Sentencing

be inevitable for a prison system. The U.S. is slowly fixing problems in their system and ironically has helped to fix many in Afghanistan’s system. The prison systems in the United States and Afghanistan endure many issues such as: unnecessary sentencing, abuse/rape, and an overflow of prisoners. With some issues comes resolution, but problems in a system are inevitable.…

Sentencing an individual to the death penalty does not necessarily mean that the individual dies then and there, the individual remains in a section for inmates sentenced to the death known as death row. Death row is a long process, which may last for years. "During this time, [inmates] are generally isolated from other prisoners, excluded from prison educational and employment programs, and sharply restricted visitation and exercise, spending as much as 23 hours a day alone in their cells,"…

One of the underlying challenges of recidivism that results in high rates of incarceration are the punitive sentencing guidelines. It is acknowledged that the sentencing policies of the war on drugs era resulted in rapid growth in imprisonment for drug charges. Additionally, severe sentencing laws such as mandatory minimums keep offenders convicted of drug charges in prison for lengthier periods of time (NeSmith, 2015). Harmon (2013) states that because the mandatory minimum statutes are written…

aggression. Since the 1970s, policy makers have shifted to a crime control model that has “cracked down on crime” and focuses on punishment as a form of prevention. This goal has been accomplished by lengthening prison sentences, mandatory minimum sentencing laws, and practically eliminating privileges in prisons with the No Frills Prison…

Many factors have aided in the revolutionizing of our current sentencing structure. Although the process may be painstaking, the results are more than rewarding, if changes are implemented and adhered too. Out of the many factors listed in our textbook, there were a few that needed to be briefly explained in order to fully grasp what our countries judicial system is up against. One factor that leads to the change in sentencing structure is the use of crime control and corrections for…

important is sentencing, it has become known that many judges base the offender's sentencing based on their background information. They check for their previous offenses, gender, age, severity of his or her case and social class. When they check their social class it is a red flag for the judges to give the offenders what they call a proper sentence. As authors Siegel and Bartollas (2016) go into detail stating, “Some evidence lends support to an association between social class and…

In this justice system, people convicted of nonviolent drug crimes get prison times that are not appropriately scaled to the crime they may or may not have committed. These sentences include prison for life, a sentence that are given to cases of murder, abuse, rape, treason, terrorism, trafficking, severe cases of fraud, and other crimes that can possibly get the death penalty if the states allow it. This is largely the fault of a large drug crackdown during the 70’s and official laws were…

Racial Disparities among Prisons Through time, discrimination has always been part of American history. Unfortunately, discrimination still plays an important role in today’s society. Discrimination is most evident in the way minorities are targeted and treated before and after entering the criminal justice system. The way the government has targeted African Americans, the reasons that have led to overrepresentation on minorities in the criminal justice system, the percent of African Americans…

Juvenile Sentencing Sentencing juveniles to life is cruel and unusual punishment. The abolishment of the mandatory life in prison for juveniles who commit murder is a great start to stop sending children into state prisons with adults. “On June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who committed murder could not be sentenced to life in prison because it violated the Eight Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.” Alex Hribal, the 16-year-old suspect in a stabbing spree at a…

disproportionality test) used in R.v.Smith (was also used in R.v. Nur later).The two steps involved where that the court first “the court must determine what constitutes a proportionate sentence for the offence having regard to the objectives and principles of sentencing in the Criminal Code” and secondly “the court must ask whether the mandatory minimum requires the judge to impose a sentence that is grossly disproportionate to the offence and its circumstances” ([1987] 1…