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CCJ 2020 Introduction to Criminal Justice Final Exam Review GuideChapter 11: SentencingPhilosophy and goals of criminal sentencing• Retribution1. Call for punishment based on perceived needs for punishment2. Earliest known rationale for punishment3. Early punishments were immediate and often extreme4. Corresponds to the “Just Deserts” model of sentencinga. Holds that offenders are responsible for crimesb. Primary sentencing tool is imprisonment, but in serious cases capital punishment• Incapacitation1. Goal is to protect innocent members of society from offenders that might harm them2. Modern strategies separate offenders from the community to reduce the opportunities for further criminality3. Unlike retribution incapacity requires only restraint and not punishment• Deterrence1. Uses the example or threat of punishment to convince that criminal activity is not worthwhile2. Overall goal is crime prevention3. Two types:a. Specific deterrence: seeks to reduce the likelihood of recidivism by convicted offendersb. General deterrence: seeks to prevent others from committing crimes similar to the one for which a particular offender is being sentenced by making an example of the person sentenced• Rehabilitation1. Seeks to bring about fundamental changes in offenders and their behavior2. Ultimate goal is a reduction in the number of criminal offenses3. Generally works through education, and psychological treatment to reduce the likelihood of future criminality4. In the late 1970s the rehabilitative goal in sentencing fell victim to the “nothing works” doctrine• Restoration1. Restoration is a sentencing goal that seeks to address damage done by an offender by making the victim and community whole again2. Restorative justice, also referred to as balanced and restorative justice, is achieved by giving equal consideration to community safety and offender accountabilityIndeterminate sentencing• A model of criminal punishment that encourages rehabilitation through the use of general and relatively unspecific sentences such as, a term of imprisonment from 1 to 10 years• Relies heavily on judges discretion to choose among types of sanctions and to set upper and lower limits on the length of prison stays• Critiques of indeterminate sentencing1. Critics claim that the indeterminate model allows judges personalities and personal philosophies to produce too wide a range of sentencing practices 2. Tends to produce dishonesty in sentencing because of the gain time for gain/good timea. gain time: participation in special programs b. good time: good behaviorStructured sentencing• A model of criminal punishment that includes determinant and commission-created presumptive sentencing scheme, as well as voluntary/advisory sentencing guidelines1. Critics of indeterminate model called for the recognition of 3 fundamental sentencing principles: proportionality, equity, and social debt.a. Proportionality: refers to the belief that the severity of sanctions should bear a direct relationship to the seriousness of the crime committed.b. Equity: similar crimes should be punished with the same degree of severity, regardless of the social or personal characteristics of offendersc. Social debt: offenders criminal history should objectively be taken into account in sentencing decisions • Beginning in the 1970’s, a number of states addressed these concerns and created structured sentencing• Determinant sentencing is a form of structured sentencing, which Requires that a offender be sentenced to a fixed term that may be reduced by good time or earned time• 1980s states created the voluntary/advisory sentencing guidelines: consist of recommended sentencing policies that are not required by law and serve as guides to judges• Presumptive sentencing: model of criminal punishment that meets the following conditions: 1. Appropriate sentencing for an offender convicted to a specific charge will fall under a range of sentences authorized by sentencing guidelines adopted by a legislatively created sentencing body2. Judges are expected to sentence within a range or to provide written justification to do so3. There is a mechanism for review for any departure of guidelines, usually appellate• In 1984, with the passage of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act, the federal government adopted presumptive sentencing for nearly all federal offenders1. The act also addressed the issue of truth in sentencinga. Truth in sentencing is a close correspondence between the sentence imposed upon a offender and the time actually served in prison• Plea-Bargaining1. Approximately 90% of all federal sentences are the result of guilty pleas and the large majority of those stem from plea negotiations.2. Although the commission allowed plea-bargaining to continue, it required that the agreement be fully disclosed in the record of the court and detail the actual conduct of the offense.Mandatory Sentencing• Structured sentencing scheme that mandates clearly enumerated punishments for specific offenses or for habitual offenders convicted of a series of crimes. • Differs from presumptive sentencing, which allows at least a limited amount of judicial discretion within ranges established by published guidelines. • Mandatory sentencing enhancements are aimed at deterring known and potentially violent offenders and are intended to incapacitate convicted criminals through long-term incarceration.Innovation in Sentencing• Alternative Sentencing: the use of court-ordered community service, home detention, day reporting, drug treatment, psychological counseling, etc in lieu of more traditional sanctionsThe Presentence Investigation• Before imposing sentence, a judge may request information on the background of a convicted defendant• Information about a defendants background often comes to the judge in the form of a Presentence Investigation (PSI)1. Presentence investigation: the examination of a convicted offenders background prior to sentencing2. Presentence examinations are generally conducted by probation or parole officers and are submitted to sentencing authorities• Determinate Sentencing Act1. Directs report writers to include information on the classification of offense and of the defendant under the offense-level and criminal history categories established by the statuteThe Victim- Forgotten No Longer• Since 1970s, justice system has been accommodating for victims1. 1982: President’s Task Force on


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FSU CCJ 2020 - Final Exam Review Guide

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