Criminal Sanctions in America the Predominat Goal Essay

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Criminal Sanctions in America

The Predominat Goal of Criminal Sanctions in America is Incapacitation

The predominant goal of criminal sanctions in America is incapacitation

In every society there are acceptable social norms which everyone is expected to adhere to and whenever an individual violates any of the norms a penalty is usually imposed, this is referred to as a sanction. These violations can be criminal or civil in nature and so are the corresponding sanctions. When the violation is criminal in nature then there is imposed a criminal sanction which maybe in the form of fine, imprisonment, or both. The rationale of criminal sanctions falls in four categories; incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation, and just deserts, each of these has influenced the criminal punishment differently in the history of American justice system (Ronald, 2000). Incapacitation uses detention in prison or by execution as a way of trying to reduce the capacity of the offender to commit further crimes. Typically it is imprisonment that is the method of incapacitation whereas the ultimate method is capital punishment. Incapacitation therefore tries to reduce future crime by removing the offender from the society since those outside cannot be harmed by criminals behind bars.

It is true that there has been greater attention to incapacitation when applying criminal sanctions in America, even to the extent of using selective incapacitation where repeat offenders get longer prison terms.

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This shift in attention is evident in the history of the criminal justice system in America. In the early years of 1970 there was a decline for the preference of indeterminate sentencing occasioned by several factors (Anderson et al., 1999). It was viewed that indeterminate sentencing gave judges the space to be too lenient to criminals at the expense of public safety. This concern is usually justified when violent offenders get lenient judgment and end up committing more atrocious crimes. The second concern was that there was uneven application of criminal punishments even in cases where the offenders had comparable offenses (Frankel, 1973). In most instances judges would agree on verdicts for identical cases but their sentences would vary widely, this wide discretion was considered to undermine equal treatment under the law. The third concern was on the medical form of rehabilitation which was largely the foundation of indeterminate sentencing. This form was viewed to have failed since it gave judges the opportunity to determine the nature and duration of sentences. The general public sensed unfairness in the process of tailoring treatment to suit offenders' character since it brought about varied sentences. In response to such events the U.S. Sentencing Commission was created. In addition there was also the Sentencing Guidelines which influenced the determinate sentencing system, and the….....

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