Determinate sentencing began to spread widely during the s and s and is now the rule in many states. It's often seen as a "tough on crime" system because of its mandatory minimum sentences. Its proponents claim that it also leads to greater fairness, because when the legislature sets a determinate sentence and judges have little discretion, people who commit very similar crimes receive very similar sentences.
Indeterminate sentencing, however, is making a comeback in a time of prison overcrowding and lower crime rates. More room for judicial or parole board discretion is being let back into the sentencing systems of many states, especially for drug crimes, where rehabilitation is seen as a reasonable and attainable outcome for many convicted offenders.
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Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling today. For example, a sentence for a case of sexual battery may be an automatic prison term for three years. Indeterminate sentencing refers to a prison sentence that assigns a range of years, rather than a fixed amount of time.
For example, indeterminate sentencing can include a sentence of five to ten years or twenty-five years to life. This type of sentencing determines only the minimum and the maximum amount of years the offender has to remain in prison.
Once the offender has spent the minimum amount of years in prison, he is subject to review by a parole board. Parole means temporarily releasing the prisoner before the complement of his full prison sentence. However, if the offender commits any act to violate the parole, for example, commit another crime, or use drugs, he or she will be returned to prison. Also, note that not all prisoners who get indeterminate sentencing get parole.
Because, the parole board considers certain factors before granting parole to inmates who have received indeterminate sentences. Another difference between determinate sentencing and indeterminate sentencing is that the judge does not have authority to alter the sentence, when the law specifies a determinate sentence.
For example, a determinate sentence may be an automatic prison term of three years for a burglary. An indeterminate sentence, however, suggests to an offender that he will serve a minimum to a maximum amount of time for the crime committed. Typically, the offender must serve the minimum amount of his sentence before the parole board will even meet to discuss his case. Most states, however, require that he serve at least half of his sentence before receiving such a benefit.
The hope that supports an indeterminate sentence is that prison will rehabilitate some prisoners if they are provided with an incentive to behave while incarcerated — the incentive being a potential early release. The goal of an indeterminate sentence is to show offenders that those who behave the best will be paroled closer to their minimum term than those who do not. The problem with indeterminate sentencing, according to critics, is that is gives the parole board too much power.
This can lead to discriminatory or otherwise illogical results. A related accusation is that minorities and other prisoners who do not network with the right people while in prison will receive decisions from parole boards that are overly harsh.
Conversely, there is concern that offenders who are less deserving will receive an earlier release. When an offender receives parole, he is permitted to serve out the rest of his sentence under community supervision. He is able to leave prison, but remains bound by certain restrictions.
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