Criminal Sentencing Essay

A basic question in criminal sentencing is What atomic number 18 the purposes of criminal sentencing? Scholars, too, reflect on the purposes of penalisation. There are commonly four identified purposesRetribution. The oldest but considered the most(prenominal) important purpose for sentencing is revenge, that is, inflicting on an wrongdoer suffering comparable to that caused by the law-breaking. An act of favorable vengeance, retribution is grounded in a view of society as a system of moral balance. When criminality upsets this balance, penalization exacted in comparable measure restores the moral order, as suggested in the biblical dictum An eye for an eye. plot of ground contemporary critics of retribution somewhattimes charge that this policy lacks the force to reform the offender, it still remains a strong justification for punishment.A second purpose for sentencing, deterrence amounts to the attempt to discourage criminality by punishment. Initially, deterrence arose as the banner of reformers seeking to end what they saw as excessive punishments based on retribution. Critics asked, Why put some unrivaled to death for stealing if that crime could be discouraged with a prison house house sentence? As the concept of deterrence in sentencing gained widespread acceptance, execution and physical mutilation of criminals were gradually replaced by milder forms of punishment such as imprisonment. There are two types of deterrence, specific deterrence demonstrates to the individual offender that crime does not pay eon in general deterrence, thepunishment of one person serves as an example to others.Rehabilitation. The third purpose for sentencing, rehabilitation, involves reforming the offender to preclude subsequent offenses. It resembles deterrence by motivating the offender to conform. But rehabilitation emphasizes constructive improvement while deterrence and retribution make the offender suffer. In addition, while retribution demands that the puni shment fit the crime, rehabilitation focuses on the distinctive problems of each offender. Thus similar offenses would call for similar acts of retribution but different programs of rehabilitation.Social shelterion. A final purpose for sentencing is social protection, or rendering an offender incapable of further offenses either temporarily through incarceration or permanently by execution. Like deterrence, social protection is a rational approach to punishment and seeks to protect society from crime. The different forms of sentencing used in different jurisdictions include institutional sanctionstime to be served in prison or jail and noninstitutional sanctionsfines and forfeiture of the proceeds of crime, and service of the sentence in the connection in the form of probation or parole. Recently the arsenal of punishments has been considerably enlarged by the creation of involved sanctions and alternatives to either institutional or noninstitutional sanctions. The following ar e the variety of options for sentencingDeath penalty. In cardinal call forths (as well as the federal courts), courts may impose a sentence of death for any offense designated a capital crime, for example, first-degree murder.Incarceration. The defendant may be sentenced to serve a term in a local jail, state prison, or federal prison.Probation. The defendant may be sentenced to a period of doubtful supervision within the community.Split sentence. A judge may split the sentence between a period of incarceration and a period of probation.Restitution. An offender may be needed to provide pecuniary reimbursement to cover the cost of a victims losses.Community service. An offender may be required to spend a period of time performing public service work.Fine. An offender may be required to pay a certain sum of money as a penalty and/or as an alternative to or in conjunction with incarceration.This leads us to the next question, What are some reforms that harbour been proposed? A re cent reform growing out of the victims rights movement in the sentencing process is the consideration of statements by the victim, known as victim impact statements (VIS).Twenty-six states have mandated the use of VIS in criminal cases, while another twenty-two states have adopted so-called victim bills of rights that include recognition of the right of a victim to present a VIS. In the VIS, the victim provides a statement about the extent of economic, physical, or psychological harm suffered as a outgrowth of the victimization. The victim also can make a recommendation about the type of sentence an offender should receive. Usually the VIS is incorporated into the pre-sentence investigation report scripted by the probation officer.Research has revealed that a judges choice of a sentence is influenced much more than by legal considerations than by victim preferences in cases where VIS has been presented (McGarrell, 1999).The third reform proposal is restorative legal expert. rest orative justice has been a feature of justice systems for a long time, though it was little used until a convocation of criminologists in the coupled States and the Commonwealth countries brought the idea back to life. The term restorative justice was around unknown a decade ago, and it is still in search of a commonly accepted meaning. Yet, the books link to this subject has grown rapidly, so that we venture to define it in terms offered by Howard Zehr, produce in a symposium of The judgeProfessional, entitled Criminology as Peacemaking. Zehr provides contrasting paradigms between the traditional, retributive sense of justice and the newly emerging (or reemerging) restorative sense of justice. If the proposed reform of restorative justice were adopted, where would that leave us with enjoy to the traditional aims or justifications of criminal justice?As to retribution (or just desserts), we would still be trammel to never imposing an obligation (sanction) that outweighs the harm done.As to incapacitation, even the staunchest advocates of restorative justice recognize that some offenders are far too dangerous to be returned to the community and that their separation from the community is necessary. But the prison population could be vastly reduced.As to resocialization or rehabilitation, the very idea is built into restorative justice, which aims at restoring the community.Some of the current slews in federal sentencing according to the U.S. SentencingCommission at https//www.ussc.gov. are the followingThe issue on the amendment pertaining to offenses involving cocaine base (crack) and the amendment pertaining to certain criminal history rules, see 72 FR 28558 (May 21, 2007) 72 FR 51882 (September 11, 2007), should be applied retroactively to previously sentenced defendants.The issue of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the and the United States Sentencing Commission has decided to establish a standing victims informatory separate pursua nt to 28 U.S.C. 995 and Rule 5.4 of the Commissions Rules of Practice and Procedure. It was stated that the purpose of the advisory group is (1) to assist the Commission in carrying out its statutory responsibilities under 28 U.S.C. 994(o) (2) to provide the Commission its views on the Commissions activities as they relate to victims of crime (3) to disseminate information regarding sentencing issues to organizations represented by the advisory group and to other victims of crime and victims advocacy groups, as appropriate and (4) to perform any other functions related to victims of crime as the Commission requests. The victims advisory group will consist of not more than 9 members, each of whom may serve not more than two consecutive 3-year terms.The issue on saucily Yorks Rockefeller laws to curb the drug trade which directly contributed to a dramatic increase in the states prison population costing the state millions of dollars, but failing to impact drug trafficking. fit i n to a New York Times editorial, New York has made incremental changes to the Rockefeller laws in recent years, but has stop short of restoring judicial discretion.A governor-appointed commission charged with studying state sentencing practices, however, has produced a report profession for the end of indeterminate sentencing the process by which a judge imposes a minimum and a uttermost sentence and the Parole Board decides when to release an offender. It further suggests that nonviolent offenders be considered for community-based treatment instead of prison. Finally, Gov. Elliot Spitzers commission recommends restoring prison-based educational and training programs as a means of helping to lower recidivism rates.The website of the Sentencing cypher at http//www.sentencingproject.org. mission is to promote reforms in sentencing law and practice, and alternatives to incarceration through their advocacy and research. Moreover, the Sentencing Project provides defense lawyers with sentencing advocacy training and to reduce the reliance on incarceration. Hence, the Sentencing Project has become the leader in the effort to deal national attention to disturbing trends and inequities in the criminal justice system with a successful reflexion that includes the publication of groundbreaking research, aggressive media campaigns and strategic advocacy for policy reform.As a result of The Sentencing Projects research, publications and advocacy, many people know that this country is the worlds leader in incarceration, that one in three young black men is under control of the criminal justice system, that flipper million Americans cant vote because of felony convictions, and that thousands of women and children have lost welfare, education and housing benefits as the result of convictions for minor drug offenses. Thus, the Sentencing Project is dedicated to changing the way Americans think about crime and punishment which coincide with the interests of the National A ssociation of Sentencing Advocates.References McGarrell, E.F. Restorative Justice Conferences. Indianapolis, IN HudsonInstitute, 1999 Edmund F. McGarrell, Cutting Crime through Police-Citizen Cooperation, American Outlook, Spring 1998, pp. 6567.The Sentencing Project at http//www.sentencingproject.org.U.S. Sentencing Commission Available at https//www.ussc.gov.Zehr, H. Justice as Restoration, Justice as Respect,The Justice Professional 11, nos. 12 (1998), pp. 7187.