1. Chapter 9 Punishment and Sentencing

2. Learning Objectives Outline the historical development of punishment
List the major goals of contemporary sentencing
Distinguish among general and specific deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution
Compare rehabilitation with just deserts
Identify various sentencing models

3. Learning objectives Explain how sentences are imposed
Summarize factors associated with sentencing decisions
List the arguments for and against capital punishment
Be familiar with the legal issues associated with capital punishment

4. The History of Punishment
The punishment and correction of criminals has changed considerably through the ages reflecting:
Custom
Economic conditions
Religious and political ideals

5. The History of Punishment
Early Greece and Rome
Banishment or exile was most common
Middle Ages
Little governmental control
Feudal period
Emphasis of criminal law was on maintaining public order
Punishments increased in severity
Torture, execution, banishment, mutilation, branding, and flogging used on a range of offenses
Retribution more important than deterrence

6. The History of Punishment
Public Work and Transportation to Colonies:
Sixteenth Century - the rise of the city and overseas colonization provided tremendous markets for manufactured goods and spurned a need for labor
Offenders were made to do hard labor for their crimes
“Poor laws” replaced torture
Workhouses were born in England
Convicts transported overseas

7. The History of Punishment
The Rise of the Prison:
Late 18th century crime rates rose significantly – a return to physical punishment and increased use of death penalty (350 crimes punishable by death)
Jails and workhouses held petty offenders
Hard core prisoners held in abandoned ships in England
Penitentiaries replaced physical punishment in England and America

8. The Goals of Modern Sentencing
Deterrence
Incapacitation
Retribution/Just Desert
Rehabilitation
Equity/Restitution

9. The Goals of Modern Sentencing
Deterrence:
General Deterrence
Punishing the offender convinces potential offenders not to commit crimes
The more certain and severe the punishment, the greater the deterrent effect
Specific Deterrence
The punishment is greater than the benefits
Deters that particular individual from committing a subsequent offense

10. The Goals of Modern Sentencing
Incapacitation:
Criminals will not be able to repeat their criminal acts while they are under state control
The evidence supporting or negating incapacitation is mixed

11. The Goals of Modern Sentencing
Retribution/Just Desert:
The essential purpose of the criminal process is to punish offenders-fairly and justly-in a manner that is proportionate to the gravity of their crimes
Sentence should be clear and certain
Rehabilitation:
Based upon the need to treat criminal offenders
Society has failed the offender – therefore the justice system is obligated to help and not simply punish
Offenders can be reformed

12. The Goals of Modern Sentencing
Equity/Restitution:
Convicted criminals should pay back:
Their victims
Justice system costs
Society for the disruption they caused
Repayment to society and the victims by the offender

13. Sentencing Models
States penalize their convicted offenders in different ways:
Indeterminate sentences
Determinate sentences
Mandatory sentences

14. Sentencing Models Indeterminate Sentences:
Most widely used sentencing model in the United States
Based on a treatment philosophy which must fit the needs of the offender
Specify minimum and maximum terms
Can earn time off for good behavior

15. Sentencing Models Determinate Sentences:
Prompted by dissatisfaction with disparity and uncertainty of indeterminate sentencing
Utilizes sentencing guidelines:
Recommended sentences are based upon the seriousness of the offense and the background of the offender
Future of guidelines in question

16. Sentencing Models Mandatory Sentences:
Limits judicial discretion and gets tough on crime
May exclude probation or parole
May use minimum or maximum terms but most require a fixed prison sentence
Have increased the prison populations significantly
Three-strikes laws - provides lengthy prison terms for three felony convictions

17. Sentencing Models Truth In Sentencing:
Require offenders to serve a substantial portion of their prison sentence behind bars
The act requires an offender serve at least 85 percent of the prison sentence in order to qualify for funding
Parole eligibility and good-time credits are restricted or eliminated

18. Imposing the Sentence Pre-Sentence Investigation Report:
Most judges consider pre-sentence investigation reports by the probation department
This report is a social and personal history, as well as an evaluation of the defendant’s chances for rehabilitation within the community

19. Imposing the Sentence Concurrent vs. Consecutive Sentences:
Concurrent sentences
Serves sentences for two or more crimes at the same time
Consecutive sentences
Sentences for two or more criminal acts are served one after the other
Effects of good time can shorten sentences

20. Consecutive vs. Concurrent Sentences

21. Imposing the Sentence The Effect of Good Time:
When judges sentence offenders, they consider the effect that the amount of time off for good behavior
Good time rates range from days per month
Some correctional authorities grant earned sentence reductions to inmates who participate in treatment programs

22. Imposing the Sentence How Are People Sentenced?:
The most recent survey found that one million adults are convicted of felonies each year
70 % of all felons convicted in state courts are sentenced to a period of confinement
40 % to state prisons
30 % to local jails
Remaining sentenced to probation with no jail or prison

23. Imposing the Sentence What Factors Affect Sentencing?:
Severity of the offense
Offender’s prior criminal record
Violence involved
Weapons involved
Financially motivated
Social class
Gender
Age
Race
Victim characteristics

24. Lengths of Felony Sentences Imposed By State Courts

25. Capital Punishment The most severe sentence in the United States
More than 14,500 confirmed executions in America since 1608
Arguments for and against the death penalty

26. Sentence by Prior Record

27. Capital Punishment Arguments for the Death Penalty: Incapacitation
Deterrence
Morally Correct
Proportional to the Crime
Reflects public opinion
Unlikely Chances of Error

28. Capital Punishment Arguments Against the Death Penalty:
Possibility of Error
Unfair use of Discretion
Misplaced Vengeance
Weak Public Support
No Hope of Rehabilitation
Race, Gender, and other Bias
Causes More Crime than it Deters
Cruel and Inhuman
Expensive
Morally Wrong

29. Capital Punishment Legal Issues in Capital Punishment:
Furman v. Georgia
The Court objected to arbitrary and capricious application
Gregg v. Georgia
Consider aggravating and mitigating circumstances
Ring v. Arizona
Jury must impose sentence
Atkins v. Virginia
May not execute mentally ill
Roper v. Simmons
Must be 18 years old to be executed

30. Executions 1930-Present

31. Death Penalty and Non-Death Penalty States with Executions since 1976