Criminal Sentencing purpose
There was once a Television show name “Berretta” and the show theme song said do not do crime if you cannot do the time. That is a true saying, one that should be on every criminal mind why they are committing a crime. Sentencing a criminal for crimes for which they have been convicted of is their due punishment according to the severity of the crime committed. The Courts have for centuries punished criminals according to the belief of the society in which the crime was committed.
The belief systems of a civilized society have often dictated the punishment in criminal procedures. In biblical days, the belief system called for stoning for violation of many of the Jewish people laws. In modern day societies, the term “sentence” is used to refer to punishment for crimes. Sentencing can be further defined as “the process by which a judge imposes punishment on a person convicted of a crime or crimes.” (Wallace & Roberson, 2008, p. 337, p. 339) Sentencing can also take several forms, some design to avoid jail or prison terms. The concepts that will be discussed are deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation, and retribution. The general purpose of criminal sentencing is to punishment the convicted criminal for the crimes in which they have committed. However, there are studies that state the intent of criminal sentencing does not always center on merely punishing the convicted criminal. Jo Dixon of New York University “states the formal legal theory of sentencing predict that sentencing is initially determined by legal variables; the substantive political theory predict that sentencing is determined by legal and social status variables.” (Dixo...
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...olume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: November Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=242575
Davenport, A.U. (2009). Basic criminal law: the constitution, procedure, and crimes (2nd ed). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall
Dixon, J., (1995). The Organizational Context of Criminal Sentencing The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 100, No. 5 (Mar. 1995), pp. 1157-11. The University of Chicago Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2782274
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Wallace, H. & Roberson, C. (2008). Principles of criminal law (4th ed.). Boson: Pearson education.
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Schmalleleger, F. (2002). Criminal Law Today: An Introduction with capstone cases. (2nd edition) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
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Society has long since operated on a system of reward and punishment. That is, when good deeds are done or a person behaves in a desired way they SP are rewarded, or conversely punished when behaviour does not meet the societal norms. Those who defy these norms and commit crime are often punished by organized governmental justice systems through the use of penitentiaries, where prisoners carry out their sentences. The main goals of sentencing include deterrence, safety of the public, retribution, rehabilitation, punishment and respect for the law (Government of Canada, 2013). However, the type of justice system in place within a state or country greatly influences the aims and mandates of prisons and in turn targets different aspects of sentencing goals. Justice systems commonly focus on either rehabilitative or retributive measures.
punishment is an asset to society: it is the only punishment that fits the crime, it deters potential criminals
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Answer 1: The criminal law aims to punish the offenders, but the forms of punishment are different and have different goals. This lesson explores the types and goals of contemporary criminal judgments. A convicted murderer was sentenced to death. Convicted offenders must serve a sentence of one year, probation, and compensation for the store. A truant high school student was ordered to attend an alternative school and complete community service hours.
Schmalleger, F. (2009), Prentice Hall, Publication. Criminal Justice Today: An introductory Text for the 21st century
Lippman, M. (2012). Contemporary Criminal Law Concepts, Cases and Controversies (3rd ed.). [Vitalsouce Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781452277660/5/3
Laws serve several purposes in the criminal justice system. The main purpose of criminal law is to protect, serve, and limit human actions and to help guide human conduct. Also, laws provide penalties and punishment against those who are guilty of committing crimes against property or persons. In the modern world, there are three choices in dealing with criminals’ namely criminal punishment, private action and executive control. Although both private action and executive control are advantageous in terms of costs and speed, they present big dangers that discourage their use unless in exceptional situations. The second purpose of criminal law is to punish the offender. Punishing the offender is the most important purpose of criminal law since by doing so; it discourages him from committing crime again while making him or her pay for their crimes. Retribution does not mean inflicting physical punishment by incarceration only, but it also may include things like rehabilitation and financial retribution among other things. The last purpose of criminal law is to protect the community from criminals. Criminal law acts as the means through which the society protects itself from those who are harmful or dangerous to it. This is achieved through sentences meant to act as a way of deterring the offender from repeating the same crime in the future.
According to David Garland, punishment is a legal process where violators of the criminal law are condemned and sanctioned with specified legal categories and procedures (Garland, 1990). There are different forms and types of punishment administered for various reasons and can either be a temporary or lifelong type of punishment. Punishment can be originated as a cause from parents or teachers with misbehaving children, in the workplace or from the judicial system in which crimes are committed against the law. The main aim of punishment is to demonstrate to the public, the victim and the offender that justice is to be done, to reduce criminal activities and to deter people from wanting to commit any form of crime against the law. In other words it is a tool used to eliminate the bad in society or to deter people from committing criminal activities.