Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws: Mandatory minimum sentences, which were rare in the criminal law or justice system, have experienced a remarkable increase in popularity. As a political phenomenon, the policy has enjoyed broader bi-partisan suppor Continue Reading...
Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Abstract (Incomplete) Prison overcrowding and tax payer burdens are just two of the effects that must be addressed with mandatory sentencing reform. There must also be a consideration for balancing the deterrence factor Continue Reading...
In the experimental community, the researchers instituted a media campaign to increase seat-belt usage, followed by increased police enforcement of the seat-belt law. It was found that the percentage of drivers using seat belts increased in the expe Continue Reading...
Mandatory Sentencing Public policy, crime, and criminal justice Mandatory Sentencing: Case Study Critique The prime grounds of mandatory sentencing laws are utilitarian. The laws come with long prison sentences for recidivists, drug dealers and is Continue Reading...
In that regard, sentences imposed for crack cocaine are so much harsher that approximately 100 times as much powdered cocaine is required to approach the sentences imposed in connection with crack cocaine offenses. This issue is particularly releva Continue Reading...
The judge must choose a sentence from within the guideline range unless the court identifies an aggravating or mitigating circumstance that was not adequately considered by the Sentencing Commission. In mandatory minimum drug cases, judges can depar Continue Reading...
Federal Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences and Their Impact on Recidivism There is much controversy regarding mandatory sentencing and its impact on the American society throughout recent times. In many ways, prisons are used as a means to control cri Continue Reading...
The death penalty is not unconstitutional and is even mandatory for certain crimes with the judge and jury having little discretion in the matter in order to avoid violating the provision that prohibits 'cruel and unusual punishment' the methods us Continue Reading...
Locking up petty thieves and drug users (the overwhelming majority of them black and Latino males) for 25 years to life without the possibility of parole is a blatant violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment Continue Reading...
Drug Sentencing in the U.S. Criminal Justice System The objective of the research proposed in this document is to examine the issue of drug sentencing in the U.S. Criminal Justice System in order to determine if the sentencing used is effective in b Continue Reading...
S. General Accounting Office (GAO) estimates' in 1991 stated that nearly 30% of those incarcerated had used drugs daily in the month before committing the offense for which they were in prison. By the year 2003 there were approximately 6.9 million in Continue Reading...
Four years later, the average federal drug sentence for African-Americans was 49% higher." (Vagins and McCurdy, 2006) Additionally stated by Vagins and McCurdy is: "In 2000 there were more African-American men in prison and jails than there were in Continue Reading...
Written into the legal changes would be protocols for review of cases to re-determine parole eligibility in certain cases but especially those where the latter crimes were non-violent and relatively minor offences. Because of this review aspect the Continue Reading...
Variations of the area court model, such as teen courts, medicine courts, and household physical violence courts, focus on specific concerns in order to establish even more extensive options. The underlying presumption of neighborhood courts is that Continue Reading...
It is not known if the bias found among males also exists among women. This study will address both the gap in methodology and the lack of studies regarding women. It will contribute to the existing body of evidence by filling in these important gap Continue Reading...
Three Strikes Law on the African-American Community Three Strikes legislation, which imposes sentencing enhancement on repeat offenders, often culminating with mandatory life sentences for third-time offenders, has gained popularity throughout the Continue Reading...
Overcrowding in Prisons: Impacts on African-Americans The overcrowded prisons in the United States are heavily populated by African-Americans, many of them incarcerated due to petty, non-violent crimes such as drug dealing. This paper points out tha Continue Reading...
Prison Reduction of Prison Population Current impact Population affected Government Policies. Effectiveness of Policies Efficacy of the strategies This paper highlights the prison system and relates multiple factors to it. It gives a brief bac Continue Reading...
Justice The objective of this study to is examine the expenditures on corrections at the state and federal level and perform a cost benefit analysis of the modern American conception of justice. Justice -- What Is It? Justice is many things to ma Continue Reading...
Maryland Prison System Crime is expensive. But so too is punishment. The state of Maryland, like the majority of states across the nation at the moment, is facing a period of slow economic growth and shrinking economic resources even as it continues Continue Reading...
offices in the judicial system, e.g. prosecutor, private attorney, public defender, and comparatively discuss the origin, development, behavior and relatedness of each to the other person would be considered till such a time, innocent of a crime, in Continue Reading...
Selling in public obviously can result in an arrest far easier than selling in a dorm, or a bar, or a workplace, as whites tend to do. Police can stop a black man on the street and frisk him without a warrant. And so if African-Americans are far mor Continue Reading...
"African-Americans now serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense (58.7 months) as whites do for a violent offense (61.7 months)" (Compendium 2004, 112).The Commission reported in 2004 that "[r]evising the crack cocaine thresholds wou Continue Reading...
A judge's discretion can mean the difference between a young African-American person going to jail and having his or her life irreparably damaged or being placed in a program that might have a chance to save a human being. While judges cannot be ca Continue Reading...
Offenders Rehabilitation vs. punishment Changing philosophy Sentencing Creation of mandatory sentencing Punishment vs. rehabilitation as a goal High rates of recidivism Alternative sentencing methods Increasing size of the prison population Continue Reading...
history plea bargaining? When ? 2. What recent statistics plea bargaining U.S. ( current year)? What Bargaining With Pleas The history of plea bargaining can be traced back to the end of the colonial era in the United States. Plea bargaining was k Continue Reading...
Therefore, by increasing the costs of imprisonment by the three strikes law, it is intended that there will be less crime. Marwell and Moody express several difficulties with the laws in the 24 states: Criminals are not always aware of the laws, at Continue Reading...
This essay provides a brief overview of several of the key factors in conflict of laws, including the areas where choice of law is likely to be at issue. Domicile Domicile is one of the key factors in choice of law. Domicile is not the same as loc Continue Reading...
Prison Industrial Complex as Another Form of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing US sentencing policies are still lean which has led to the federal government to incarcerate so many people. There are too many criminals committing too many crimes, and this Continue Reading...
Parole Some might describe America as being a nation of prisoners. There is no escaping the fact that our society produces many laws that result in many infractions of these laws which eventually result in many prisoners and court cases. The role o Continue Reading...
Spending more on prisons means spending less on other public purposes" (2008, p. 120). The area most affected by the ex post facto application of the revised sentencing guidelines would be northern Virginia where almost 900 inmates (fully twice as m Continue Reading...
" (2003) the police force from this view was held as "ideal for exerting order across the vast territories of Canada, whose sheer scale made law enforcement, public administration and the assertion of sovereignty difficult." (Newburn, 2003) the polic Continue Reading...
In the American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control, David Musto notes that throughout the twentieth century, America's drug wars have regularly scape-goated minority groups, like the Chinese with opium, marijuana among the Mexicans, and cocaine am Continue Reading...
The average felony sentence imposed upon federal and state offenders in 1996 was 62 months, or just over 5 years. On average these prisoners actually serve 45% of a state sentence for a mean prison stint of 2 years and 4 months, and 85% of a federal Continue Reading...
This can have adverse effects on the child's mental and emotional state and could make it more likely that the child will follow the same path. Also, incarcerating an individual who has a minor child is another way of creating a single parent home. Continue Reading...
This is particularly important when making decisions about court processes and sentencing practices in the juvenile court. The ability of youth to recognize that sanctions will drastically increase in the adult system is ample reason to justify the Continue Reading...
Prison Overcrowding Arguably the most pressing issue facing the field of corrections today is the problem of prison overcrowding. Overcrowding negatively impacts nearly every aspect of running a corrections facility, and even exacerbates problems wh Continue Reading...
The third conviction could serve as the third strike for California's anti-recidivism statute, thereby triggering a minimum 25-year sentence. Andrade was convicted of both counts of petty theft and was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 25 years Continue Reading...
This highlights one of the clearest philosophical drawbacks for a correctional focus which is geared toward incapacitation. Indeed, we might regard this as an example where 'just desserts' might be an approach affiliated with the overlooked demands Continue Reading...
