Punishment and Sentencing

basic goals of punishment (5)

retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, restorative justice

retribution

pure focus on punishment itself, punishment is given to someone who has infringed on someone else's rights

deterrence

focus on discouraging any future wrongdoing, to make people want to stop committing crime

general deterrence

society's view of someone else punished for a crime, seeing that make people to not want to commit crimes, uses criminals as an example

specific deterrence

focuses on the individual, by punishing someone individually they won't want to commit future crimes

incapacitation

prevents more wrongdoing by taking away someone's ability to commit more crime

rehabilitation

focused on improving and restoring lives of convicted, treat problem at the root, try to make offenders be constructive members of society

restorative justice

fixing the damage that was caused by the crime, paying for damaged property, apology, does not work for most crimes, offender has to agree, victim has to agree, and community has to feel comfortable not pursuing one of the other forms of punishment

incarceration

we do not have a uniform set of sentencing laws in this country-judges come in and apply the law, imprisonment is the most visible penalty that we have, but it is not the most frequently used, less than 30% of people under correctional supervision are incarcerated, the rest are paroled, on probation, etc., but, because of visibility, incarceration remains the standard for punishment

3 sentencing structures

indeterminate, determinate, mandatory

indeterminate sentencing

sentence where a judge sets a period of time when sentencing a defendant, always a range, after minimum time has passed you are eligible for parole, incapacitation and rehabilitation

determinate sentencing

fixed terms of imprisonment sent by the judge right after conviction, incapacitation and deterrence

mandatory sentences

sentence determined by law that requires a certain penalty be imposed and carried out for that particular crime, determinate in nature, deterrence and retribution

Furman v. Georgia

the death penalty, as it was being administered at the time, constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th amendment, put a complete stop to the death penalty at the time

Gregg v. Georgia

the death penalty itself is not cruel and unusual, but using it as a mandatory sentence is considered cruel and unusual punishment, refines the way we use the death penalty, breaks trial into two parts-1st part is to determine guilt, and 2nd part is assesses whether or not the death penalty is the appropriate punishment

Stanford v. Kentucky

it is not unconstitutional to execute people for crimes that are age 16 or older at the time they committed the crime

Roper v. Simmons

overturned Stanford v. Kentucky, you cannot execute offenders who are under the age of 18 at the time the crime was committed

Penry v. Lynaugh

it is constitutional to execute someone for a crime despite the fact that they are intellectually or mentally handicapped

Atkins v. Virginia

overturned Penry v. Lynaugh, defendants with IQ less than 70 cannot be executed for their crime

Uttecht v. Brown

"death qualified jury", if the death penalty is on the table as a punishment, lawyers can demand that they have a jury that is willing to hand out the death penalty, lawyers can strike jurors for cause

elements that may influence the sentencing decisions of judges

the attitudes and values of judges and sentencing guidelines

U.S. v. Booker

prior to this, sentencing guidelines were mandatory at the federal level, SCOTUS said that having sentencing guidelines be mandatory violates due process, ruled that sentencing guidelines no longer be mandatory