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Purposes Of Sentencing

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Within the criminal justice system, sentencing is a key aspect as it protects the public whilst delivering justice for the victims and defendants (Davies, Croall & Tyrer, 2015). In England and Wales, the purposes of sentencing are; to punish the offender; reduce crime through deterrence; rehabilitate offenders; protect the public and making reparation to the victims of crimes (Bettinson & Dingwall, 2012). When passing a sentence, judges are required to take into account offence seriousness, aggravating factors such as vulnerability of victim and mitigating factors such as whether the defendant showed remorse (Dhami & Belton, 2015). Aggravating factors can increase the severity of the sentence, whilst mitigating factors can decrease the severity …show more content…

For offences committed in England and Wales, definitive sentencing guidelines have been put in place for the most frequent offences (Roberts, 2012). The key purposes of the sentencing guidelines are to promote consistency in sentencing (Roberts, 2011) and to try and improve the public’s confidence in sentencing (Padfield, 2013). These guidelines outline and guide sentencing practices for various offences, such as assault (Sentencing Council, 2011). Sentencing judges tend to have some discretion as to what sentence to give a defendant because of the sentence ranges provided for specific offences outlined in sentencing guidelines (Merrall, Dhami & Bird, 2010). Additionally, the Sentencing Council has created specific guidelines for issues such as a reduction in sentences for a guilty plea. This guideline outlines how sentencing judges should determine the appropriate reduction for a guilty plea according to the stage the defendant pleaded guilty (Sentencing Council, …show more content…

The CCSS included sentenced cases in England and Wales Crown Court (Pina-Sanchez & Linacre, 2013). Thus, from the information provided in the CCSS, sentencing decisions can be analysed to see what influences judges take into consideration when sentencing. Over the years sentencing guidelines have been used to promote consistency in sentencing, consistency in sentencing is a key aspect of a fair justice system (Pina-Sanchez & Linacre, 2013). However, the consistency of sentencing has been questioned in recent years, an example of this was the London riots in 2011. As a result of the riots, there was an average of 13.4 months increase in the custodial length of defendants sentenced for offences relating to the riots court compared to similar offences in 2010 (Ministry of Justice, 2012b). Therefore, as sentences were increased immensely because of the riots and without warning, this weakens the idea of legal certainty (Pina-Sánchez, Lightowlers & Roberts, 2016). Such increases in sentencing undermine the view of the justice system being fair. Although it may be that such sentencing practice is needed as a deterrence in large-scale public disorder like the London

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“The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984” The article, “The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984” (2015), written by Eric Girault, persuades the audience that the enactment of the law did not reduce crime in societies, but was misappropriated, which caused a negative impact on families and their communities. Girault describes this by sharing his personal anecdote on receiving a harsh prison sentence for a non-violent crime as a first time offender. He uses trustworthy resources in order to substantiate his claim. Girault’s intended audience for this piece of writing is the general public, specifically those that lack knowledge of the law and its due process.

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Sentencing Sentencing occurs after a defendant has been convicted of a crime. During the sentencing process, the court issues a punishment that involves a fine, imprisonment, capital punishment, or some other penalty. In some states, juries may be entitled to determine a sentence. However, sentencing in most states and federal courts are issued by a judge. To fully understand the sentencing phase of criminal court proceedings, it is important to examine how sentencing affects the state and federal prison systems, learn the meanings of determinate and indeterminate sentencing, and understand the impact Proposition 57 has had on sentencing in California.

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