...PRINCIPLES OF SENTENCING: TOWARDS A EUROPEAN CONVERSATION Paper delivered at Conference on “The Limits of the Criminal Law” at Leiden University, January 23, 2008 and subsequently published in Cupido (ed), Limits of Criminal Law (Nijmegen, 2008).[1] Tom O’Malley Senior Lecturer in Law National University of Ireland Galway First, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the students of Leiden Law School for having organised this conference. Thanks to their vision and energy, representatives from several European countries have gathered in this historic venue to discuss some key aspects of criminal law and criminal procedure. More often than not, we think of European law solely in terms of European Union law, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights or both. Needless to say, the study of European law even in this limited sense is of the highest importance given its impact on our national legal systems and our daily lives. However, growing levels of legal and political integration now demand that we broaden our vision of European law to encompass the domestic legal systems of individual European states. Some work has already begun in this regard,[2] but it is only on rare occasions such as this that we can engage in a meaningful exchange of ideas and information on areas of common concern. Criminal justice is a most appropriate and worthy topic with which to begin. In times past, sentencing would not have featured very prominently...
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...Ohio State University law professor and civil rights activist Michelle Alexander, author of "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," reports there are more African American men in prison and jail, or on probation and parole, than were slaves before the start of the Civil War. Statistics reported in 2006, by the U.S .Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics support this claim, which show that Blacks made up 41 percent of the nation’s 2 million prison and jail inmates, while Non-Hispanic whites made up 37 percent and Hispanics made up 19 percent. The disproportionate ratio of blacks to whites who are incarcerated is especially great in Iowa, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota – greater than 10-to-1 (USJB, 2006). Why this structural inequality towards African Americans is happening, why it matters, and suggestions to rectify this, are issues that are discussed in this paper. Why is this happening? Since 1970, the U.S. has experienced a large and rapid increase in the rate at which people, regardless of race, are housed in federal and state correctional facilities (Snyder, 2011). This rapid growth in the prison population has been attributed in a large part to the rate at which individuals are incarcerated for drug offenses, especially minorities (Snyder, 2011). Between1995 and 2003, the number of people in state and federal prisons incarcerated for drug offenses increased by 21 percent, from 280,182 to 337...
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...Research Analysis and Position Statement Andrea Schnitz Huntington University Synopsis Today, the federal prison system is operating at 40% over capacity. Many of these prisoners in the system are still imprisoned because of mandatory minimum sentences. Many of them committed non-violent crimes and are being punished longer than what the actual crime may deserve. In fact, some have been wrongly accused or were only vaguely associated with a crime, but are being imprisoned for the mandatory minimum. The number of prisoners is increasing because of mandatory minimums, which is requiring more funding from the states. The major issue associated with mandatory minimum sentencing is that it has increased imprisonment, but it has not reduced the crime rate, especially in drug related cases. Position Statement Mandatory minimum sentences have increased imprisonment, which has cost the states more money. Having mandatory minimum sentences has not reduced crime and therefore, is not effective. It should not be repealed completely, but there need to be certain adjustments made according to what crimes and type of involvement with crimes require mandatory sentencing. The U.S. Senate is considering two bills that would revise the federal sentencing laws in the case of mandatory minimum sentences. The Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013 expands the existing sentencing “safety valve” by allowing a judge to depart downward from any mandatory minimum, if the court finds that it is necessary...
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...Monahan, John J. (24 Nov, 2005). Drug-Sentence Laws under fire; Mandatory minimum blasted: Telegram and Gazette (Worcester, Mass) A1. John Monahan a Statehouse Reporter for Telegram and Gazette discusses the mandatory minimum sentencing laws for drug related crimes which were adopted in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Monahan highlights some of the major problems with minimum sentencing laws related to drug crimes. The article relates to the core of the issue by recent research and opinions of government officials who support this view. He finds this opinion strongly supported by people in the legal field and some government officials as well, however the article is also of interest to those effected by or with some interest to mandatory minimum sentencing. Many critics find the laws to be unfair for various reasons. The laws target minorities, take discretion away from judges and put it in the hands of police and prosecutors who misuse this discretion and apply punishments that do not fit the crime committed. Senator Cynthia S Creem, D-Newton has sponsored a bill that would allow inmates to be considered for parole after serving two thirds of their sentence. However this proposal was rejected outright by Lt Gov. Kerry Healey. Rep. Anne Paulsen also proposed to make the law even stricter by adding time to their sentence for those who commit drug offenses nearby a school. The article concludes with Chief Justice Mulligan maintaining the law is a problem because it disproportionately...
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...administration implemented was part of a Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. Some agree and others disagree with the war on drugs. What we all can agree on, is that prisons have swelled to all-time highs due to the war on drugs campaign. I believe there are many workable solutions that can decrease the prison population in America. First, replace mandatory sentencing laws with more flexible and individualized guidelines. Second, reduce the three strike laws for nonviolent offenders. Third, relax the Truth-in-Sentencing Laws. Last, support community policing efforts. In 1986 Congress passed the anti-drug abuse at which was well intentioned established 5 to 10 year mandatory sentence is for drugs importation and distribution. A couple of years later President Reagan signed the Omnibus Anti-Drug Abuse Act granting the federal government authority to penalize all conspirators and drug related crimes regardless of their role. Believe it or not, most people locked up in the federal system are serving time for conspiracy charges due to drug distribution although nothing was found. By removing minimum mandatory sentences and replacing them with other guidelines, you give the judges more discretion to render a sentence they feel fits the criteria. Another way to reduce prison population is by reducing the three strike law for nonviolent offenders. For example, in California the three strikes law has many people in prison not because they committed a crime, but...
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...prison system there are various key issues that surrounded the operations of the daily activities as well as the administration of the judicial system. Some of these key such as prison violence, prison rape and the drug policy issues are negative and does affect the prison. On the issue of prison violence, over the years, prison violence has been on the rise. This has causes major changes within the prions system, such as implementing strategies to control the prisoners and their criminal behaviors. Prison rape also has continues to rise. This issue has been will probably continue to exist. This is because the prison officials have yet to be able to control this kind of activity. Another issue that has been affects the prison system is the sentencing that are being handed out for drug charges. This has cause the prisons to be overcrowded. Prison Violence on the Rise Prison violence is on the rise, many prison conditions are a recipe for violence, by being overcrowded, understaffed, insufficient staff training, excessive solitary confinement, insecure facilities, mistreatment of mentally ill inmates, policies that weaken family ties, a culture of disrespect between staff and prisoners, and little accountability for wardens. These facilities are causing concern not only for inmates but, for those employed to supervise the convicted offenders. Inmate population continue to grow, staffing levels in most facilities either have stopped or decreased. Violence has increased in the prisons...
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...United States Prison System: The War on Drugs The United States of America is no longer the home of the free. It is the home of the locked up and caged. How can this nation embrace the concept of freedom when over 2.4 million of its citizens are locked up in prison? How can Americans have the nerve to utter the words, “racial equality” when over 10% of all African-American men is incarcerated? How can we take pride in a nation that locks up its citizens that suffer from the disease of addiction? This should be an embarrassment to all Americans. The criminal justice system must be reformed and surrender the “War on Drugs.” According to the June 2008 Bureau of Justice Summary, Americans make up only four and a half percent of the world’s population yet boasts twenty-two percent of the world’s incarcerated population. According to the same report, the American Criminal Justice System imprisons six times more of its population than other free nations such as Canada, Australia, Germany, Spain, and Italy. America incarcerates ten times more of its population than Japan, France, and Finland. We have the highest rate of incarceration in the world, much higher than China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea whom we consider fascias police states. The 2009 statistics reported in the Prison Index showed that one third of African-American men will serve time in prison at some point in their life. The Bureau of Justice statistics reported, “The number of inmates in...
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...that we covered this semester? The 1970s War on Drugs is one of the most important ethical issues that we face in today’s justice system. The War on Drugs is more important than others because it has many negative trickling effects from the shift to punitive policies. The War on Drugs has made America the leader in incarceration rates (Banks 2005:114). These high incarceration rates within America have also led to overcrowding, racial bias, increase in women in prison, and many other negative effects. The public does need to be educated on the negative effects from the War on Drugs in order to push for change in our punitive policies for non-violent drug offenders. In order to change these negative effects, America needs to get rid of mandatory minimums and the three strikes laws. These laws are placing many non-violent drug offenders in prison. These offenders are in need of substance abuse treatment in order to stop the vicious recidivism cycle. Wrongful conviction is another very important ethical issue that we are facing in today’s justice system. Wrongful convictions are very important when it comes to ethical issues because innocent people are being put on death row by our government. There are organizations with insightful information about this issue on their websites such as the Innocent Project. Wrongful convictions are becoming more prevalent due to the technology of DNA testing (Innocence Project website). However,...
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...It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back: The War on Drugs, Mass Incarceration, and a Call to Action for America's Black Youth By Carl L. Young An Alternative Plan Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science In Sociology: Corrections Minnesota State University, Mankato Mankato, Minnesota Spring 2013 Final Draft 4/20/2013 1 This Alternative Plan Paper has been examined and approved by the following members of the Examining Committee. _____________________ Dr. Leah Rogne, Advisor _____________________ Dr. William Wagner _____________________ Dr. Penny Jo Rosenthal _____________________ Dr. Nadarajan Sethuraju ________________ Date 2 Abstract This alternative plan paper examines the circumstances that have evolved as a result of the Reagan Administration’s War on Drugs and the increase of mass incarceration of the Black community. In the last thirty years, the federal government of the United States of America has engaged in campaign known as the “War on Drugs,” which has involved a variety of policies to stop the production, distribution and sale of illegal narcotics. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent in a war that has targeted the most vulnerable in our society, impacting its youth for generations to come. This alternative plan paper addresses the impact of the War on Drugs and the criminal justice policies that have impacted the life chances of Black youth nationwide and calls for a new social movement...
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...Racial Disparities in America’s Judicial System The mandatory imprisonment policies written for the judicial system are creating disparity of minority inmate population primarily due to non-violent drug crimes and the unjust mandatory minimum sentencing laws. America’s prisons are the most populated in the world, and they are disproportionately populated by minorities due to the set of mandatory imprisonment policies set in place. Over the past five decades, the disparity between races has widened dramatically according to the National Center on Institutions. In the 1950’s, blacks and Hispanics were the minorities in the prison system, whereas today whites are. Is this due to poverty? I’m sure poverty plays a big role in most cases. Robert Woodson Jr., president of the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise said the reason young men engage in criminal activity is not just for money, it is to make a name for themselves, to have some expression of worth, even if the expression is self-destructive. Crack cocaine hit the streets in the early 1980’s, infesting the lower income areas. It’s a cheap drug compared to cocaine and easier to come by than some of the higher priced drugs. Is this considered racial disparity? The Sentencing Project in 2007 states that two-thirds of the regular crack users are white and Latino, 82 percent of defendants sentenced in federal court for crack offences are African-American. Criminologist William Chambliss suggest that blacks are more...
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...noted earlier, nonincarceration sentences include economic sanctions, probation, and intermediate sanctions; incarceration sentences include both short-term and long-term confinement. As described in the next two chapters, short sentences are sometimes linked with an intermediate sanction, so offenders spend part of their sentence in jail or prison and part of their sentence under supervision in the community. Finally, there are sentences of death. For sentences of incarceration, indeterminate and determinate sentences are the two primary models used throughout the United States, although there are many variations for each of these. Indeterminate sentences blend the decision by the sentencing judge and a later decision by a release authority to determine the actual time served. At the time of sentencing, judges sentence offenders to indeterminate sentences, with a minimum and maximum amount of time to be served (for example, two to five years or ten to twenty years). After serving the minimum term, offenders are eligible to be released and their cases are reviewed by a parole board. The parole board determines the release date any time between the minimum and maximum sentence. If a parole board never grants parole, the offender serves the maximum sentence and then must be released. The parole decision and postrelease supervision in the community are described in Chapter 6. indeterminate sentences sentences that have a minimum and maximum time to serve; a decision by a release authority...
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...Reading Questions 1.) In the report ‘A Living Death’, how do the authors explain the dramatic increase in the number of people serving LWOP? What kinds of changes do they propose to reduce this number? The authors explain the dramatic increase in the number of people serving LWOP as a result of the War on Drugs and “tough-on-crime” polices. These policies paved a road to many unnecessarily harsh sentencing laws. These include three-strike laws and mandatory minimum sentences for non-violence crimes. The authors suggest ending federal nonviolence LWOP sentences, eliminating nonviolent LWOP sentences, reforming the legislation, and much more to help reduce the number of people serving LWOP. 2.) In ‘Prison Diary’, Dole says that it’s the feeling of ‘impotence’ that finally ‘breaks you’ in prison. What does he mean by this? What dole means, it is the things in life that you realize you will not be able to take part in again is what makes prison the hardest. You are a spectator to your family’s life. You cannot be there for a tragedy, or help them when they are sick. You cannot be a father to your children, or enjoy the little things in life. You care confined behind bars for the rest of your life, and the feeling of not being able to be there in the world for the things that matter the most are the most heartbreaking. 3.) How does Dole explain the ways that healthcare and education are (and are not) part of the supermax prison in which he is confined? As for the...
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...Ineffective Treatment of Addiction through the Criminal Justice System According to a recent survey, nearly “two-thirds of people polled support treatment over incarceration (Pew ResearchCenter for the People & the Press, 2014).” While a staggering “sixty-three percent favor doing away with minimum mandatory sentencing” altogether (Pew, 2014). This is extremely significant as it shows that a fundamental shift is occurring. For decades, our primary source of information concerning addiction has been our U.S. Government. Their strong emphasis on the purported “War on Drugs” has led to mass corruption on their part while simultaneously taking an active role in legislating zero-tolerance mandatory minimum sentencing. The recent Pew Poll is a prime example that the majority of Americans have seen the ineffectiveness behind our current policies. As more and more research is released on the subject of addiction, it is becoming increasingly obvious that a solely criminal approach is undeniably ineffective and in some regards, inhumane. Ineffective treatment of addicts has created; over-crowding on our criminal justice system, inexcusable financial hardships on our society, and is a major factor behind the revolving door syndrome. A quick look at the current state of our prisons can be rather glaring. The U.S. currently houses approximately 2.3 million inmates. Out of this number approximately 1.5 million have been medically diagnosed with severe substance abuse issues with an additional...
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...Overcrowded prisons are a huge issue that have been plaguing the United States for quite a few years now. There is no certain cause for the overcrowding in our prisons, however there are many suspected reasons believed to be causing the overcrowding. In order to really begin fixing the problem, concern must be given to each and every one of these causes. Overcrowding in prisons is a serious issue because it affects millions of people in the U.S., not just prisoners, but taxpayers and prison staff as well. Illinois, in particular, is suffering from overcrowded prisons quite severely. Nearly every prison in the state is overcrowded. In order to solve this increasingly serious problem, many steps must be taken to begin prison reform and to begin living in a country in which the way we punish our criminals makes more sense and is more effective than how it is today. Everyone seems to know someone that is in prison these days, whether the person has committed a serious, violent crime, or just got caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time, they still end up in some sort of prison facility. In fact the U.S.’s rate of incarceration is 455 people per every 100,000 people (Smolowe, 1994). To put that in perspective, it is the highest rate of incarceration compared to any other country in the world. Even South Africa, our close second, only imprisons 311 people per ever 100,000 (Smolowe, 1994). Due to the harsh punishment of imprisonment for even the most minor...
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...Any person who commits a crime has to do the time, even if that time is in jail, participating in community service, or being confined to specific limits through house arrest. Sentencing a criminal their time of punishment is reasonable, it’s the amount of time these convicts are being sentenced under mandatory minimum sentencing that is the root of the problem. Mandatory minimums have been sparking controversy throughout America for quite some time. These sentences have been seen as the most outrageous sentencings for nonviolent criminals. This problem raises a major question: Should criminals charged with nonviolent crimes be given mandatory minimum sentences? Mandatory minimum sentences are sentences that require a criminal, convicted...
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