Ch.15 - Book - America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System by Essay

Ch.15 - Book - Americas Courts and the Criminal Justice System by David W. Neubauer, Henry F. Fradella - Essay Example firm by the parole board who take into account the minimum sentence plus the prisoners good behaviour while in jail (positive rehabilitation).Liberal criticism of indeterminate sentencing law is ground upon the fact that people who have committed similar crimes usually serve different number of years. This dissimilitude creates an ambiguous sentencing system. Conservatively, indeterminate sentencing is based on the principle of rehabilitation. Evidence in the 1970s revealed that rehabilitation had genuinely little impact on the convicts future decisions with respect to crime. The rehabilitation system in any case focused on the convict, neglecting the crime and the victims. There was no sense of punishment, retribution or deterrence.Indeterminate sentencing were at once very popular but it was however noted that at times judges were too easy and that rehabilita tion did not stop convicts from committing more crimes in the future. Legislature therefore instituted mandatory minimum sentences that had to be served irrespective of good behaviour. Apart from this, sentencing guidelines were also adopted to prevent ambiguous sentencing. Finally, legislatures adopted three-strike laws that act as reinforcement to rehabilitation measures.Indeterminate laws were very common in the 1970s but we however encompassing of inconsistencies. Due to several criticisms about their effectiveness, legislatures around the country undertook several modifications in order to justify its