Transcript CHAPTER TWO

SENTENCING
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Government determines sanction range for each offense
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Judge or jury responsible for sentencing
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Broad range of potential criminal sentences
 Probation, fines, community service
 Incarceration
 Death Penalty
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Prosecuting and Defense Attorneys
 Initial charges define sentencing options
 Plea bargaining implies a suggested sentence
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Probation officer prepares pre-sentence investigation report
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Ultimate decision rests with the judge
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Must agree to plea bargaining
May prescribe any sentence consistent with legislative guidelines
Jury must determine sentencing in capital cases
Jury determines liability and compensation in civil cases
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Probation
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Community Service
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Fines
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Incarceration
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Period of supervision by the corrections system
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Elements of probation
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Criminal sentence
Judicial function
Conditional
Supervision by probation officers
Types of probation
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Active—offender reports to a probation officer and must abide by courtimposed conditions
Informal (summary)—probation without supervision
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Goal is to minimize negative effects while giving back to the
community
Potential services
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Cleaning parks
Removing graffiti
Washing public vehicles
Working at an animal shelter
Many others
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Primarily for traffic violations and petty misdemeanors
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Not all people have the same ability to pay
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Some courts have day fine systems, in which fine is
determined by:
 Penalty days
 Individual’s income
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Petty misdemeanors: up to 6 months in jail
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Serious misdemeanors: 6 months to 1 year in jail
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Judge may suspend jail time
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Judge may impose consecutive misdemeanor sentences
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Community-Based Sanctions
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Probation
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Economic Sanctions
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Incarceration
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Capital Punishment
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Community-Based Sanctions
 Placement in a live-in facility
 Provides treatment and structure for offenders
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Probation
 Often used for property or drug offenses
 Fewer felons have received probation in recent years
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Economic Sanctions
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Increasing reliance by the court system
Often used for crimes with a profit motive (drug trafficking, RICO)
Includes fines and property forfeiture
May be used alone or in conjunction with other punishments
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Shock Incarceration
 Short period of incarceration, followed by an extended probation period
 Designed as a specific deterrence
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May be incarcerated in a local jail
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Sentences of 1 year to life
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Average sentence is 57 months
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Violent offenders more likely to receive prison sentences
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Controversial issue
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Part of sentencing scheme since nation’s founding
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State decides whether death penalty is permissible
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Involves a bifurcated hearing process
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Juries must consider aggravating and mitigating
circumstances
Jury verdicts must be unanimous
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Prosecuting Attorneys
 Decision whether to prosecute
 Decision about what crimes to charge
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Horizontal overcharging: charging defendant with as many different offenses or counts as
possible
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Vertical overcharging: charging a defendant with a more serious crime than the evidence
supports
 Gives the prosecutor an advantage in plea bargaining
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Judges
 Choice among legislatively-defined sentences
 Decision to suspend the sentence
 Choice of concurrent or consecutive sentences
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Indeterminate Sentencing
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Determinate Sentencing
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Structured Sentencing
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Mandatory Sentencing
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Minimum and maximum periods of confinement specified
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Emphasizes individualization and rehabilitation
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Judge imposes sentence
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Actual time serve determined by parole board
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Provides a specific amount of time to be served
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Discretionary parole is abolished
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Release date is established by court sentence minus good
time credit
Movement toward determinate sentencing resulted from
political criticism
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Sentencing guidelines define sentences for each crime
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Utilizes a 2-dimensional sentencing grid
 Present offense
 Defendant’s criminal history
 Other factors (age, race, socio-economic status, drug use, employment history,
etc) are not considered
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Goals
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Allows policymakers to control sentencing policies
Can be linked to available prison space
Promotes development and expansion of community corrections alternatives
Attempts to eliminate disparities in sentencing
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All states and the federal government have some form of mandatory
sentencing
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Assures that certain offenders receive a specified prison term
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Habitual offender laws
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Constitutional challenges
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Minorities
 Debate over disproportionate sentencing for minorities
 Blacks constitute 12.8% of population and 38% of convicted felons
 Whites constitute the majority of all felon categories except weapons offenses
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Gender
 Women constitute 50.7% of the population and 18% of convicted felons
 Women most often commit property crimes, drug offenses, and “other” felonies
 Reasons for underrepresentation of women
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Women are better at the crimes they commit and escape apprehension
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Women are less likely to commit crimes
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Criminal justice system is less likely to sanction women (chivalry hypothesis)
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Movement toward determinate sentencing
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Sentencing guidelines
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Increased punitiveness
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Truth in sentencing
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Capital Punishment