Chapter 9 Flashcards
(28 cards)
Forfeiture
giving up property you gained from committing a crime
-Criminal vs Civil
Problem: does not consider the offenders ability to pay the fines—- many go unpaid
Selective incapacitation
Critiques?
- Wolfgang et al. (1972): 6% offenders represented 52% of all arrests
- RAND Corporation study
- Requires accurate identification of serious offenders
- did not commit only the same offense
- specific factors: juvenile arrests, substance abuse, etc- Critiques - specific factors does not guarantee that person will be a chronic offender (false positive) - trying to predict who is going to commit a crime - selective incapacitation suggest people never age out of crime ---- they do (age crime curve)
Civil Commitment
- 5th amendment
- sex offenders, offenders that are ill
- incarcerates people after there time in prison-treatment orientated not punishment orientated----- DOES NOT violate the 5th amendment
Indeterminate sentencing
- judge gets to decide time
- usually a minimum time and a maximum in which a judge as to decide between
Determinate sentencing
- no parole board
- fixed sentence
- sometimes the judge will still allow early release
Mandatory sentencing
Sentencing strategy that removes discretion from the judge
-legislature sets the sentence
- Judge has no discretion
- Ex: three strikes law
US sentencing reform eras
Indeterminate sentencing (1930-1975)
Sentencing Reform (1975-1984)
Tough on Crime (1984-1996)
Equlibrium (1996-2013)
Indeterminate sentencing era
1930-1975
- judicial discretion
- parole boards
- focus on rehabiliation — who is ready to join society now
Sentencing reform era
1975-1984
- equality and consistency
- judge had lots of discretion—- not fair to everyone (ex: race)— got rid of judge discretion and parole board
- wanted something more fair
Tough on Crime era
1984-1996
- severity
- ignore non legal aspects of an offender— focus on the crime
Equlibrium
1996-2013
- Ambivalence
- more prosecutorial discretion
- more focus on just punishing crime not offender
Mass imprisonment negative consequences
- Families
- children
- income- Communities
- formative of social bonds when people are cycling in and out of prison - Overcrowding
- no education programs
- health
- translate to mental health problems
- Communities
Supermax imprisonment
Critiques?
A prison with the most secure level of confinement available
Kept in single cells for 23 hours/ day
- meant for incapacitation and retribution
- little to no contact with people
Critiques
- humanitarian issues
- some keep people in solitary confinement for periods as long as 20 years
- very expensive--- need lots of resources
Social learning theory in prisons
how to commit other offenses and to do it well
Hydraulic displacement of discretion
Evidence?
Taking discretion away from one criminal justice actor may just give it to someone else
Evidence?
- prosecutors did increase their discretion
- hard to study
Focal concerns hypothesis
- blameworthiness (offenders fault? ex: juvenile, domestic violence)
- desire to protect community
- individual/ organizational constraints (case load, prison overcrowding)
Sentencing Enhancements
Provide for longer prison terms for specific offenses and crimes committed with specific motivations
Two varieties have received most of the attention
-Crimes committed with guns (FSE)
Wisconsin v. Mitchell (1993)
- Intentional selection of victim/ property based on status characteristics
- two extra years for a hate motivated choice (attacked a boy because he was white)
research on 3 strikes
With a few exceptions, the studies show:
- No reductions in crime
- offenders not concerned with getting caught
- May increase homicides
- get a large sentence for a much smaller crime anyways
On what grounds can the death penalty be debated on?
- constitutional
- moral
- discriminatory
- deterrent
Zimring: Vigilante values
- identify with the death penalty as a community process not a government process
- a citizen thing (they did something heinous against us so we sentence them to death)
History of capital punishment
- Suspended from 1972-1976
- mentally ill and juveniles (under 18) cannot be sentenced to death
Capital punishment in Texas
One-third of U.S. executions are in Tx
- Tx typically accounts for a significant portion of nationwide executions- 60 percent in 2007.
- Six people have been executed in 2008- one in TX on Wednesday
General deterrence and capital punishment
- early studies suggested yes
- one execution should deter 8 murders
- Later studies- inconsistent
