Life in Prison
Should a person be sentenced to life in prison for providing heroin to someone who died? The answer to that question depends on so many factors that it cannot be answered without more information. Although state and federal laws have been put in place for drug violations, they are only meant to be guidelines with the judge given discretion as to the final sentence. These guidelines are continually changing as drugs and crimes evolve.
I don’t believe there is enough information from the sentencing question above to give an educated answer. Did the provider make the drug or purchase it from someone else? If they did make the heroin, did they purposefully alter the drug to produce the result of death? Was there something physically wrong with the user that its use would cause death and did the provider know this …show more content…
The federal penalties for drug offenses are listed in the United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual. It can be viewed at http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/guidelines-manual/2014/GLMFull. The federal government has derived a point system it uses as guidelines for prison sentences of convicted drug offenders. In 18-1.3-401.5(2)(a) of the Colorado Revised Statutes of 2013, is a list of minimum and maximum prison term sentences along with parole terms used by the State of Colorado as its guideline to sentencing. In 18-1.3-401.5(b)(1) is a list of minimum and maximum fines that can be imposed. In 18-1.3-104.5 it states that for a “drug felony offense at sentencing or at resentencing after a revocation of probation or community corrections sentence, the court shall exhaust all reasonable and appropriate alternative sentences for the offense considering all factors” (http://tornado.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/2013TitlePrintouts/CRS). The judge will make the final determination of the appropriate
Should a person be sentenced to life in prison for providing heroin to someone who died? The answer to that question depends on so many factors that it cannot be answered without more information. Although state and federal laws have been put in place for drug violations, they are only meant to be guidelines with the judge given discretion as to the final sentence. These guidelines are continually changing as drugs and crimes evolve.
I don’t believe there is enough information from the sentencing question above to give an educated answer. Did the provider make the drug or purchase it from someone else? If they did make the heroin, did they purposefully alter the drug to produce the result of death? Was there something physically wrong with the user that its use would cause death and did the provider know this …show more content…
The federal penalties for drug offenses are listed in the United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual. It can be viewed at http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/guidelines-manual/2014/GLMFull. The federal government has derived a point system it uses as guidelines for prison sentences of convicted drug offenders. In 18-1.3-401.5(2)(a) of the Colorado Revised Statutes of 2013, is a list of minimum and maximum prison term sentences along with parole terms used by the State of Colorado as its guideline to sentencing. In 18-1.3-401.5(b)(1) is a list of minimum and maximum fines that can be imposed. In 18-1.3-104.5 it states that for a “drug felony offense at sentencing or at resentencing after a revocation of probation or community corrections sentence, the court shall exhaust all reasonable and appropriate alternative sentences for the offense considering all factors” (http://tornado.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/2013TitlePrintouts/CRS). The judge will make the final determination of the appropriate