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Analysis of Indeterminate Sentencing

Schlesinger (2) pointed out that during the late 1970s, state and federal governments embraced determinate sentencing as a reform designed to reduce recidivism, punish repeat offenders (especially ones convicted of several violent crimes), and eliminate disparities in the criminal justice system. Schlesinger (1) that the very flexibility which allowed judges and juries to hand out sentences of varying length and severity for crimes of a similar nature and impact lead to abuse of the system; members of minority groups and certain classes of convicted felons could anticipate harsh sentences in some jurisdictions and less stringent and punitive sentences in others. The response in terms of sentencing reform was to reduce such disparities, create a mechanism for consistency across jurisdictions, and address the questions posed by the prevalence of habitual offenders for whom rehabilitation seemed impossible or at best unlikely (Schlesinger 2).

Though embraced with a great deal of enthusiasm, determinant sentencing and limited parole options have not been proven effective in ameliorating the very problems they were intended to address. Kevin Johnson (2) reported that the federal judiciary itself has questioned the efficacy of such policies and has called for repeal of a law that limits a judge's authority to issue lighter sentences and further calls for monitoring of federal level judges who stray from sentencing guidelines. A lighter sentence, according to many judges, should be available because not all crimes are of the same significance despite their superficial similarity, and not all convicted felons are possessed of the same traits, histories, or characteristics. Indeed, a major argument in favor of a return to a structured system of indeterminate sentencing is the fact that the amount of time a prisoner spends in jail should depend upon the severity of his crime, his criminal history, and his/her responsiveness to reha...

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Analysis of Indeterminate Sentencing. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:42, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/2001418.html