Chapter 14

SentencingChapter 14 The Purpose of PunishmentRehabilitation: seeks to treat and reform the lawbreakerPrison/release programs should try to turn the wrongdoer into a productive member of society Job training, counseling, educational programs

Restitution: seeks repaymentOffender pays the victim or community in money or services

Incapacitation: seeks to isolate a criminal from society to protect ordinary citizensConfinement in a secure prision The Purpose of PunishmentDeterrence: seeks to prevent further crimes Specific deterrence: targets the criminal in question and hopes that the memory of punishment will deter that criminal from future crime General deterrence: targets other potential criminals- others will see the punishment and be discouraged from committing the same crime

Retribution: seeks revenge Oldest theory of punishment- that a society has to retaliate against a person who commits a crimeDates back to eye for an eye philosophy Sentencing LawsSentencing hearings are held shortly after the defendant is found guilty

Before the hearing the judge is presented with a pre-sentencing report that includes background information about the defendantFamily background, previous convictions, character, ect

The report helps the judge to understand the defendant and whether efforts at rehabilitation may be effective

Prosecution and defense may present information to the court and make sentencing information

Victims may make a statement on how the crime affected them

Judges may consider many factors in sentencing: Crime, the offenders actions, the weapon, criminal record, psych state, age, ectThe Purpose of PunishmentSentencing structures vary depending on the state

Indeterminate Sentences Determinate SentencesMandatory Sentencing Laws Sentencing GuidelinesNo pre-determined time to serve

Usually stated as a range of years

How much time the prisoner actually serves is left up to the state parole board which determines when they should be released

Many claim this can create unjust prison termsFixed-term sentencing

Judges sentence defendants to a specific time based on the severity of the crime

Prisoners know at the time of sentencing when their prison term would endTake away the option of alternative sentences (community service, restitution, halfway house)

Require judges to sentence offenders to prison terms

Ex: Anti-Drug-Abuse Act of 1986 sets mandatory minimum sentences for drug offensesProvide formulas for judges to use in all sentencing decisions

Some states have grid system with crimes severity and offenders criminal history- judges have to simply determine where the crime falls on the grid Federal Sentencing: Crack v. Cocaine1980s saw crack epidemic Violence, deaths, crack babies Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 & 1988Created Office of Natl Drug Control Policy & set harsh penalties for dealers in cocaine (100-1 Ratio)

Crack was given even harsher penalties b/c Congress saw it as more addictive, more linked to violent crime and more likely to be dealt in small quantities

This drew police attention to predominately black inner-city neighborhoods80% of crack dealers sentenced in federal court were African-American5 grams or more of crack cocaine OR500 grams or more of powder cocaine5- year mandatory minimum sentence50 grams or more of crack cocaine OR5,000 grams or more of powder cocaine10- year mandatory minimum sentence100-1 Ratio in Federal Sentencing100:1 Ratio500 grams of powder cocaine compared to 5 grams of crack cocaine

Federal Sentencing: Crack v. CocaineSUPPORTERSCrack devastated inner-city neighborhoods

Crack is far more addictive than powder cocaine

Laws may be misguided but not racistCRITICSWhy punish separately- cocaine can easily be made into crack

Makes small-time crack dealers suffer same punishment as high-level cocaine dealers

Question whether crack=violence Violence can appear with trafficking any type of drug

RacismCrack v. Cocaine: Court ChallengesDefendants have challenged the 100:1 ratio in fed appeals court but courts have refused to overturn sentencing laws

Supreme Court has refused to hear any of these cases

Challenges based on three legal grounds:100:1 ration discriminates against African-Americans and denies them equal protection of the lawLaw violates due process because there are different punishments for the same drug Law violates the 8th Amendments ban on cruel and unusual punishmentFair Sentencing Act of 2010Passed by Congress

Lowered the ratio to 18:128 grams of crack= mandatory 5-year sentence and 280 grams of crack= mandatory 10-year sentence

Ratio for powder cocaine remains the same

Act did away with mandatory five-year term for first time possession of crack

2011 U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to make the 18:1 ratio retroactive- so 12,000 prisoners will receive reductions in their sentencePrisonChapter 15 Overcrowding in PrisonsThe federal prison system and more than half of state prisons are running over capacity

Overcrowding can lead to: discipline problems, unrest, unhealthy conditions, and violence

Beginning in the late 1970s federal judges began ordering states to upgrade their prisons and reduce overcrowding Lawyers charged that inmates were being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment- violating the 8th Amendment

Some federal court imposed rigid deadlines to end overcrowding- leaving states in tricky situationsOvercrowding in PrisonsThe 1980s saw a surge of new prison construction Building prisons became a $17 billion a year industry

In 1995 Congress passed the Prison Litigation Reform ActSet up a process that court must follow when ordering a state to end overcrowding

Most notable example was California- recently ordered to reduce number of prisoners 173,000 behind bars/ 1 out of every 10 prisoners in U.S are in CABrown v. Plata: Supreme Court case that upheld the decision

Attica State Prison RiotSept 1971: 1,200 prisoners took 33 guards hostage to protest oppressive prison conditions

Prisoners immediately organized themselvesSick bay, clean-up detail, elected negotiating committee, security force

Guards that needed medical aid were released

Prisoners met with a mediating team that included NY director of prisons, lawyers, journalists and local politicians

Their demands: better prison conditions, freedom of Muslim worship, job training, right to hold political meeting and amnesty for the takeover

Attica State Prison RiotMany of the demands were met except amnesty Due to injured guard who died in hospital

By day 3 mediators felt an agreement was close but NY Governor refused to come and give any agreement credibility

On day 4 guards attacked the inmates with helicopters and nausea gas500 men firing rifles and shotgun poured into the prison yard

33 inmates and nine hostages were killed and 100 seriously wounded Those left standing were stripped and beaten by guards

20 years later a civil court awarded prisoners millions in damages for violation of their civil rights and assault

Life at AtticaAll entered in leg shackles and placed in isolation for two days After each prisoner given a 6x9 cell in which he spent 14-16 hours alone

30 minutes for each meal and a shower once a week

Job training was working in a laundry or in a tool shop that never dropped below 100 F

New Mexico State Prison RiotFeb 1980: prisoners broke into the control room, seized the guards and opened all the cells

No one prisoner tried to organizeStarted doing drugs, smashed furniture, set fires

33 prisoners hacked to death or tortured to death by other prisoners Most of the prisoners came out to surrender peacefully and those who did not put up no resistance

Similar abuses as Attica but also no individual cells

Policies Behind the Rise in IncarcerationMandatory sentencing

Three strikes policy Truth in SentencingRequires judge to sentence offenders to prison term- cannot shorten it, suspend it, or give an alternate sentence

Harsh sentences for low-level, non-violent, drug offenders

By 2010 more than of all federal prisoners were drug offendersMandates lengthy, even life, for certain third felony convictions

Federal law requires that the three convictions must be violent feloniesThese laws attempt to reduce or eliminate parole

Force convicts to serve close to their full sentence

1994 and 1995 federal crime bills offered prison construction aid to states that adopted truth-in-sentencing laws for violent offenders ParoleProcess of returning prisoners to society if they have displayed good behavior in prison and if they give their word to avoid further crime

At the end of their prison terms, prisoners come before a parole board where their behaviors and attitudes are examined

Parole officer sees that the conditions of parole are met and the parolee makes a successful transition to life on the outside

Todays trend is towards fixed sentences but even with states that have this policy, prisoners can be released on parole

Nationwide: 2/3 more people are on parole than are locked up in prison

Disproportionate number of supervisors to parolees makes the process challenging

Parole ProcessParole boards are comprised of political appointees who have professional staff members and case workers to advise them

Case workers compile reports on prisoners eligible for parole:Behavior while in prison, family, opportunities for employment, access to friends, housing availability, and the general climate of the community

Employment is often key to winning parole board approval Success is more likely if a stable job is available

If released, offenders must meet regularly with a parole officer to show they are living up to the conditions of their release No alcohol or controlled substances, possession of firearms, or association with other ex-consOffenders must ask permission to change their residence, travel, marry or even buy a car

Parole OfficersParole officers have two, sometimes conflicting roles:

Ideal caseload: 35 per officer or as few as 20 for serious offenders In some areas, budget problems have pushed case loads up as high as 250 parolees per caseworker Less than 10 min per week per case- rarely adequate to check up on a parolee

Social WorkerCorrections Officer Try to help parolee make a successful transition from prison to the community Watching for criminal tendencies

May have individual jailed pending an investigation of parole violations or new criminal actAlternatives to PrisonChapter 16 FinesMost common punishment inflicted on convicted offenders of all cases

Can be imposed as only punishment but usually doesnt happen b/c offenders would remain in the community unsupervised (no parole)Traffic violations, misdemeanors and some non-violent felonies

Fines raise two problems:

Practicality FairnessSince most criminals are financially unstable, does it make sense to punish with fines?

May push offender to committing a new crime to pay for old oneRich v. poor: $500 fine could be nothing for someone with money but difficult for someone poor

To balance some jurisdictions are creating day fines: calculated on how much a person earns each dayProbationOffenders sentenced to probation can return to their community, but must prove they are meeting conditions set by the court Court has right to cancel probation and imprison

Developed in the mid-1800s to keep petty offenders away from corrupt prisons

More than 2x as many U.S. convicts are on probation than are serving sentences in prisons and jails

Probation offers benefits:Low cost, people on probation can still work and do not have re-entry problems into their community

ProbationProbation only works well if it is combined with effective supervision Must report on a regular basis to a probation officer to make sure they are meeting the conditions set by the court

In recent years more courts are using house-arrest for criminals Tamper-resistant ankle bracelets to monitor their location

Many jurisdictions are adopting b/c cheaper than jail time Can be used in conjunction with community service

Also used to monitor those on parole or awaiting trial

Capital PunishmentChapter 17 History of the Death Penalty in AmericaAll states with the death penalty use lethal injection In some states shooting, hanging, electrocution, poison gas and lethal injection may be another option

Most criminals sentenced to death are normally held in a max-security prison on death rowLittle to no contact with other inmates In the American colonies legal executions took place as early as 1630

In 1800s many people began to oppose capital punishment and the feelings grew stronger after WWII

Statisticshttp://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-execution-rates

Public Opinion on the Death PenaltyPublic opinion on the death penalty has come in waves over the years

By the 1990s, following decades of anxiety over crime and violence, some states were showing high % of the population for executing criminals California was at almost 80%

In 1991, researcher Robert M. Bohm did an analysis of 21 different polls on the death penaltyFound that factors such as religion, age or occupation showed little relation to their attitude on capital punishment Other factors did: men more likely to favor than women, whites supported it more than blacks, Republicans more than Democrats, wealthy more than the poor

A surprise: people from the South were more likely to oppose capital punishment than people from other regions Are We Executing Innocent People?138 prisoners since 1973 have been released from death rowInnocence Project

2004- Congress passed the Innocence Project Act: gives federal prisoners the right to ask a court for DNA tests to prove their innocence Also provides grants to states that adopt measures that allow prisoners easier access to DNA tests, preserve biological evidence used for DNA testing, and issue minimum standards for court-appointed defense attorneys