offender's sentence for good behavior while in