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Pros And Cons Of Indeterminate Sentencing

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The United States had a sentencing and release procedure from 1920 to 1973 for rehabilitating offenders; both, the State and federal government used indeterminate sentencing, authorized discretionary release by the parole board, and supervised release after prison, but by 2002, sixteen States and federal government had abandoned discretionary release by the parole board, which made it hard for offenders to be released and the prison system to become overpopulated. This meant that offenders had to complete ninety-percent of their sentence before they could be eligible for parole (Clear, Reisig, and Cole, 2016). Because of this, there are five release mechanisms that both, State and federal government must use before an offender can be released; …show more content…

Secondly, mandatory release is when an offender has served his/her required amount of time minus good behavior. The offender can be release without the decision of the parole board, but must serve the rest of their time on supervised parole. Third, probation release is when the judge sentences an inmate to a short time in prison, also known as “The shock”, and then release the offender back into society under supervision. Fourth, other conditional release is a release used by many States to go around mandatory release, which places offenders back into the community by granting the offender a leave of absence by using home supervision, halfway houses, emergency release, and other programs that would help the offender to be released from prison. Finally, expiration release is when an inmate have maxed out his/her time in prison and cannot be return to prison to serve additional time for the crime he/she were already serving or have any kind of supervision (Clear, Reisig, and Cole, …show more content…

The parole board carefully examine and review the offender entire criminal behavior, both prior to prison and while in prison, social background, and risk to the community before they made an informed decision to release the offender, this ensure that the offender is not a threat to society and can become a law-abiding citizen of the community. According to the California Department of Corrections, (2003), “Offenders who are being considered for release must agree to the following: the offender must obey all parole agent instructions, must report to the parole officer immediately upon release, and later as instructed by the parole officer, must follow all laws, and cannot carry weapons.” But, in addition to these rules, offenders who have a mental illness must attend an outpatient therapy facility that is designated through the parole outpatient program regimen; alcohol and drug abuser must not use drugs or alcohol and must be tested periodically; and sex offenders must stay away from certain individual or location as order by the Board of Prison Terms (California State Library, 2003). Therefore, with the supervision from parole officers, regular

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This started in the early 1930s, and ended around the 1960s. This is when the research really occurred because nothing seemed to be working and around 1970s, the government abolished or attempted to abolish parole. Under conditional release of parole, there are two different types, discretionary release, and mandatory release. The discretionary release is based on the paroling authority’s assessment of the offender’s eligibility. Mandatory release is an early release after a time period specified by law.

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Parole boards in the United States vary from state to state, but in most states, the parole board is selected by the governor with the legislation confirming. The board’s term is between four-six years and five - seven members with terms that allow for renewal. A main responsibility for the board is, “managing parole release processes and making decisions to terminate parole supervision”(Bohm & Haley, 2012, p. 450). The board grants on basis of two types of parole release discretionary and mandatory. The difference in the two paroles are discretionary allows the board to decide to deny or grant the parole, whereas mandatory requires the board to grant parole at a specific time.

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if an ex-offender has no job, s/he has no way to pay supervision fees, which then gets the parolee sent back to prison for parole violation. If a parolee cannot satisfy a parole officer that s/he has a stable address, the parolee can (and generally WILL) be violated and sent back to prison. A parolee can be violated for simply being in the presence of another ex-offender. This limits some families from helping one family member, because the family already let another ex-offender come home. It also limits employment prospects; parolees could technically be violated for working together or for working for an employer who also happens to be an ex-offender.

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Indeterminate sentences are imposed with the individual criminal in mind. A minimum and maximum sentence such as 3-5 years are given by a judge. After the minimum sentence is served, the length of incarceration may vary based on the prisoner’s level of cooperation with the correctional agency. Early parole may be granted for good behavior. Determinate sentences are a fixed term of incarceration.

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275 Words | 2 Pages

In order to discuss indeterminate versus determinate sentencing, we must first define them. Indeterminate sentencing is a form of “criminal punishment that encourages rehabilitation through the use of general and relatively unspecific sentences” (Schmalleger, 2015). An example of an indeterminate sentence would be a term of imprisonment of 1-10 years meaning an offender can serve no less than one year and no more than ten. The sentence is not determined. Determinate sentencing is another form of criminal punishment in which an offender is given a fixed term of imprisonment (Schmalleger, 2015).

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622 Words | 3 Pages

Sentencing Authority If I was a judge the type of sentencing authority I would most likely have would be indeterminate sentencing. Indeterminate sentencing is the burden of a sentence by detainment with no precise time frame set during the sentencing. Its length, rather, is resolved in light of the detainee's behavior.

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A few other States have abolished parole board release for certain violent or felony offenders (Alaska, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia) or for certain crimes against a person (Louisiana). California still allows discretionary release by a parole board only for offenders with indeterminate life sentences. In general, States still have the right to restrict the possibility of parole board release based on the offender’s criminal history or their circumstances of the offense that they did. While discretionary release from prison by a parole board has been eliminated by some States, post-release supervision still exists and is generally referred to as community or supervised release. Parole boards, in various forms, have the responsibility to set conditions of release for offenders under conditional or supervised release, the authority to return an offender to prison for violating the conditions of parole or supervised release, and the power to grant parole for medical reasons.

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During this period, the person must conduct himself in an acceptable manner. A probation officer is appointed, who will assist and support the person sentenced. The court may specify rules about medical care, work and housing during the probationary period. The probation may be combined with day fines, imprisonment, an obligation to undergo care according to a predetermined treatment plan and/or to perform community service. Community service is an obligation to perform certain unpaid work during a particular time.

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The modern sections required the evidence of at least two psychiatrists in all cases. One of the psychiatrists needs to be selected by the prosecution and the other selected by the offender. Under the 1977 provisions, when an individual is found by the court to be a “dangerous offender “and has been sentenced to a Federal prison for an indefinite period of time, the National Parole Board examines the ailment, history, and the situation of that person after three years of incarceration and no later than every two years after that to decide whether the inmate should be granted parole. There presently 41 dangerous offenders serving indefinite sentences of imprisonment in Federal Correctional institutions, and another 4 other offenders who have been designated as a “dangerous offender” but were given definite sentences instead of the

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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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1131 Words | 5 Pages

In determinate sentencing the judge can make adjustments to the final day of incarceration, however, the inmate can leave no sooner that the mentioned final day. During indeterminate sentencing, a final day of incarceration is not known exactly and adjustments can be made for different modes of incarceration. The judge and jury are able to change these sentences depending on the severity of the crime and the history of the inmate. I believe that this is why judicial discretion has such a great effect on these types of sentencing. The sentences can be adjusted appropriately in order to be sure that the offender does not end up being given too much or too little time for the crime that they committed.

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How Sentencing Affects the State and Federal Prison Systems The United States

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Once someone is arrested and sent to prison, most of us think they have done their punishment and learned their lesson. Unfortunately, this is not the case most of the time. Once these inmates are released most of them end up re-offending and going back to prison, this is called recidivism. It looks follows the inmates three years after they are released and sees if they get reoffend and go back to prison with a new sentence. The Bureau of Justice did a survey to see how many offenders went back to prison after they were released.

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Offenders with these disorders could be dangerous to other or even themselves. The offenders with disorders like those stated before are close to being released back into society which must be frightening if they do not take their medicines. 2 Improve conditions Mental offenders are thrown in a correctional facilities due their crimes, but these offenders should be in a prison or a correctional facility where they do not get the help they need. When in a prison some of these offender could be and will be picked on like a schoolyard which might led to a suicide attempt. A report on mental offender in california have reported that over 30,000 prisoners confined in the state prison.

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Examining Problems and Their Solutions in The Parole System The United States of America contains the third largest population in the world, which contradicts the fact that the United States has the largest prison population in the world (Aliprandini, and Finley). The fact that their prison population is so large alludes to the reason they would have a strong parole system. Due to contrary belief, this is not the case.

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