Indeterminate Sentencing

The movie "Sleepers" directed by Barry Levinston stared four boys Shakes, Tommy, Micheal and John. The boys stole a hot dog cart from a vendor, while the boys were running away with the cart it slipped away from their hands into the subway station, and it accidentally crushed the man at the bottom of the stairs severely injuring him. Now the four boys are facing three charges mischief causing danger to life, mischief under over $5000 and theft. The Canadian criminal code outlines mischief causing danger to life as an indictable offence with the max penalty of life imprisonment, mischief to property and theft over $5000 can either be a summary conviction or indictable offences with the max penalty of 10 years imprisonment (Criminal

I believe that restorative justice could be a good idea for the United States if it is used correctly. I think that if restorative justice is used correctly, it could really benefit everyone involved: the victim, offender, family, and the community. Some of the restorative justice ways can also help victims move past what has happened to them and live a more normal life again. I think restorative justice would also benefit the United States because it can help the offender have a better life after.

The purpose of this research paper is to choose which of these models of justice: retributive, utilitarian, restorative or parallel, is appropriate for the Jonathan Nathaniel Ramsey case. We need justice to be delivered efficiently, effectively in order to make sure the offenders are held accountable and the victims receive assistance. Each crime that is committed needs to be addressed properly. When the crimes are not then that leads to the unrest in the community and to the victims. This process will ensure that each offender receives the proper punishment and that the community is satisfied with the decision.

Sentencing occurs after a defendant has been convicted of a crime. During the sentencing process, the court issues a punishment that involves a fine, imprisonment, capital punishment, or some other penalty. In some states, juries may be entitled to determine a sentence. However, sentencing in most states and federal courts are issued by a judge. To fully understand the sentencing phase of criminal court proceedings, it is important to examine how sentencing affects the state and federal prison systems, learn the meanings of determinate and indeterminate sentencing, and understand the impact Proposition 57 has had on sentencing in California.

There is some theoretical ambiguity in the meaning of Restorative Justice in spite of the many definitions and studies done on the subject. Restorative Justice has been defined as “an ethos with practical goals, among which to restore harm by including affected parties in a (direct or indirect) encounter and a process of understanding through voluntary and honest dialogue.” It is primarily concerned with the reinstatement of victims to life before the crime, restoration of the Offender to a well behaved and lawful life, restoration of the injury caused to the community and the creation of a better society in the present and the future.

I will be discussing the key facts and critical issues presented in various roles/goals within the United States (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). The

Indeterminate sentences are imposed with the individual criminal in mind. A minimum and maximum sentence such as 3-5 years are given by a judge. After the minimum sentence is served, the length of incarceration may vary based on the prisoner’s level of cooperation with the correctional agency. Early parole may be granted for good behavior. Determinate sentences are a fixed term of incarceration. The maximum length is set by legislators and the judge imposes the length of the sentence up to the maximum. Mandatory sentences are set by legislators instead of judges. Mandatory sentences set a penalty for certain crimes that is the standard for all offenders convicted of that crime.

In the U.S. criminal justice system, there are two basic sentencing models that the courts use to apply their judgments. These are determinate sentencing and indeterminate sentencing. Determinate sentencing can be referred as a set sentence imposed to an offender this model is based on the famous phrase “Do the crime and will do the time”; however, this model has a unique quality and that is that a parole board can’t overturn the length of the sentence that was imposed. On the other hand indeterminate sentencing can be describe as the length of a sentences that has not being defined yet like the term “25 to life” on this term you can see that the sentencing was not set to an specific time frame, that means that the offenders release date is

In the United States, there are two primary models; Indeterminate and determinate sentencing. Indeterminate sentencing refers to blending decisions provided by the sentencing judge and later from a release authority so the actual time served can be determined. The judge will sentence offenders to indeterminate sentencing during the time of the sentence including the maximum or minimum amount of time that’s to be served. Once an offender serves the minimum amount of time they are qualified for a release by the parole board. However, the maximum sentence may have to be served by the offender if the parole board doesn’t grant an early release.

The are several types of sentencing that follows what is intended to be an impartial judicial proceeding during which criminal responsibility is ascertaining. Majority of the sentencing decisions are made by judges, although in cases such as death sentence cases, a jury may be involved in a special sentencing of the sentencing process. Unfortunately, sentencing decision is one of the most difficult made by any judge or a jury especially when it impacts someone’s life. Additionally, there are numerous sentencing models in the United States such as determinate, indeterminate, and mandatory minimum sentencing. First, determinate sentencing is a set term of incarceration and sentencing could potentially be reduced by good time. Offenders also have an opportunity to get time reduced off their conviction by participating in educational programs and community services. Second, indeterminate sentencing is enforced through releasing an incarcerated offender by a parole board that can be revoked for violating those conditions. In indeterminate sentencing, punishments are generally fit the criminal rather than the crime they are committed are convicted of. Third, the mandatory sentences are those that are required by law under certain circumstances such as conviction of a specified crime or of a series of offenses. By 1994, all 50 states had authorized several mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Offenders that who used weapons or illegal drugs may face additional time to their prison time. Under the terms of mandatory sentencing an offender is required to serve a specified amount of time before being eligible for release Siegel, Schmalleger, & Worrall, 2015).

The book “for the Children? Protecting innocence in a Carceral State” written by Erica R. Meiners, is a book about how youths in the communities of color are deprived of protection, and how childhood was not being made available to all children of that community. According to the book, Meiners pointed out school-to-prison pipeline, incarceration willful defiance, racial profiling and policing has been a recurring and terrifying issue among the children of color, especially among the African American children. The ideology of policing and incarceration was to ensure that American citizens, both white and black are protected from harm and violence in schools and in their different neighborhoods.

In order to discuss indeterminate versus determinate sentencing, we must first define them. Indeterminate sentencing is a form of “criminal punishment that encourages rehabilitation through the use of general and relatively unspecific sentences” (Schmalleger, 2015). An example of an indeterminate sentence would be a term of imprisonment of 1-10 years meaning an offender can serve no less than one year and no more than ten. The sentence is not determined. Determinate sentencing is another form of criminal punishment in which an offender is given a fixed term of imprisonment (Schmalleger, 2015). In this case, the law dictates the specific sentence. The judge has no leeway, however, the sentence may be reduced by good conduct and earn time

There has been an exceedingly high increase in the population in federal prisons. “The Federal prison population has grown by 750 percent since 1980 and our Federal prisons are approximately 30 percent over capacity” (). We are overflowing our prison cells with criminals of all degrees. We need Smarter Sentencing to keep people from have long drawn out sentences and crowding up our cells for people who actually need to be there for that amount of time. Over capacitated cells are actually ridiculous. Smarter Sentencing can reduce the amount of incarcerations with better sentencing so there are not people getting years in prison and holding up cells so we get new criminals

Today our justice system has a multitude of options when dealing with those who are convicted of offenses. However, many argue that retributive justice is the only real justice there is. This is mainly because its advantage is that it gives criminals the appropriate punishment that they deserve. The goals of this approach are clear and direct. In his book The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Zehr Howard (2002), illustrates that the central focus of retributive justice is offenders getting what they deserve (p. 30). This reflection paper will first address the advantages of using retributive justice approach in three court-cases. Second, it will discuss the disadvantages of using retributive justice approaches by analyzing the three court-cases listed above. Third, it will elaborate on ways that the system could have used restorative justice processes in the cases, as well as present potential outcomes that could have been reached if restoration justice was taken into consideration.

Batley (2005) stated that restorative justice is about restoring, healing and re- integrating victims, offenders, as well as the society and also preventing further harm. In this assignment, I will be discussing approaches to restorative justice and illustrating their advantages and disadvantages to offending. I will also provide the applications of these five approaches of restorative justice which are retributive approach, utilitarian deterrence approach, rehabilitation approach, restitution approach and restorative approach in the given case study. I will then explain my preferred approach to justice through identifying a personal belief or value that underpins my choice.