Chapter 11

Summary:
Penalties imposed for committing criminal acts, to accomplish deterrence, retribution, incapacitation, and/or rehabilitation.  Retribution believes the offender ought to be made to experience revenge for his actions.  Deterrence is designed to prevent crimes from occurring.  General deterrence takes place when individuals see others being punished for crimes, while specific deterrence is the use of punishment against a specific offender for their criminal act.  Incapacitation prevents criminals from victimizing others by keeping them away from civilization.  Rehabilitation attempts to reform offenders through vocational and educational programming and counseling.  Punishment can be influenced by the 8th Amendment, 13th Amendment, prosecutors, defense attorneys, seriousness of the offense, and prior criminal record.  Several different reforms have taken place over the years concerning sentencing and punishment: colonial model, penitentiary model, reformatory model, progressive model, medical model, community model, and crime control model.  Determinant sentences are a specific, fixed-period sentence while indeterminate sentencings are for a flexible time period.  Consecutive sentences are served all at once or stacked while consecutive sentences are served separately.  Federal sentencing guidelines use a grid system to chart the seriousness of offense, criminal history, and so forth and thus allow the court to arrive at a more consistent sentence for everyone.  At the state level, the Adult Sentencing Guideline Manual provides comprehensive information on adult felony sentencing as set forth under state law, identifying the seriousness level of the offense and “scoring” the offender’s criminal history.  Victim impact statements were upheld by the Supreme Court as well as capital punishment.  DNA has been used to exonerate individuals in many cases, including capital punishment cases.  Technology has aided the courts by reducing costs with digital recordings and videoconferencing, as well as paper on demand (routine use of paper no longer exists in general).

Objectives:

• Delineate the four purposes of punishment
   
• Explain the factors that influence the type of punishment that a convicted person will receive
   
• Describe the historical development of, and different philosophies regarding, crime and punishment from the colonial era to today, and how different types of prisons were built accordingly
   
• Review the forms of punishment that are used around the world, and a sense of whether or not the punishment that is used is always suited to the offense committed
   
• Describe the differences between, and purposes of, both determinate and indeterminate sentences
   
• Review the federal sentencing guidelines
   
• Explain the law and purposes surrounding the use of victim impact statements
   
• Describe the fundamental arguments for and against capital punishment, including key Supreme Court decisions concerning its existence and application, methods of execution, and DNA exonerations from death sentences
   
• Describe aggravating and mitigating circumstances as they apply to sentencing decisions
   
• Explain the right to appeals by those who are convicted
   
• Review how technologies are making the courts more efficient

Outline:

• Purposes of Punishment
   
  • Penalties imposed for committing criminal acts, to accomplish deterrence, retribution, incapacitation, and/or rehabilitation
     
  • Four Goals
     
  • Factors Influencing Punishment
     
• Models, Methods, and Reforms
   
  • Determinate and Indeterminate Sentences
     
• Types of Sentences to Be Served
   
  • Determinate and Indeterminate Sentences
     
  • Consecutive and Concurrent Sentences
     
• Federal Sentencing Guidelines
   
  • Sentencing guidelines
     
  • Background: Legislation and Court Decisions
     
  • State-Level Sentencing Guidelines
     
• Victim Impact Statements
   
  • Information provided prior to sentencing by the victims of a crime (or, in cases of murder, the surviving family members) about the impact the crime had on their lives; allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court
     
• Capital Punishment
   
  • Arguments For and Against
     
  • Key Supreme Court Decisions
     
  • Methods of Execution
     
  • DNA Exonerations and Moratoria
     
• Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances
   
  • Aggravating
     
  • Mitigating
     
• Criminal Appeals
   
  • Prison inmates are not entitled to free legal counsel for subsequent discretionary appeals
     
  • Postconviction remedies
     
• Technologies in the Courts
   
  • Achieving Paper on Demand
     
  • Emerging Technologies