Punishment and Sentencing Chapter 11 Punishment and Sentencing

The Goals of Punishment General Deterrence People should be punished to set an example for others The need to deter crime must be balanced against the need to dispense fair justice Some justice experts believe that the recent decline in the crime rate is a result of increasing criminal penalties Some inefficiency limits the deterrence effect of punishment

Goals of Punishment, continued Incapacitation This is the policy of keeping dangerous criminals in confinement to eliminate the risk of repeating the crime Incarceration trends may influence crime rates However, crime rates may be more closely related to other factors such as population makeup, police effectiveness, drug use, and the economy The prison experience may actually increase the likelihood of reoffending Using incapacitation to reduce crime rates always brings diminishing returns

Goals, continued Specific Deterrence The pains of punishment should be greater than the benefits of the crime A punishment designed to deter the specific criminal from committing another crime Research has failed to find specific deterrence effects of incarceration In some instances, severe punishments may increase reoffending rates, as punishment may bring defiance rather than deterrence

Goals, continued Retribution/Just Desert The view that those who violate the rights of others deserve punishment commensurate with the seriousness of the crime Punishment must be equally and fairly distributed to all people who commit similar illegal acts Consensus is not reached however on the treatment of criminals, seriousness of crimes, and the proper response to criminal acts

Goals, continued Rehabilitation Involves programs that treat, rather than simply incarcerate the offender and improve their likelihood for success upon community re-entry The belief surmises that if proper treatment is applied, an offender will present no further threat to society

Goals, continued Diversion A process aimed at sparing non-dangerous offenders from the stigma and labeling of a criminal conviction and further involvement with the justice process The judge may allow a diversion into a community correction program for treatment

Goals, continued Equity/Restitution The offender must pay back their victims for their loss, the justice system for the costs of processing their case, and society for any disruption they may have caused Convicted offenders might be required to pay a fine, forfeit property illegally gained, do community service work, or reimburse the state for the cost of the criminal process

Goals, continued Restoration Might require that the convicted person recognize that he or she caused injury to personal and social relations A healing process versus retribution and revenge Offenders often are required to accept responsibility and provide a statement of remorse The goal is to restore the offender to good standing in society

Concurrent vs. Consecutive Sentences In a concurrent sentence, prison sentences for two or more criminal acts are served simultaneously and run together In a consecutive sentence, prison sentences for two or more criminal act are served one after the other

Effect of Good Time Inmates can accrue standard good time at a rate ranging from 10 to 15 days per month Federal inmates can get as many as 54 days taken off the end of their sentence each year Some correctional authorities in addition grant earned sentence reduction to inmates who participate in treatment programs or who volunteer for experimental medical testing programs In some jurisdictions, more than half of a determinate sentence can be erased by accumulating both standard and earned good time Earned good time is by taking educational or vocational courses Standard good time is not causing any trouble

Indeterminate Sentences A term of incarceration with a stated minimum and maximum length, and the prisoner is eligible for parole after serving the minimum This is the most widely used type of sentence and the purpose is to individualize each sentence to the offender Most jurisdictions that use indeterminate sentences employ statutes that specify minimum and maximum terms but allow judicial discretion to fix the actual sentence within those limits

Determinate Sentences A determinate sentence is a fixed term of years of incarceration, the maximum set in law by the legislature California has used determinate sentencing since 1977, when they changed from indeterminate sentencing that they used since 1917 Sentencing Guidelines A set of standards that define parameters for trial judges to follow in their sentencing decisions Implemented by determinate sentencing states and the federal government Guidelines were created by appointed sentencing commissions whose members attempted to formulate what an “ideal” sentence would be for a particular crime and offender There is a great deal of variation with the guidelines

Mandatory Sentences A statutory requirement that a certain penalty be set and carried out in all cases on conviction for a specified offense, and which serves to limit the judge’s discretionary power and restrict sentencing disparity The Supreme Court has sanctioned certain mandatory sentences, holding that they do not violate the Eighth Amendment’s cruel and unusual punishment prohibition

Mandatory Sentences, cont. Three-Strikes Laws Provide a lengthy prison term for any individual convicted of three felony offenses, even if the third is trivial, and which seeks to control habitual criminals The laws are applied differently in different state jurisdictions Welcome by conservatives seeking a remedy for violent crimes Controversial because a person convicted of a minor felony can receive a life sentence It is unlikely that a three-strikes policy can have a measurable effect on the crime rate as current sentences for chronic violent offenders are already severe This policy causes a drain in economic resources that could have been applied to education and social welfare Legal Controls Three-strikes laws have been upheld on challenge to the Supreme Court

Truth in Sentencing Requires an inmate to serve a minimum prison term of 85 percent of the sentence imposed by the court Parole or good-time credits are restricted or eliminated in these cases Today, more than half the states meet the Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants Program eligibility criteria and another 13 states have adopted some form of truth-in-sentencing program

Legal Factors Affecting Sentencing Severity of the offense Offender’s prior criminal record If violence was used If weapons were used If the crime was committed for money

Extralegal Factors Affecting Sentencing Social Class Members of the lower class more frequently receive longer prison sentences than wealthy defendants Not all research efforts have found a consistent relationship between social class and sentence length Age Judges tend to be more lenient with elderly defendants and more punitive toward younger defendants The association is not linear

Extralegal Factors, continued Gender Most research demonstrates that women receive more favorable outcomes the further they go in the criminal justice system The chivalry hypothesis promotes that the low rates of sentencing among females reflect the leniency with which female offenders are treated by men in the system who have paternalistic instincts Favoritism with females crosses racial and ethnic lines Mandatory and structured sentences have resulted in harsher sentences for women

Extralegal Factors, continued Victim Characteristics A victim impact statement is considered by the court when the offender is sentenced Sentences may be reduced when victims have “negative” personal characteristics Sentences may be tailored to the needs of the offenders, such as mental illness or psychological deficits Ethnic Group Minority defendants are punished more severely for some crimes and more leniently for other crimes