Sentencing Models and Goals

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Chapter 3 Sentencing: To Punish or to Reform?

Learning Objectives

q  Describe sentencing philosophy and identify the central purpose of criminal punishment

q  Name the seven goals of criminal sentencing

q  List and explain the sentencing options in general use today

Learning Objectives

q  Explain what a model of criminal sentencing is and identify models in use today

q  Describe three-strikes laws and their impact on the correctional system

q  Identify and explain some major issues related to fair sentencing

Sentencing

q  Imposition of a criminal sanction by a sentencing authority

q  Sentence: Penalty a court imposes on a person convicted of a rime

q  Social order: Smooth functioning of social institutions, positive relations among individual members of society, and orderly functioning of society as a whole

Goals of Sentencing

q  Revenge: Punishment as vengeance q  Emotional response to real or imagined injury or insult

q  Retribution: Retaliation against a criminal perpetrator q  Belief that victims are entitled to reprisal

q  Just deserts: Punishment deserved q  Offenders are morally blameworthy and hence deserving of punishment

Goals of Sentencing

q  Deterrence: Discouragement or prevention of crimes through the fear of punishment q  Specific deterrence: Deterrence of the individual being punished from additional crimes

q  General deterrence: Use of the example of individual punishment to dissuade others from committing crimes

Goals of Sentencing q  Pleasure-pain principle: Idea that actions are motivated primarily by a desire to experience pleasure and avoid pain

q  Incapacitation: Use of imprisonment or other means to reduce an offender’s capability to commit future offenses q  Correctional econometrics: Study of the cost- effectiveness of correctional programs and related reductions in the rate of crime

Goals of Sentencing

q  Rehabilitation: Changing of criminal lifestyles into law-abiding ones q  Involves correction of behavior through treatment, education, and training

q  Reintegration: Process of making the offender a productive member of the community

Goals of Sentencing

q  Restoration: Process of returning to their previous condition all those involved in or affected by crime q  Restorative justice: Systematic response to wrongdoing that emphasizes healing the wounds of victims, offenders, and communities caused or revealed by crime

q  Victim-impact statement: Description of the suffering that a crime has caused victims

Restorative Justice or Community Justice Programs Vic$m– offender media$on

Vic$m– offender

reconcilia$on

Vic$m-‐impact panels

Restora$ve jus$ce panels

Community repara$ve boards

Community-‐ based courts

Family group conferences

Circle sentencing

Court diversion programs

Peer media$on

Sentencing Options

q  Fines or other monetary sanctions q  Probation q  Alternative or intermediate sanctions q  Incarceration q  Death Penalty q  Restitution: Payments made to the victim by a criminal offender, as compensation for the harm caused

Types of Sentences

q  Mandatory sentences: Sentences required by law under certain circumstances

q  Presentence report (PSR): Provides a social and personal history and an evaluation of a defendant q  Helps the court in determining a sentence q  Prepared by a court’s probation department

Types of Sentences

q  Consecutive sentences: Sentences served one after the other q  Imposed when a person is convicted of multiple offenses

q  Concurrent sentences: Sentences served simultaneously

Sentencing Models

q  Model of criminal sentencing: Strategy or system for imposing criminal sanctions

q  Flat sentences: Specify an amount of time to be served in custody and do not allow variation from the time specified

Sentencing Models q  Indeterminate sentence: Judge specifies a maximum and minimum length of time, and parole board determines the actual time of release q  Good time: Amount of time prison authorities deduct from a sentence for good behavior or other reasons

q  Determinate sentence: Sentence of a fixed term of incarceration q  Can be reduced by good time

Guideline Sentencing

q  Voluntary/advisory sentencing guidelines q  Not required by law q  Based on past sentencing practices

Guideline Sentencing

q  Presumptive sentencing guidelines q  Developed by a sentencing commission

q  Sentencing commission: Create a schedule of sentences that reflect the gravity of the offenses committed and the prior record of the offender

q  Guidelines are explicit, highly structured, and are mandatory

Federal Sentencing Guidelines

q  Take into account: q  Defendant’s criminal history q  Nature of the criminal conduct q  Particular circumstances surrounding the offense

q  Federal trial judges must follow the guidelines in their sentencing decisions

Sentencing Enhancements

q  Legislatively approved provisions that mandate longer prison terms: q  For specific criminal offenses committed under certain circumstances

q  Because of the offender’s past criminal record

Federal Fair Sentencing Act q  Reduced disparity in the amounts of powder cocaine and crack cocaine stated by the federal sentencing guidelines

q  Eliminated mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine

q  First conviction for simple possession of crack cocaine is subjeimprisonmentct to a penalty of zero to one year of q  Regardless of quantity

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

q  Imposition of sentences required by statute for those: q  Convicted of a particular crime q  Convicted of a particular crime under special circumstances

q  With a particular type of criminal history

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

q  Three-strikes laws - Sentence enhancements used to: q  Deter known and potentially violent offenders

q  Incapacitate persistent criminals q  Goals of mandatory sentencing are deterrence and incapacitation

q  Has had an impact on crime and the operations of the criminal justice system

Habitual Offender Statute

q  Allows a person’s criminal history to be considered at sentencing

q  Makes it possible for a person previously convicted of another specified offense to receive a more severe penalty than that for the current offense alone

Three-Strikes Models: Differences in Washington and California Laws

Washington Law

•  All three strikes must be for

felonies specifically listed in the

legisla$on

•  No two-‐strikes provision

•  Third-‐striker gets a life term in

prison without the possibility of

parole

California Law

•  Only the first two convic$ons

need to be from the state’s list of

strikeable crimes

•  Contains a two-‐strikes provision

•  Third-‐striker has at least the

possibility of being released aKer

25 years

Impact of Three-Strikes Laws on Local Courts and Jails

q  High populations in jails due to: q  Defendants facing enhanced penalties demanding jury trials

q  Added time to process cases through trials q  Courts’ reluctance to grant pretrial release to defendants facing long prison terms

q  In recent times, counties have been effectively disposing of two- and three- strikes cases early in the process

Impact of Three-Strikes Laws on Local Courts and Jails

q  Increase costs q  Funnel increasingly older persons into correctional institutions

q  Solution - Realignment q  Reduces state expenditures on correctional clients

The Current Applicability of Three-Strikes Laws and Habitual Offender Statutes

q  Budgetary shortfalls in the correctional systems have led some states to: q  Use habitual offender statutes less frequently q  Release repeat offenders early q  Release nonviolent and relatively minor drug offenders

Fair Sentencing

Sentencing prac$ces that incorporate fairness for both vic$ms and offenders

Issues in Sentencing

•  Severity of punishment should match the seriousness of the crime Propor$onality

•  Similar crimes and offenders should be treated alike Equity

•  Severity of punishment should take into account the offender’s prior criminal behavior

Social debt

•  Requires offenders to serve a substan$al por$on of their sentence •  Reduces the discrepancy between sentence imposed and actual $me spent in prison

Truth in sentencing

Broader Issues

q  Guideline-based determinate sentencing and restorative justice are inherently at odds with one another

q  Solution q  Seeking greater community involvement in the development of sentencing guidelines

q  Creation of a hybrid system of restorative sentencing guidelines