1. PUNISH E
M NT
And sentencing

2.  List and contrast the four basic philosophical
reasons for sentencing criminals.

3.  Retribution – the philosophy that those who commit
criminal acts should be punished based on the severity of
the crime
 Incapacitation – a strategy for preventing crime be
detaining wrongdoers in prison
 Deterrence – preventing crime through the threat of
punishment
 Rehabilitation – providing wrongdoers the resources
they need to eliminate criminality from their behavioral
pattern

4.  Contrast indeterminate with determinate
sentencing.

5.  Indeterminate  Determinate
Sentencing – a practice Sentencing – a practice
in which the sentence in which the period of
of a convicted person incarceration for
identifies a minimum specific crimes is fixed
and maximum time to by a sentencing
be served, rather than authority and cannot be
a specific time to be reduced by judges or
served. other corrections
officials.

6.  Explain why there is a difference between a
sentence imposed by a judge and the actual
sentence served by the prisoner.

7.  “Good time” - reduction in time served by prisoners
based on good behavior, conformity to rules, and other
positive actions.
 Truth-in-sentencing law – a legislative attempt to
ensure that convicts will serve approximately the terms
to which they were initially sentenced.
 Judicial Sentencing Authority
 Administrative Sentencing Authority

9.  List the six forms of punishment.

10. Forms of Punishment:
 Capital punishment
 Imprisonment
 Probation
 Fines
 Restitution and community service
 Restorative justice

11.  State who has input into the sentencing decision
and list the factors that determine a sentence.

12. The Sentencing Process:
 The presentence investigative report.
 Recommendations from the prosecutor and
defense attorney.
 The role of the jury in capital cases.

13. Factors of sentencing:
 Seriousness of the crime
 Aggravating and mitigating circumstances
 Judicial philosophy

15.  Explain some of the reasons why sentencing
reform has occurred.

16. Sentencing Disparity: Sentencing
Those who commit Discrimination:
similar crimes should When the sentence is
receive similar influence by race,
punishments. gender, economic
status, or some other
factor not related to the
crime.

17. Three ways disparity occurs:
 Offenders receive similar sentences for different
crimes of unequal seriousness
 Offenders receive different sentences for unequal
crimes
 Mitigating or aggravating circumstances have a
disproportionate effect on sentencing

18. Sentencing Discrimination:
 The “Punishment Penalty”
◦ Rates of imprisonment rise significantly for those who are
young, minority, and unemployed.
 Women and Sentencing
◦ Women convicted of crimes are less likely to go to prison
than their male counterparts.

19.  Sentencing Guidelines
◦ State Sentencing Guidelines
◦ Federal Sentencing Guidelines
◦ Judicial Departures
 Mandatory Sentencing Guidelines
◦ Habitual Offender Laws
◦ “Three Strikes” in Court

20.  Methods of Execution
 The Death Penalty and the Supreme Court
◦ Weems v. United States (1910)
◦ Furman v. Georgia (1972)
 Reforming the Death Penalty

22.  Identify the two stages that make up the bifurcated
process of death penalty sentencing.

24. The Bifurcated Process:
 Furman v. Georgia (1972)
 Court Approval
 The Jury’s Role
 Mitigating Circumstances
◦ Insanity
◦ Mentally Handicapped
◦ Age

25.  Describe the main issues of the death penalty
debate.

27.  Questions:
◦ Do you believe lethal injection should be considered
cruel and unusual punishment?
◦ Do you believe that methods that were one day
considered acceptable (such as the firing squad) are
cruel and unusual?

28.  Deterrence – does it deter crime?
 Fallibility – does the system make mistakes?
 Arbitrariness – is it arbitrary?

30.  The Immediate Future of the Death Penalty
◦ Reasons for the Decline in Executions
◦ Continued Support for the Death Penalty

32.  Questions:
◦ Should an individual be executed if there is DNA
evidence that could be tested, but has not been tested?
◦ Should an individual be eligible for capital punishment if
there is the absence of DNA evidence?