The definition of an intermediate sanction is the criminal punishment between the act of imprisonment and the application of probation. This scenario and circumstances that one of these sanctions would be administered depends on multiple variables. These can be based on aggravating and mitigating circumstances, jury, and unfortunately racial and gender circumstances. Three major intermediate sanctions to take closer look at are pretrial diversion programs, fines, and community service. For starters, a pretrial diversion program is defined as an alternative prosecution which seeks to divert certain offenders from traditional criminal justice processing into a program containing different methods of supervision. In practice, this sanction results …show more content…
Plain and simple, fines are defined as an amount of money demanded as a form of charge by a court of law or other source of authority. Fines are given out to act as a way for the offender to “pay back” society and to also ensure they show up to where they need to show up at. , such as trial. The deciders of the fine and distributer of it comes down to the court, whether it be federal or state. One of the benefits of fines, as previously mentioned, is the assurance that the offender will show up to their case. Another would be it’s presence as a deterrent, because no one wants to willingly give up money for making a wrong decision. An important factor to also mention about fines is their ability to vary in amount based on the crime, which allows it to be a very malleable and widely used as a form of …show more content…
This element is able to be used as an alternative to being in jail, or another form of punishment. It also works to deter further criminal activities and temptations, a means of punishment, and individually help the offender themselves. Unfortunately, there is evidence suggesting racial and gender disparities when it comes to probation. All in all, the proportion of black and white people based on their overall population size and percentage actually partaking in these punishments is very disproportionate. There are also disparities correlating between Hispanic as well, all of which is growing media attention. On the other hand when it comes to gender, females are treated differently than men. This is apparent when it comes to treatment and length of sentencing. Overall, intermediate sanctions have pros and cons as opposed to the method of incarceration. Benefits that are present tend to correlate with the idea of helping both the offender and society, the ability to let an offender still be punished but not to the extent of being too harsh such as imprisonment, and the ability to not overcrowd jails and to focus on more severe cases. Now referring to the negative side of things, intermediate sanctions are very uncertain when it comes to the ethicacy and philosophy behind these
For a majority of the 20th century, sentencing policies had a minimal effect on social inequality (Western and Pettit 2002). In the early 1970s, this began to change when stricter sentencing policies were enacted (Western and Pettit 2002). Sentencing laws such as determinate sentencing, truth-in-sentencing, mandatory minimum sentencing, and three-strikes laws were enacted with the purpose of achieving greater consistency, certainty, and severity in sentencing (National Research Council 2014). Numerous inequalities involving race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status have generated an unprecedented rate of incarceration in America, especially among minority populations (Western and Pettit 2010). With numerous social inequalities currently
Corrections are a necessary tool to protect society from those who do harm to others or to others property. Depending on the type of crime that was committed, and if the crime is considered a state or federal charge, also depends on where the person sentenced will do his time. There are four main sentencing options available; prison, probation, probation and confinement, and prison and community split. When a person is sentenced to do their time in prison most likely they will go to a state or federal prison. If a person is ordered probation, it prevents them from going to jail but they have stipulations on their probation. This is called intermediate sanctions, which are the various new correctional options used as adjuncts to and part of probation. Some intermediate sanctions include restitution, fines, day fines, community service, intensive supervised probation, house arrest, electronic monitoring, and shock incarceration.
2010, “Racial Disparities in Sentencing: Implications for the Criminal Justice System and the African American Community”, African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies 4(1): 1-31, in this Albonetti’s study is discussed in which it was found that minority status alone accounted for an additional sentence length of “one to seven months.” African American defendants were “likely to receive pretrial release but were more likely to be convicted, and be given harsher sentences after conviction than white defendants charged with the same crimes.” One of the reasons behind this are the sentencing laws, it is seen that these laws are designed in a way that they tend to be harsher towards a certain group of people, generally towards the people of color than others thus leading to inequality with the sentencing
Pretrial diversion process is when defendants charged with non-serious offenses are diverted in lieu of prosecution, if they agree to complete certain requirements such as community services, enrollment in rehabilitation program, conditional supervision. The process give first time offenders a second chance at having a clean criminal record. The prosecutor’s office serve as a gateway as to which defendants are eligible for pretrial diversion process. Defendants are evaluate on certain factors to determine if the likelihood of future criminal behavior or noncompliance.
All in all, intermediate sanctions has been shown to be an effective alternative to prison. The benefits of reducing overcrowding, saving on cost, and giving the offender what they need sure enough makes it worth looking at. Along with that, the options that it provides as far as sentencing gives prosecutor and judges the ability to choose their outcome for most cases. These programs all prove to be all well and good with the exception of some programs like bootcamps but still effective nonetheless.
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
Intermediate sanctions are a new punishment option developed to fill the gap between traditional probation and traditional jail or prison sentences and to better match the severity of punishment to the seriousness of the crime. Intermediate sanctions served in the community now account for 15 percent of adjudicated juvenile cases (Puzzanchera, Adams, and Sickmund, 2011). All intermediate sanctions are enforced by the United States Criminal Justice System. The main purposes of intermediate sanctions: (1) better match the severity of punishment to the seriousness of the crime, (2) reduce institutional crowding, (3) control correctional costs. Primarily, this is a needed method of punishment to make offenders accountable for the extent of crime and if so let offenders live in their communities to fulfil punishment if not too extensive.
Mandatory sentencing is not anything new. It began in the 1970s. The main purpose for mandatory sentencing was to try to get rid of the drug lords and to eliminate most of the nation’s street drug selling. It was to impose that the same crime would have the same sentence all over the nation. Some of the negatives that rose from mandatory sentencing were nonviolent drug offenders and first time offenders who were receiving harsh sentences. Inmate populations and correction costs increased and pushed states to build more prisons. Judges were overloaded with these cases, and lengthy prison terms were mandated to these young offenders. Mandatory sentencing is an interesting topic in which I would like to discuss my opinions in going against mandatory sentencing. I will show the reasons for this topic, as well as give you my personal brief on which I support.
Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment.
There are a few benefits to both mandatory sentences and indeterminate sentencing. Mandatory sentences puts everybody on an even playing ground, and sets a standard for the penalty for a given offense. Indeterminate sentencing allows for some discretion in the sentence, it allows factors other than the offenders guilt of whatever crime to be considered during sentencing, ultimately allowing the opportunity for the most effective sentence. They each also have some issues. Mandatory sentences do not take any other factors into account, which can lead to an unjust punishment. Indeterminate sentencing also leads to the possibility that somebody might not get the full punishment they deserve because they could be let out on parole or get time taken off their sentence for good behavior.
Diversionary programs aim to use a variety of program based sanctions that permit convicted offenders to remain in the community under conditional supervision as an alternative to a prison sentence. These programs include probation, parole, community corrections and many more. Diversionary programs not only provide offenders with better way to serve their sentence, but also provide employment opportunities.
One of the many problems with the criminal justice system is the issue of mandatory sentencing. A mandatory sentence is when people convicted of certain crimes are punished with at least a minimum number of years in prison. Mandatory sentencing especially applies to crimes related to drugs, thus criminals who have gone to prison for rape and other violent crimes, often serve less time then drug dealers because of these mandatory laws. Many politicians view this as unfair because these harsh laws on drugs are not fixing the problem, rather they are costing tax payers millions of dollars and overpopulating prisons. To fix the problem law enforcers must convict and sentence the drug lords, rather they are harshly punishing addicts and “drug
The diversion process is commonly used in the criminal court process our court system in Madison County. I have seen regular diversion and judicial diversion used by the judges in Madison County judicial district. According to Schmalleger and Smykla, (2015) diversion is the process of halting or suspending the formal criminal proceedings against a person, which are sometimes conditional for the person. This conditional status could be for the completion of a specified treatment, counseling, or educational program.
A fine is another type of sentence imposed by the court system. Fines are determined on case to cases basis depending upon the offense. All fines given must be paid, if not there are consequences regarding nonpayment of fines. One consequence given is imprisonment. I know in the state of Alabama, if you’re not able to pay for your fines, the judge can put you on probation which is like a payment plan, and you’ll have to pay a probation fee along with your fine cost and if you don’t pay they will put a warrant out on you and that’s just for less serious offenses like traffic violations. Fines are imposed to ensure that the victim is paid for damaged done by the offender’s
Penalty would be put into a court case based on the appeal and the jurisdiction