Criminal Sentencing Purpose

1312 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What are the purposes of criminal sentencing

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...

... middle of paper ...

...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

Lin, T.Y., (2009). Public Interest in sentencing: Deterrence, Desert, or anything Singapore Journal of Legal Studies: Special Issue to commemorate its 50th Anniversary

Texas Offender Reentry Initiative. Retrieved December 01, 2010. From http://www.medc-tori.org

Wallace, H. & Roberson, C. (2008). Principles of criminal law (4th ed.). Boson: Pearson education.

Show More
Related

  • The Model Penal Code (MPC)

    263 Words  | 1 Pages

    Brody, D., & Acker, J. (2010). Criminal Law (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett.

    Read More

  • The -What Works- Movement of Criminal Justice

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wright, J. (2012). Introduction to criminal justice. (p. 9.1). San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUCRJ201.12.1/sections/sec9.1

    Read More

  • Dedicated Police Officers in the Film, End of Watch

    1221 Words  | 3 Pages

    Seigal, L. J., & Worrall, J. L. (2012). Introduction to criminal justice (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

    Read More

  • The Punishment Imperative Summary

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Punishment Imperative, a book based on the transition from a time when punishment was thought to be necessarily harsh to a time where reform in the prion system is needed, explains the reasons why the grand social experiment of severe punishment did not work. The authors of the book, Todd R. Clear and Natasha A. Frost, strongly argue that the previous mindset of harsh punishment has been replaced due to political shifts, firsthand evidence, and spending issues within the government. Clear and Frost successfully assert their argument throughout the book using quantitative and qualitative information spanning from government policies to the reintegration of previous convicts into society.

    Read More

  • Circle Sentencing as Alternative Dispute Resolutions

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    Roach, K. (2000). Changing punishment at the turn of the century: Restorative justice on the rise. Canadian Journal of Criminology. 42, (2), 249-280.

    Read More

  • Border Patrol

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schmalleger, Frank, Criminal Justice A Brief Introduction, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Education Inc. , 2010, Page 387

    Read More

  • The Bill of Rights

    1280 Words  | 3 Pages

    Harr, S. J., Hess, K. M., & Orthmann, C. H. (2012). Constitutional Law and the Criminal Justice

    Read More

  • Canada Should Focus More on Rehabilitation and Less on Retribution

    3232 Words  | 7 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Amanda Knox and Italy's Legal System

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    Abadinsky, Howard. Law and Justice: An Introduction to the American Legal System. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

    Read More

  • Punishment In Australia Essay

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    This essay has identified sanctions imposed on offenders including imprisonment and community corrections. Described how punishment is justified with the just desert and deterrence theory. Discussing the rate of individuals being imprison comparted to community, provided rates for assault which shows crime being maintained and community member feel safe enough to allow for this to

    Read More

  • The Criminal Justice System

    1478 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schmalleger, F. (2009), Prentice Hall, Publication. Criminal Justice Today: An introductory Text for the 21st century

    Read More

  • Attempted Murder and Criminal Acts

    1039 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Does The Punishment Fit The Crime?

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    Punishing the unlawful, undesirable and deviant members of society is an aspect of criminal justice that has experienced a variety of transformations throughout history. Although the concept of retribution has remained a constant (the idea that the law breaker must somehow pay his/her debt to society), the methods used to enforce and achieve that retribution has changed a great deal. The growth and development of society, along with an underlying, perpetual fear of crime, are heavily linked to the use of vastly different forms of punishment that have ranged from public executions, forced labor, penal welfare and popular punitivism over the course of only a few hundred years. Crime constructs us as a society whilst society, simultaneously determines what is criminal. Since society is always changing, how we see crime and criminal behavior is changing, thus the way in which we punish those criminal behaviors changes.

    Read More

  • The Purpose of Criminal Law

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Legal Information Institute. (2010, August 9). Retrieved February 17, 2012, from Cornell University Law School: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/criminal_law

    Read More

  • The Purpose of Punishment in a Modern Society

    2222 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Criminal Sentencing Purpose

Open Document