Issues In Federal Sentencing

Improved Essays
The issues in federal sentencing plan to alleviate the disparities in sentencing. Usually, the guidelines are often misused in the imposition of extreme sentences on persons who have a crime that does not deserve long-term prison or sentencing. This results in overcrowding in the prisons. The overcrowding comes as a result that most of the criminals are subjected to long-term prisons having committed crimes that do not deserve sentencing hence overcrowding example in Canada.

There is the issue that some of the judges treat these guidelines as fast and hard rules that are imposed against a criminal especially the drug offenders. Successfully, the case law advises making these absolute which permits leeway for the attorneys in making an argument

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The federal sentencing guidelines restricts judges from using personal discretion instead of basing it off criminal history or race/ethnicity. Lastly, the United States needs to consider a different approach when it comes to sentencing guidelines in drug cases. The impressions that I gathered was that the in order to successfully suppress the racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system, they need to reform sentencing guidelines in drug…

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Commerce law assessment task 3- Lachlan O’Malley Mandatory Sentencing in New South Wales 1. Mandatory Sentencing- a mandatory sentence is a court decision where legal discretion is limited by law. Most frequently, people convicted of certain crimes such as armed robbery or murder must be punished with at least a minimum number of years set in prison. 2.…

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This law allows for judges to give out harsher sentences to criminals, the only down side to this would have to be the fact that this provision has increased the prison overcrowding. In closing, the sentencing guidelines were designed to aide with the tremendous work that is brought on in the criminal justice division, but this has caused for problems in that it does provide for a more consistent and uniform sentencing process for allowing prison resources such as, reducing punishment but it also gives way to unbalanced justice in the cases pertaining to drugs and offenses for drug usage. The fact of the matter is that sentencing guidelines are helpful with certain respects in handling case matter, like reducing punishment for certain groups of crimes and offenders alike, they aide in enhancing judicial accountability and the most important of overcrowding within the prison…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This paper examines the effectiveness of drug treatment courts. In the past, there are many ways in which drug treatment courts are scrutinized. For purposes of this paper, the effectiveness of drug treatment courts will be evaluated through rates of recidivism. This paper describes the drug court model and how it differs from traditional courts. It will take a look at the history of drug treatment courts detailing how they became a part of the United States of America’s criminal justice system today.…

    • 188 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the process of sentencing an offender, we follow a set of rules known as the due process which considers the severity of a sentence, what charges have been laid, court hearings, and whether or not an arrest should take place. Such primitive procedure is used to prove the fact that a person is innocent until proven guilty.…

    • 58 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mandatory Minimums

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages

    According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence “at the most intense levels of drug use, drugs and crime are directly and highly correlated and serious drug use can amplify and perpetuate preexisting criminal activity”. Taking this into consideration, it is not hard to understand why so many people are in support of more severe sentences in response to drug related crimes. While the effectiveness of the use of mandatory minimums to reduce drug related crimes is questionable, supporters of mandatory minimums make some compelling arguments that apply to all mandatory minimums not just those set on drug…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Over half of the prisoners in the federal system are incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses because of mandatory minimum sentencing. (NeSmith, 2015). Not only do they have damaging repercussions mentally but they also negatively affect the families of those punished by minimum sentencing. Because judges were unsure and untrained on how to use their discretion there was little to no appellate review on sentencing.…

    • 249 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    For many years throughout history, much debate and controversy has been sparked with respect to Canada’s correctional system and criminal justice system. Canada’s criminal justice system has thrived/strived to work as a consolidated unified entity aimed at reducing, maintaining, and preventing crime and criminal activity. However, great controversy remains as to whether or not Canada’s criminal justice system is effective. It can be argued, for example, that Canada’s system of criminal justice is aimed at striving to achieve and meet specified goals, entities, or principles. In terms of sentencing a criminal offender, for example, sentencing can either be based on the principles of crime control or due process.…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The research attempts to ascertain the impact that mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines have had on the criminal justice system as a whole in the United States. With its advent, mandatory minimum sentences have arguably had an economic impact on the justice system, particularly in corrections systems. Due to the fact that there are now more people being incarcerated for longer periods because of these sentencing guidelines, prisons are bearing an increasing cost for housing these inmates. Another factor that the research looks into is the inequities that are inherent when sentencing a non-violent offender with a sentence that is as stringent if not more so than those who have committed violent felonies. The repercussions these guidelines…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Crime In Prison

    • 1269 Words
    • 6 Pages

    However, although crime has decreased, drug use has not decreased, and imprisonment rates are growing more drastic. Between 1993 and 1996, serious crime decreased by 5% and adult arrests increased by 12%, but adult arrests for serious crime only increased by 3%; in contrast, arrests for less serious crimes, like drug possession, grew by 14% (Cunniff 9). Yet despite the lack of impact of anti-drug programs, the government continues to take the same approach. Even despite the increase in prison populations, there are little to no regulations of prison populations (Schlanger 199). Clearly, the federal government must discontinue the emphasis on drug sentences and begin to put more effort into decreasing prison populations.…

    • 1269 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Though the bill itself has not been enacted, it has been explored and referred to the committee within the judiciary. Its main goals are to increase public safety, establish offender risk and needs assessments for a more effective and efficient system, and to implement a validated post-sentencing risk and needs assessment. As of January of this year, there have been multiple proposals for significant changes to the federal sentencing guidelines. These new proposals are intended to have an enormous impact on the thousands of inmates that currently reside within federal prison walls. One of the many changes from the recent proposals made include a new update on the two point federal sentence reduction for drug offenders, which have had retroactive effects.…

    • 1092 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States Criminal Justice System has many problems, but one of the most prominent problems deals with the issues surrounding mass incarceration. Mass incarceration in itself deals with a multitude of problems. The main problem that I am going to focus on is the incarceration of low level offenders. In the United States 1 in 5 incarcerated individuals are locked up for a drug offense (Wagner 2017).…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If a resolution cannot be found relatively soon, taxpayers will be forced to spend more and more money to support the increasing prison facilities (www.thejha.org/overcrowding). One major option to reduce rates of overcrowding is to evaluate the length in sentencing for criminal acts, especially when it relates to non-violent drug offenses. This approach of limiting sentencing and the reducing criminal sanctions against minor crimes, such as drug usage, would drastically decrease the amount of prisoners forced into prisons. A report estimated that a reduction in the number of people entering prisons from drugs offenses by 20 percent would save 1.3 billion in the next 10 years, and reducing the drug sentencing length by 20 percent would save 1.1 billion in next 10 years (CITE). The other major consideration to reduce rates of overcrowding is to evaluate the readiness of prisoners so that they can become a part of society earlier within their sentencing timeframe.…

    • 1442 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    A problem with the guidelines could be that they become too strict. For example, someone who is not as bad can get the same sentence as someone who is very bad. For example, someone who is charged with 1st degree murder and they are sentenced to life in prison. They cannot seek parole until at least most of their sentence has been served and anyways, they are going to be sentenced the same as others who have committed the same offense—not any…

    • 2082 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are numerous problems that arise within the correction system. Although, one problem stands out the best would be prison overcrowding. Numerous people are committing crimes and being incarcerated. Thus, leading to congestion and problems within the prison facility. This paper will discuss the purpose for prison overpopulation and what can be done to prevent and fix the problem.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays