Conditional Sentences

Front 1

What is a conditional sentence? (3)

Back 1

1. A conditional sentence is where you serve your sentence in the community rather than prison
2. You must be convicted and sentenced to less than 2 years.
3. You are required to fulfill certain conditions.

Front 2

What are the objectives of a conditional sentence? (2)

Back 2

1. Provide an alternative to imprisonment and instead can be under house arrest.
2. It gives punitive justice and meeting needs.
3. Stricter conditions.

Front 3

What happens when there is non compliance in a conditional sentence? (2)

Back 3

1. Reverse onus when returned to court.
2. Can result in offender being incarcerated.

Front 4

Who is electronic monitoring used on? (2)

Back 4

1. Offenders under sentence in a community.
2. Offenders on parole.

Front 5

What are the objectives of electronic monitoring? (3)

Back 5

1. Alternative to imprisonment.
2. Reduce operating costs of corrections.
3. Promote employment and community ties.

Front 6

What are the present and future electronic monitoring programs? (2)

Back 6

1. Verify offender location, present.
2. Use of GPS for real time information, future.

Front 7

What are the criticisms for electronic monitoring? (4)

Back 7

1. Potential for net widening.
2. Privacy issues.
3. Impact on offender's families.
4. Cannot prevent reoffending.

Front 8

What are the results of electronic monitoring? (3)

Back 8

1. There is no evidence it reduces prison admissions.
2. May off set costs on incarceration.
3. May reduce the likelihood of repeating crime.

Front 9

What are some sentences that are ineligible for conditional sentencing? (4)

Back 9

1. Indictable offences that qualify as serious personal injury offences.
2. Sexual assault, terrorism, criminal organization.
3. Maximum sentence of 10 years that involve import/export of drugs, drug trafficking, use of weapons.
4. Any offence of a maximum sentence of 14 years or life.

Front 10

What is house arrest? (1)

Back 10

1. Being kept as a prisoner in your home rather than a prison.

Front 11

How does house arrest work? (1)

Back 11

1. An electronic monitor such as an ankle bracelet indicates when offender leaves their home.

Front 12

Who can't be put under house arrest? (1)

Back 12

1. Anyone convicted of arson, fraud, counterfeiting, aggravated assault, street racing causing death, etc.

Front 13

How successful is house arrest? (1)

Back 13

1. There is a 20% failure rate due to technical violations, not new offences.

Front 14

What is penal harm? (1)

Back 14

1. Assumes that crime rates can be reduced if more offenders are punished and placed under the control of criminal justice agencies.

Front 15

What is the argument supporting penal harm? (1)

Back 15

1. The argument is related to net widening in the sense that it contends that more, not fewer, offenders should be placed in these programs.

Front 16

What are the seven elements of penal harm? (7)

Back 16

1. The root causes of crime, such as social inequality, racism, and poverty, cannot be changed so should not be focused on.
2. Any programs developed to deal with root causes of crime are actually misplaced and will not reduce crime rate.
3. Criminals will only be deterred if the criminal justice system ensures that they receive enough pain for their wrongs.
4. Prisons are an effective means of reducing crime because they keep criminals off the street
5. Society will be safer with large number of criminals in prison.
6. Offenders in the community should be controlled through a variety of programs, such as house confinement, electronic monitoring, and intensive probation supervision.
7. If crime rates do not decrease, more punishment, community control, and prisons will be needed.

Front 17

What is penal minimalism? (1)

Back 17

1. Assumes that being placed under the control of criminal justice agencies is a form of violence.

Front 18

What is the argument supporting penal minimalism? (1)

Back 18

1. The argument is that any net widening is unacceptable and efforts should be made to reduce our reliance on imprisonment as well as community corrections.

Front 19

What are the seven elements of penal minimalism? (7)

Back 19

1. The root causes of crime such as social inequality, racism, and poverty, must be changed and focused on.
2. Any programs developed and implemented to combat the root causes of crime are most important.
3. Deterrence is a myth
4. Incapacitation is inhumane, only the dangerous few should be put behind bars.
5. Society is not safer when we lock more people up, because of the social and other costs of incarceration.
6. Community corrections, such as house confinement, electronic monitoring, and intensive probation supervision, are also punitive and involve intrusive surveillance.
7. A fundamental transformation of society is needed, tinkering with criminal justice does nothing.

Front 20

What are the objectives of abolitionists? (2)

Back 20

1. Abolish punitive organizations or drastically reduce their size and number.
2. Create forms of conflict handling outside of the criminal justice system and solely in the community.

Front 21

What is the abolitionist argument? (2)

Back 21

1. Punishment through pain is barbaric
2. Punishment is seen at best as useless, and at worst as dangerous