Sentencing
Determinate Sentencing, Impacts, and ecent Trends

Determinate Sentencing

Impact on Probationary Terms

easons for choosing mandatory minimum jail and prison sentences

ole of Mandatory Sentences in educing ecidivism

The legal system is reliant on two different approaches for sentencing the offenders. The determinate and indeterminate sentencing is discussed in detail. The recent trend towards determinate sentencing and their impacts are also elaborated. The reasons for choosing determinate sentencing and its role in reducing recidivism are also discussed in the following sections. The political influence on these changes has also brought it in public domain and several opinions in favor and against prevail in the ordinary public as well as the legal practitioners.

Determinate Sentencing:

The term of imprisonment is applicable for the convicted criminals in consideration with the legal requirements. The judges are entitled to impose a term for imprisonment applicable according to the legal findings and committed crime under the law. The number of years imposed…...

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References:

Alarid, L.F., & Del Carmen, R.V. (2012). Community-based corrections. USA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Bowman, A.O.M., & Kearney, R.C. (2010). State and local government. USA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Neubauer, D.W., & Fradella, H.F. (2010). America's courts and the criminal justice system. (10th ed.). USA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Sentencing Process
Define sentencing process Pennsyliva New Jersey

The oxford advanced learners' dictionary describes sentencing as, to state that somebody is to have a certain punishment. This essay will start by first giving a broad definition of the sentencing process in the context of two states that include New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Secondly the essay will give a summary of the evolution of the sentencing process and then it will spell out if indeed the reforms have helped reduced recidivism or not. Fourthly before concluding the study will draw out a comparison of the federal and state sentencing process also in the context of the two states and it will seek to affirm which one of the two is better than the other.

The Sentencing Process of Pennsylvania and New Jersey

In both states the sentencing process usually commences when a suspect is apprehended or arrested and it is bound to end at any…...

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Work Cited

Berman A. Douglas (2005) Supreme Court Review; Foreword: Beyond Blakely and Booker: Pondering Modern Sentencing Process

Andrews, D., Zinger, I., Hoge, R., Bonta, J., Gendreau, P., and Cullen, F. (1990), Does Correctional Treatment Work? A clinically relevant and psychologically informed meta-analysis, Criminology,

Andrews, D., & Bonta, J. (1994), the Psychology of Criminal Conduct, Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.

" (Mustard, 2001)
I. Drug Sentencing Policy and the New Washington Administration

It is stated in the work entitled: "Aspirations and Realism about Drug Sentencing Reform" that disparities in sentencing "continue to plague [the] Criminal Justice System. African-Americans and Hispanics are more than twice as likely as whites to be searched, arrested, or subdued with force when stopped by police. Disparities in drug sentencing laws, like the differential treatment of crack as opposed to powder cocaine, are unfair...." (Sentencing Law and Policy, 2008)

The plan of the new President and his Washington Administration is stated to focus on the reduction of crime recidivism through the provision of support to the ex-offender including "...job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling so that these individuals are successfully reintegrated into society." (Sentencing Law and Policy, 2008) There will also be a "prison-to-work incentive program to improve ex-offender employment and job retention rates." (Sentencing Law and…...

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Bibliography

Mustard, David B. (2001) Racial, Ethnic and Gender Disparities in Sentencing: Evidence from the U.S. Federal Courts. Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 44, No. 1, 2001.

Aspirations and Realism about Drug Sentencing Reform (2008) Sentencing Law and Policy. 7 Nov 2008. Online available at  http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2008/11/aspirations-and-realism-about-drug-sentencing-reform.html 

Legislative Proposals for Reform of the Crack/Cocaine Disparity (2007) Drug Policy Alliance 6 Aug 2007. Online available at  http://www.drugpolicy.org/library/factsheets/raceandthedr/crack_cocaine.cfm

Sentencing Foreign Prisoners
The lure of the United States is such that various types of peoples are attracted to its shores. Among those who come to the country to seek their fortune are many who engage in illegal activities. The result of that behavior is the loss of freedom through incarceration. Prior to incarceration there are multiple considerations that must be examined that will determine the duration of the sentence for persons who have been found guilty. The extent of the overcrowding within the prison system is such that attempts are made to limit the duration of the stay of prisoners. Foreign prisoners present a unique challenge for the sentencing process as international and humanitarian factors may be subsumed into the decision making process.

The considerations for sentencing while engaging multiple statutes it can be divided into two major concerns. These concerns are the duration of the sentence. The length of time…...

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References

Bassiouni, C. (2008). International Criminal Law: Multilateral and bilateral enforcement mechanisms. Leiden, Netherlands: Nijhoff Publishers.

Douglas, G. (1985). Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984. The Modern Law Review, 48(2):182-

Guidelines for the Evaluation of Transfer Applications of Federal Prisoners. (2010). Retrieved

from http://www.justice.gov/criminal/oeo/iptu/guidelines.html

Sentencing
Mandatory minimum sentences

A mandatory sentence is a decision setting made by the court where judicial discretion is controlled by law. Persons guilty of some crimes should be punished with at least minimum number of years in prison. Mandatory sentencing is believed to reduce crime rate and is fair to all criminals hence ensuring uniformity in sentencing. This sentencing has been effective since potential criminals and repeat offenders try to avoid crime since they can be sure of their sentence if found guilty of breaking the law.

Sentencing guidelines

Sentencing guidelines are instructions that form a uniform sentencing policy for persons and organizations convicted of serious crimes and felonies. The main objective of sentencing guidelines is to reduce sentencing disparities that have been indicated to be prevalent in the existing sentencing system. The effect of the guidelines is that it enables determined sentencing limits during the time when the sentencing is determined Habitual…...

Sentencing in Criminal Justice Systems
Sentencing Philosophies:

The United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) has several purposes, among them to: a) "establish sentencing priorities and practices for the federal courts"; b) help the executive branch and Congress as they develop crime policies; and c) to serve as a source of reliable data for the counts, Congress, the public, the scholarly community (www.ussc.gov). The USSC guidelines (philosophy) seek to establishing sentencing strategies that "incorporate the purposes of sentencing" through "just punishment, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation." The USSC guidelines also are aimed at providing "certainty and fairness" within the parameters of "judicial flexibility" (www.ussc.gov).

The philosophy of sentencing -- based on the USSC guidelines -- is based on taking into account "…both the seriousness of the criminal conduct and the defendant's criminal record," according to the USSC. After looking closely at the severity of the offense, the USSC guidelines "assign most federal crimes to one of…...

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Works Cited

DeathPenalty.com (2010). Does the death penalty deter crime? Retrieved Jan. 8, 2011, from   (Muhlhausen, ACLU, Berk, Van Den Haag).http://deathpenalty.procon.org .

FindLaw. (2009). Factors Considered in Determining Sentences. Retrieved Jan. 8, 2011, from  http://criminal.findlaw.com .

United States Sentencing Commission. (2010). How Sentencing Guidelines Work. Retrieved Jan. 8, 2011, from  http://www.ussc.gov .

Question B: How would you incorporate the sentencing goals of retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation and restitution in your sentence of this individual for this particular crime?

Identity theft may often be a 'white collar' crime, but it is not a victimless crime. Jail time for a wide-spread scheme may be appropriate for this reason. Even if the victims whose identities were stolen did not suffer financial losses, the businesses such as the credit card companies who were defrauded may have experienced financial harms, and a loss of time as well as money. If possible, financial restitution might be appropriate especially if the crime was perpetuated by a syndicate of criminals or by an institution with substantial financial resources. The newly evolving nature of the crime may require that the guilty defendants be made 'examples' for the community.

As part of the sentencing, and perhaps for a reduction in jail time, the criminals…...

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Works Cited

Amendment of Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act." (1998). As amended by Public Law 105-318, 112 Stat. 3007 on Oct. 30, 1998. Retrieved 4 Mar 2007  http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/itada/itadact.htm#004 

Identity Theft Resource Center. (2007). Nonprofit Website. Retrieved 4 Mar 2007 at  http://www.idtheftcenter.org/curlaws.shtml

When a lawyer who has never been disciplined represents a juvenile, chances of accepting a plea are high. This is because the lawyer is likely to negotiate for a lesser sentence (Grigorenko, 2012).
The current juvenile court system allows youth offenders to be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. This is like declaring these youths as people who are irredeemable. Evidently, youths have the capability to change. Moreover, a system that allows them to change must be set up by considering their age. Children cannot be compared to adults, thus must be treated in a context that holds young people accountable. In the article, experts are urging lawmakers to review the life without parole sentence given to juveniles such that it should allow public hearings after every four years. In addition, they support parole procedures to be reviewed for youth offenders serving life imprisonment (Sarat, 2009).

It is extremely unusual and…...

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References

Grigorenko, E. (2012). Handbook of Juvenile Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry. California:

Springer

Researcher CQ (2011). Childhood and Adolescence in Society: Selections from CQ Researcher.

New York: SAGE

Sentencing Philosophies/Theories/Practices
Punishment is based on four main theories, namely: retributive theory, deterrent theory, reformative and preventive theory. etributive theory is the first and most important of all the theories. When a person falls down, he/she inadvertently kicks the floor. It is generally believed to be a kind of revenge and would usually not serve any punitive purpose. The deterrent theory punishes the offenders and deters the wrongdoing most importantly; it also deters the public in general by punishing the offender and prevents them from committing a crime, which is regarded as an offence. Preventive theory prevents the offender from committing the same crime, while reformative theory on its part does the job of rehabilitating the offender. To modern penologists, purposeless punishment is useless. They hold the belief that every criminal is a mere patient and should be treated like a human being. These four theories have their advantages and disadvantages…...

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References

Akers, R. L. (2000). Criminological theories. Los Angeles: Roxbury.

Ashworth, A. (2003). Principles of Criminal Law (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fogel, D. & Hudson, J. (1981). Justice as Fairness. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.

Jacobs, B. (2010). Deterrence and Deterrability. Criminology, 48(2): 417-441.

Of course, one way that offenders can be deterred from offending is by incapacitating them. Sometimes the goal of sentencing is just to be able to keep that particular offender from engaging in further criminal behavior. Theoretically, putting an offender in jail automatically fulfills this goal of sentencing. However, the reality is that, even in prison, people can engage in criminal behavior. In fact, crime is rampant behind bars. For example, incarcerated males are much more likely to be raped or murdered than general population members, and these crimes are often ignored by prison officials. It is only if one looks at retribution as the primary goal of sentencing that one can really think of imprisonment as incapacitation, because, from that perspective, crimes against other criminals do not carry the same weight as crimes against non-criminals. The reality is that any criminal has the opportunity to offend against people in…...

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References

Chen, M.K., and Shapiro, J.M. (2007). Do harsher prison conditions reduce recidivism? a

discontinuity-based approach. American Law and Economics Review 9 (1), 1-29.

Farrington, D. (2007). Advancing knowledge about desistance. Journal of Contemporary

Criminal Justice 23(1), 125-134.

Interestingly, females tend to receive lesser sentences than males, although that disparity disappears in crimes that are more serious. These characteristics show themselves in state courts, too, which indicates that disparity and discrimination still exist despite the sentence reforms that were supposed to do away with them.
It seems that sentences are actually harsher now than when sentencing reforms were first created, and that people expect harsher penalties for those convicted of crimes. In addition, although a few studies contradict this, there is still quite a bit of discrimination and disparity in the American judicial system on all levels. In addition, the CJ system seems to be less interested in reform and more interested in punishment today, and that may reflect the public's attitudes about criminal justice and the prison system.

Ultimately, the creators hoped that sentence reforms would create less disparity in sentencing, treat all offenders equally, and help reduce…...

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References

Sponn, Cassia. How Judges Decide? Second Edition 299-315.

Sentencing Juveniles
Juvenile Delinquent Sentencing

Two factors that should be considered when sentencing a juvenile offender

According to Sandborn (2009), there is substantively little difference between the perceptions of a juvenile of the nature of court proceedings with those of an adult: both can understand that the concepts of a jury, defense attorney, and judge. Supposedly, teens are capable of doing so as young as thirteen (Sandborn 2009: 153). However, merely understanding the vocabulary of the justice system does not seem analogous to being able to fully understand the proceedings or assist with a defense strategy in an active fashion. Moreover, Sandborn's position ignores mounting evidence that juveniles are unable to fully appreciate the consequences of their actions like adults because of their biological state of development and frequently engage in behavior that they would not continue in doing, had they matured.

When considering a juvenile offender's sentence two critical components must be kept…...

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References

Ark. inmate whose case helped prompt U.S. high court juvenile sentencing ruling gets new hearing. (2013). Washington Post. Retrieved:

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-04-25/national/38804864_1_capital-murder-arkansas-supreme-court-kuntrell-jackson

Peterson, Scott. (2009). Made in America. Reclaiming children and youth, 48-53

Sandborn, Joseph. (2009). Juvenile's competency to stand trial. The Journal of Criminal Law

Sexual Assualt
Sentencing for Sexual Contact with a Minor

Charges of sexual misconduct with a minor are very serious. These charges, if proven true, are likely to carry a sentence that will include some jail time. In the case of 34-year-old Doug Kant, this should be the anticipated outcome. Though Kant's criminal record is clean with respect to child sexual abuse or other sexual misconduct, the act of fondling an underage individual will bring a conviction and the certainty of a period of incarceration.

For Kant, there are several mitigating factors that will impact the severity of his sentence. One that cannot be fully determined using the case data provided is the impact levied by his state of residency. Every state has its own set of parameters when shaping sentencing decisions. The state-based code of sentencing will help to determine the length of time that Kant would ultimately be relegated to imprisonment for…...

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Works Cited:

Bailey, M. (2010). Sentencing Issues -- Sexual Conduct vs. Child Molestation. Baileylawplc.com.

FindLaw. (2012). Child Abuse Penalties and Sentencing. Thomson Reuters.

Nicholson, J. (2010). Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Child Molestation. eHow.

United States Sentencing Commission. (1996). Sex Offenses Against Children: Finding and Recommendations Regarding Federal Penalties. Report To Congress.

Mandatory Sentencing
Public policy, crime, and criminal justice

Mandatory Sentencing: Case Study Critique

The prime grounds of mandatory sentencing laws are utilitarian. The laws come with long prison sentences for recidivists, drug dealers and isolation of violent criminals from the community aiming at preventing them from committing additional crimes outside the prison walls. In addition, the design of mandatory sentencing aim at deterring and portraying a harsh reflection to potential offenders of the harsh consequences that awaits them in case they commit a crime. The lawmakers have made imprisonment both surer and more severe in order to respond to constituent issues concerning crime and safety, and to achieve the wide intention of general criminal deterrence.

The forbidding of courts from suspending trials or placing offenders on probation makes imprisonment more probable. Into the bargain, the increase in statutory devices raises the severity of sentences. Some statutes, for instance, require the sentenced offender to serve…...

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References

Akuno, K., Eisen, A. (2013). Operation Ghetto Storm. Malcolm X Grassroots

Movement. Atlanta. Digital Report. Retrieved from  http://mxgm.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Operation-Ghetto-Storm.pdf 

Alexander, M. (2010). The New Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: New Press.

Anderson, J. (2006). Guideline judgments and standard minimum sentencing: an uneasy alliance in the way of the future. Criminal Law Journal, 30, (4), 203 -- 23.

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws:
Mandatory minimum sentences, which were rare in the criminal law or justice system, have experienced a remarkable increase in popularity. As a political phenomenon, the policy has enjoyed broader bi-partisan support since mid-1980s as the U.S. Congress has continued to enact new measures for containing mandatory minimum sentences. The major goal of the Mandatory Minimum Sentence Laws is basically to prevent the judicial trivialization of serious drug offenses. While the policy has continued to attract significant protests and criticisms, they have been relatively effective in accomplishing their main objective. The harsh sentencing laws with relation to drug offenses were adopted throughout the country following the stepped-up pace of arrests during the enactment period. Despite of the political popularity of these laws, many commentators have become increasingly concerned with the social and economic impacts originating from the propagation of these statutes. Actually, some legal scholars have considered the…...

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References:

Blakemore, E. (2010). Mandatory Minimum Sentencing and Black Males. Retrieved September

10, 2012, from  http://racism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=911:s98blake-1&catid=138&Itemid=155 

Greenblatt, N. (2008). How Mandatory Are Mandatory Minimums? How Judges Can Avoid

Imposing Mandatory Minimum Sentences. American Journal of Criminal Law, 36(1), 1-38.

Police Brutality Essay Titles:

1. Media’s Spin on Police Brutality vs. Actual Nationwide Statistics
2. How to Interpret Police Brutality through Various Sociological Lenses
3. Police Brutality and Critical Race Theory:  Implications for Policing
4. Is Police Brutality as Bad as They Say It Is?
5. From Rodney King to George Floyd:  The Evolution of Depictions and Responses to Police Brutality in America
6. How the Militarized Police State Has Institutionalized Police Brutality
7. Police Brutality as a Symptom of the (In)Justice System
8. Community Policing as a Solution to Police Brutality
9. Can Alternative Sentencing and Restorative Justice Reduce Police Brutality Rates?
10. Police Brutality is Accepted When Police are Mobilized in Force

Title: The Evolution of Correctional Institutions: A Historical Perspective

Introduction:

Provide a brief overview of the history of corrections, highlighting significant eras and developments.
Discuss the changing philosophies and practices of punishment and rehabilitation.
Introduce the concept of the historical perspective and its relevance to understanding contemporary corrections.

Body:

1. The Early Days: Retribution and Punishment:

Explore the historical roots of retribution and punishment as dominant themes in corrections.
Examine the use of corporal punishment, solitary confinement, and other harsh methods.
Discuss the impact of these practices on inmates and the overall effectiveness of corrections.

2. The Rise of Rehabilitation and Reform:

Trace the....

1. The impact of economic policy on income inequality
2. The effectiveness of gun control policies in reducing violence
3. The role of government in regulating technology and privacy
4. The implications of education policy on student success and equity
5. The benefits and drawbacks of implementing a universal basic income policy
6. The impact of climate change policies on the economy and environment
7. The role of immigration policies in shaping cultural diversity and economic growth
8. The importance of healthcare policy in addressing healthcare access and affordability
9. The debates surrounding criminal justice reform and policies on sentencing and rehabilitation
10. The challenges and opportunities of implementing....

1. The prevalence of gender stereotypes in society
2. How stereotypes impact minority groups
3. The influence of media in perpetuating stereotypes
4. The psychological effects of stereotypes on individuals
5. Stereotypes in the workplace and their impact on career advancement
6. How stereotypes can lead to discrimination and prejudice
7. The role of education in challenging and changing stereotypes
8. Stereotypes in the entertainment industry and their impact on representation
9. The intersectionality of stereotypes and how they intersect with race, gender, sexuality, and other identities
10. Ways to combat and challenge stereotypes in daily life and society.
11. The impact of stereotypes on mental health and well-being
12. Stereotypes....