...Punishment and Sentencing Philosophies Punishment and Sentencing Philosophies Chandra Walker Axia Online-UOP Abstract In this paper we will discuss the various punishment and sentencing philosophies that are used within the criminal justice system. The process that is used to apply justice is determined for the most part by punishment philosophies. These philosophies are used to express a variety of different concerns and arguments regarding the use of appropriate sentencing and treatment. Rehabilitation is a philosophy that predominantly rues the juvenile justice court system, but do not carry as much weight and is widely scrutinized within the adult courts sector. Rehabilitation may be scrutinized in the juvenile justice court system when the criminal behavior of the juvenile continues to escalate, but when rehabilitation is successful then it can be both beneficial for the criminal and society. When the appeals process is exercised it provides the fair practice of law, ensures those at trial the rights of due process, and gives clarity and provides full understanding of justice and the law. Punishment and Sentencing Philosophies In any nation that strives for great democracy, the major concern is the guaranteed universality of justice. For the US this is an ongoing process that is pursued largely in the court systems on an ongoing basis. Many criminalists state that if it the general basis for an action to constitute a crime really...
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...The Punishment Philosophy Clay Stake CJS/220 January 15, 2012 Tony Sanders The Punishment Philosophy After the conviction process has ended, the sentencing phase has five punishment philosophies the courts can impose. Deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, retribution, and restoration are all punishment philosophies that have the same goal to prevent crime. Judges impose sentences that fit the crime, but must be reasonable to the public and not violate the United States Constitution. Judges may also decide to impose sanctions like fines, probation, home confinement, or even the death penalty. Sentencing and sanctions can be used to rehabilitate criminals, deter crime, or even plea bargains. No matter what the philosophy or the sanction of the sentence, the result is that past behavior can be used to predict future behavior. The five punishment philosophies start with deterrence. Deterrence is a known penalty for crimes committed. For example, the three strikes law was imposed to deter criminals from committing crimes or face extended incarceration. Deterrence was designed to have certainty of a punishment, celerity or swiftness of that punishment, and the severity of the punishment. This philosophy is assuming that all people will consider the consequences of his or her actions before they act. This also means that people will learn from the punishment of the innocent. Incapacitation is the removal of criminals from society. Prisons are the most common...
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...The whole criminal justice system is based on one basic principle, that if you commit a crime you will be punished for that crime in one way or another in an attempt to deter you from committing that or any other crime ever again. The whole reason for this type of system is to reprimand an individual for things that we have ruled illegal or not socially acceptable, and therefor we have developed a system of punishments in order to combat all that is wrong with society. You could argue whether this is an effective system though, for the fear of punishment is not always an effective deterrent and therefore has no effect on the future criminals mind. The fear of punishment is something that we have been threatened with ever since we were a kid, I truly believe that all we have learned since then is how to better attempt to get away with doing something wrong, and not be afraid of the punishment that will follow if caught. We use punishment in all facades of the criminal justice system, whether it helps us achieve are desired goals, or is just what we feel to be are only effective option is, this is always debatable, but answers to these questions need to start coming soon, for changes must be made in order to make are criminal justice system the well oiled machine it needs to be. When it comes to the practical use of punishment, there are five recognized philosophies, there are, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, retribution, and restoration. The goal of each one of...
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...Assignment: Punishment Philosophy Paper There are five punishment philosophies used in the criminal justice system, deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation, retribution, and restoration. (Meyer & Grant, 2003) The goal of each philosophy is to prevent criminal offenses from occurring. The first philosophy is deterrence, this philosophy tries to convince people not to commit crimes or violate laws. When a person decides not to do something like parking in a handicapped space because they will be fined for breaking the law, this is called deterrence. Officers can decide to write a warning instead of taking formal actions like having the offender appear in court. (Meyer & Grant, 2003) The two types of deterrence used are known as general and specific. Specific deterrence or is when an offender decides not commits future crimes. General deterrence is a person decides not to commit a crime, because others were punished for similar crimes and do not want to deal with the punishment if caught. The philosophy of rehabilitation is when the criminal justice system tries to end criminal behavior by “curing” offenders of breaking the law. (Meyer & grant, 2003) Under the philosophy of rehabilitation a crime occurs when a criminal or “sick person” commits a crime. The person has a physical illness, psychological disorders, or a social disorder that causes them to commit these criminal offenses. The offenders that the system deems rehabilitated are...
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...Retribution is one of the most important theories in our criminal justice system today. In this essay we will look at the key elements, the history, the future and the modern application of Retribution in our society. Discussion of Retribution in Corrections Introduction The first theory that will be discussed is Retribution. Retribution is a form of punishment that is sometimes mistaken as revenge but is actually a legitimate punishment philosophy because it has three key elements that are; formal penal sanction, equity, and just deserts (Alarid, Pg.24). Retribution is the punishment given to an offender for a crime that is morally right and is fully deserved. The reason retribution really defers from revenge is the three elements above. The formal penal sanction of it is when a law has been broken and action is taken for the good of the public. The next element is equity; this is to make sure that people that commit the same crime get similar punishment and are treated the same. The final element of retribution is just deserts; this is to make sure that the punishment is proportional to the seriousness of the offense and the culpability of the offender. This is what retribution is and now we can look at the history of it. The history of Retribution can reach back a long way in our history. If you look at these words from the Old Testament it says, “An eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth”. This is the basic philosophy of retribution that is in our society today (Clear...
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...Punishment Philosophy Paper Amanda Robertson CJS/220 1/19/14 Mrs. Kathy Holder Punishment Philosophy Paper Punishment philosophy has been studied for centuries for it plays a huge factor in criminal justice and the reform of the offenders when entering back into society. Obviously there are many different forms of punishment that an offender can face after being convicted off a crime. The punishment philosophy studies areas of incarceration rehabilitation, and whether or not these punishments hold any type of deterrence from committing crimes again. Punishment philosophy and its effects on the post-conviction process There are specific types of punishment which are deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retribution. Deterrence is largely used throughout the community and has effects on offenders by deterring them to not re-commit a crime out of fear of facing the same consequence. It also affects the community for when people hear of the punishments one may face for committing a crime, or when a judge makes an example out of a criminal by giving the max penalty, it can deter the community from committing such a crime. Incapacitation is when offenders commit a crime and are then are incarcerated in prison, losing their freedom, their rights, and many then having a criminal record which will in many cases unless pardoned or expunged follow them for life. Rehabilitation is used as a way to in other words give the...
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...The Juvenile Criminal Justice System The statistics of juvenile crime are staggering: each year the juvenile justice system processes more than 2.5 million juvenile arrests each year and decides the fate of nearly 5,000 delinquent juveniles every day. This paper will cover the philosophies that shape the juvenile system and how it differs from the adult justice system. It will also touch upon the sanctions involved, the legal factors that are associated with sentencing and how the appeals process works (Chung, Little, Steinberg, & Altschuler, Feb.2005) Historically, juvenile criminals were treated the same as adult criminals. It wasn’t until about a century ago that the philosophy behind the way that juveniles that violate criminal laws were treated differently from adult offenders. Punishment was the central criminal law philosophy in English common law. Most people presumed that children under the age of seven were not capable of forming criminal intent, thus eliminating them from the criminal justice system completely. Children between the ages of seven and 14 were also presumed incompetent to form the requisite criminal intent unless the prosecutor could demonstrate that the child knew the difference between right and wrong. Children over age 14 were presumed to have the capacity to form criminal intent (Patton, 2011). During this time there were no special courts to deal with adolescent offenders. Because of this they were arrested, held in custody, tried, and...
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...|[pic] |Syllabus | | |College of Criminal Justice SSecurity Security | | |CJS/220 Version 4 | | |The Court System | Copyright © 2011, 2009, 2007 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course is an introduction and overview of the legal system, the participants, the courtroom process, and post-conviction process of the court system. It demonstrates the connections among participants and how they relate to each other. Additionally, the course covers the history of the court system and the different types of court at the state and federal levels. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the...
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...criminologist and more recently the study of deterrence of specific crimes and using imprisonment times to deter crimes as well. The deterrence theory main idea is that punishment for crimes can be used as a threat to deter people from offending. There’s two parts of the deterrence theory, specific and general deterrence. Specific deterrence is focused fully on the individual; it instils fear in the specific individual being punished. This type of deterrence refrain the individual from future violation of the law. General deterrence is the Criminal Justice system making examples of specific criminals. The criminal isn’t the main focus but the criminal act and its punishment is received in a public view in order to deter other individuals from deviance in future. Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher, best known for his work on political philosophy. Hobbes published Leviathan in 1651, which is the foundation of later Western political philosophy. In Leviathan, Hobbes describes men as neither good nor bad, he assumed that men are creatures of their own desire who want certain things and who fight when their desires are in conflict. Hobbes views that people generally pursue their self-interests, such as material gain, family and individual safety, and social reputation and these people will make foes without caring if they harm other in the process. Cause these people are so determined to accomplish their self-interests, the results is often conflict and opposition without a...
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...Assignment 1 Identify the topic you selected and explain two reasons for using it and include thesis statement: Juveniles and the justice system is the topic chosen for my research paper. According to the FBI “Juveniles (< 18 years) were arrested for murder, 2,198 for forcible rape, and 35,001 for aggravated assault,” these are all actions that sound horrible and reap even more horrible consequences. “When juvenile cases get transferred to adult criminal court through a process called a ‘waiver’—when a judge waives the protections that juvenile court provides” (Kathleen Michon, 2016). Usually, juvenile cases that are subject to waiver involve more serious crimes, or minors who have been in trouble before. Ever since more states have begun trying juveniles as adults in certain situations, the crime rate among juveniles has dropped significantly. Thesis statement: The frequency of juveniles committing horrendous crimes has been on a steady rise for the past couple of decades and even though fewer varieties of punishments, juveniles should be tried as an adult because it would deter and minimize crimes committed by minors and brings justice to the victims. Describe 3 major characteristics of your audience: My intended audience will include my professor and classmates, lawmakers, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and parents. I will try to persuade readers to agree with my stand on juveniles and violent crimes and why I feel so strongly that juveniles should be tried as an adult...
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...Site Visit to the Travis County Adult Probation SMART Program Tony Lee Merriwether HSCS/311 June 23, 2014 Sheri Meyer Site Visit to the Travis County Adult Probation SMART Program This paper is an overview of adult probation program designed to provide an alternative to incarceration. The Texas Criminal Justice Program designed the program as a diversionary mechanism to provide comprehensive treatment to offenders that require treatment for substance abuse and chemical dependency. The offenders must meet certain criteria to gain entrance into the program. The program is resident in nature to assist the offenders with re-socialization process. The counseling and intervention sessions are conducted by Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselors, (LCDC) which use cognitive behavioral therapies as a treatment tool. The SMART program is very structured in regard to the structure, its mission, and goals. There are strict eligibility requirements that offenders must meet to attend the 20-week program. The program is not gender specific and is available for male and female offenders. There are three levels of treatment provided at the treatment facility. Therapy is provided in the form of individual and group sessions. The writer visited the site while accompanied by LCDC Ms. Vicki Clark Merriwether; Ms. Merriwether gained her experience working with active duty Soldiers as an Alcohol and Drug counselor at several military locations in the United States and Europe. Ms. Merriwether...
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...Punishment and Sentencing CJA 224/Introduction to Criminal Court Systems March 26,2012 Abstract This paper will explain and identify the various punishment philosophies within the juvenile court and its processes. Also the adult court process will be explained how they differ with the punishment philosophies. In addition, the sanctions involved, various legal factors associated with sentencing, and the aspects of the appeals will be explained. There are four punishment philosophies which include: deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retribution. The goal of each philosophy is to deter crime, however each approach is different. The purpose of deterrence is to prevent crime by persuading individuals not to commit crimes because they have been punished for violating the law. For example, “when people decide not to park in a handicapped space because they have been fined or do not want to be fined, they have been deterred from illegal activity” (Meyer & Grant, 2003). There are two types of deterrence: general and specific. Specific deterrence is when criminals are deterred from future crimes because they have been punished. At whatever time convicted criminals state they want to avoid returning to jail, specific deterrence is in effect. General deterrence is when the community or people in general are deterred because they know criminals are punished. For example, when driving a vehicle, it is known not to speed or a ticket will be issued; to...
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...Behaviours that infringe upon the happiness of others or their property or the general wellbeing of those within the community were discouraged with stronger means such as verbal abuse, beatings and banishment. (Allen and Simonsen, 1998) 3. Theorists such as von Hentig of the early 1900’s proposed that Bentham’s theory of deterrence was invalid due to the fact that the pleasure of committing a crime is a “near object” whereas the consequence of crime imposed by the legal system is a “long-distance danger” and is unable to counteract the immediate rewards of crime. (Paternoster, 2010, p773) HOW MUCH DO WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT CRIMINAL DETERRENCE? Paternoster, Raymond Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology; Summer 2010; 100, 3; ProQuest Central pg. 765 Bentham's Utilitarian Critique of the Death Penalty Hugo Adam Bedau The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-), Vol. 74, No. 3 (Autumn, 1983), pp. 1033-1065 Published by: Northwestern University Article DOI: 10.2307/1143143 Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/stable/1143143...
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...The juvenile justice system is, primarily, made up of many informal procedures. This system is based on the parens patriae philosophy, and is structured towards helping juvenile offenders, as opposed to, hindering them. However, if a juvenile is suspected of committing a crime, there are several procedures in place to help determine if the adolescent, did in fact, break the law. For example, if an adolescent is suspected of violating the law, law enforcement officers will begin an investigation. There are several things that officers look for during an active investigation, such as, the nature of the offense, and any past criminal history. If the initial investigation provides fruitful information, the officers have the right to file for a...
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