Judges Allocation and Sentencing Guidelines

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Recommended: The concept of a fair trial

1.4 Judges are typically white men with strong political connections. Do you see any problems with this in terms of fairness in sentencing?

Judges allocation of outcomes is constrained by a diversity of factors; race has no weight on sentencing. What is taken into consideration is the severity of the crime and the individual’s criminal history. The judge has to consult the Constitution and a group of statutes and court rules that governs sentencing procedure in that given jurisdiction.

When considering procedures for sentencing, it is important to know that the outset that sentencing is an area in which jurisdictions vary considerably, and to distinguish the differences in sentencing systems may have an important bearing on the applicable procedures.

Nonetheless, except where mandatory sentencing guidelines apply, criminal judges maintain a fair degree of discretion. However they are compel to follow the rules of sentencing. Civil judges also have considerable flexibility in fashioning a remedy, in terms of both the type of remedy whether is monetary vs. other restitution and the amount allocated to the victim. In allocating some resource, decision makers can rely on several different principles of distributive justice.

2. What is the Court Room Workgroup? Define the role of each member of the Courtroom Workgroup

A Courtroom Workgroup is an unofficial arrangement between the criminal prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, and the judge who work together are able to smoothly and efficiently handle cases through cooperative plea-bargaining processes. Because of their position in the justice system, judges have the ability to define the level of their involvement in the processing of criminal cases. How they define their r...

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...ail is evidenced by a bond, which becomes a record of the court. The bond is in the character of a contract between the state on one side and the defendant and his trust on the other. The agreement fundamentally is that the state will release the defendant from custody the sureties will undertake that the defendant will appear at a specified time and place to answer the charge made against him. If the defendant fails to appear, the sureties become the absolute debtor of the state for the amount of the bond.

The purpose of bail is to guarantee the presence of the defendant, when his or her presence is required in court, whether before or after conviction. Bail is not a way of punishing a defendant, nor is supposed to there be a suggestion of proceeds to the government. Bail is use as a way of guarantee that the defendant will not become a fly risk or a fugitive.

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