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Social Status Indeterminate Sentencing

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"Results indicate that, while structural-level variables played a large part in explaining the development of the guidelines, a more accurate and complete understanding of this process is possible by including an analysis of the individual-level characteristics of Commissioners, including their professional backgrounds, ideological perspectives, styles of leadership, and future goals" (Rodriguez, 2018, pp. 1-17). In my opinion, social status affects sentencing because these people are respected members of society. Quite a few times I have seen these people receive small sentences based on who they are and because they have money. Some are not even in jail for more than a few hours and then they are placed on paper for things such as probation. …show more content…

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. I find this to be interesting because I was under the impression that a sentence was a sentence and that it did not change. I have never had to be seen in court, however, I have overheard the inmates talk about their sentences that they were given on court day. Some seem shocked that they received the time limits that they did. Some inmates will even ask me if the sentence they were given sounds …show more content…

So it is interesting to see how much time the judge and jury thought that the particular crime was deserving of."An alternative explanation is statistical discrimination, which implies that judges rely on race to predict a felon’s latent criminality in the absence of perfect information"(Park, 2017, pp. 810-823). Sentencing does create many issues, not only on families and jails, but on the inmates mental state as well. Long sentences can tear apart families and force children to grow up in a broken home for the duration of the sentence. Children then grow up missing out on special family moments that they need to grow and develop. Wives go years without husbands and husbands go years without wives which can lead to unfaithfulness, loneliness, and depression. Long sentences also take their tolls on jails and prisons. Keeping an inmate longer than a few months can be very taxing on the resources of the jail and prison. Resources in these places are limited and not kept in high supply. This means that some places frequently run out of needed materials. Long sentences also lead to overcrowding inside jails and

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A recent study of sentencing decisions in Pennsylvania (Steffensmeier et al., 1998) identified significant interrelationships among race, gender, age, and sentence severity. The authors of this study found that each of the three offender characteristics had significant direct effects on sentence outcomes and that the characteristics interacted to produce substantially harsher sentences for one category of offenders—young black males. This study responds to Steffensmeier et al. 's (1998:789) call for “further research analyzing how race effects may be mediated by other factors. ” We replicate their research approach, examining the intersections of the effects of race, gender, and age on sentence outcomes.

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Prosecution & Sentencing Issues Wrongful Convictions Mateusz Konieczkowski CRM 420-01 Professor Rivolta 5 May 2015 Central Connecticut State University #1 There has been many times where the tough-on-crime approach has characterized our Criminal Justice System since the early 1980’s. One of these policies is the Sentencing guideline. Many times, when judges following the sentencing polices, they are too soft on the criminals. Some criminals get away with the crime that they have done. Even in the book illustrates how “a second problem was the recognition of racial disparities” (Mays & Ruddel, 2015).

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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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In discusiion of chapter 19, I learned that there is a high rate of incarcerated offenders in the justice system. Some offenders are released early and placed on parole. The caseloads of officers are overloaded. The average parolee have fines that they can not pay due to poor resources in the community. Many are released early because the prisons are overcrowded and punishments are used to deter crime.

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Parole boards may use some characteristics to determine whether or not to release an inmate on parole. One of those characteristics that the board uses to make their decision is the race of the convict “Black inmates serve longer sentences, are less likely to receive parole, and often have additional criteria to satisfy” (Morgan, 2008). There is usually a juxtaposition between the P.O and the parolee/probationer and it can be linked through cultural differences, and like all humans, they are susceptible to

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Some of the reasons that policymakers and voters are favoring intermediate sanctions for nonviolent, low-risk offenders are because it releases the heavy economic burden on taxpayers (Schmalleger & Smykla 2015). Building more and more prisons to house inmates cost money, and that money comes from taxpayers. When more and more offenders are sentenced to prison, the prisons become overcrowded very fast. When overcrowding occurs, disorder is not far behind it. Having to hire more staff and train them correctly also cost the taxpayers money.

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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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However, the system is not perfect, sometimes we lock up the wrong person or we sentence individuals to harshly. For example, sentence disparity exists in the United States. Sentence disparity is when an individual sentence is unfair and unequal to their crime. A Judges perception of the laws, for instance proves one reason why sentence disparity exists. For example, one judge may view substance abuse as a regular and give them two years’ probation, but another judge could view substance abuse as a habit that does not go away, so he gives a more extreme sentence of two years in prison.

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Poor living conditions in prisons emerged because judges were inclined to send more people to prison than the space that was provided. Therefore, prisons became over crowed and hard to handle. Living spaces in prisons got smaller and more prisoners has to share their place with someone else. Security at the prisons also fell downhill, as male guards saw the women and young children as prey for rape. Most prisoners were either brutally assaulted and/or rape while in

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If found guilty the sentencing phase is addressed. One of the main functions of criminal sanctions is to offer offenders rehabilitation, retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation, there have been discussions that regard the possibility of differential treatment of groups and the overrepresentation of males and Blacks within the criminal justice system (McNamara, & Burns, 2009). It has been suggested in early research that sentencing and the severity of sentencing for minorities showed signs of discrimination, with more recent research the findings are conflicting. Socioeconomics status influences incarceration for those of the minority

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Gregory, I too chose indeterminate sentencing as the best method of sentencing. I believe that when it comes to sentencing a person, rehabilitation should be a key factor for the individuals overall being. If there are no programs in place and we just allow people to be released without any form of treatment, then they will just repeat the behavior they have become accustomed to. I also agree as to when you stated the negative effects such as a drunk driver being released sooner after killing somebody due to the treatment they received. What I disagree with though is when you mentioned it becomes expensive for the state.

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

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A study conducted by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services undertaking claims of sentencing disparities studies the felony sentencing outcomes particularly in New York courts between the years 1990 and 1992. Astonishingly, the study concluded that approximately one-third of minorities sentenced to prison would have received a shorter sentence with the possibility of a non-incarcerative penalty if they had been treated similarly to their white counterparts. Consequently, other sentencing data is consistent with the results of this study’s findings. On a national scale, black males specifically, who were convicted of drug felonies in state courts 52 percent of the time, while white males typically receive prison sentencing approximately 34 percent of the time. In addition, these figures are not constrained to gender given the similar ratio among black and white women as well.

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Women convicted of “other property offenses” – a category of crimes that includes arson, receiving stolen property and breaking and entering — received shorter prison sentences. • Black female defendants were, in some ways, treated differently than white female defendants. Black women were assigned higher bond amounts and were more likely to be sent to prison than white women. Women of both races were equally likely to be released prior to

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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.

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