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Module 6 Introduction – Sentencing This module will look at sentencing. Each st

    Module 6 Introduction – Sentencing
    This module will look at sentencing. Each state has it’s own sentencing guidelines as well as the Federal system. It’s very complicated but most states use a combination of factors. The seriousness of the current offense and the offender’s criminal history score. There are many types of sentences as well, sentences with parole, community based sanctions, electronic home monitoring and more.
    Competencies covered in this module are:
    Outline the structure and function of corrections in America.
    Explain the historical and philosophical developments in criminal justice.
    Examine the factors which shape the community’s attitude toward criminal justice.
    Module Six – Lecture
    When a defendant is convicted in this country, that person typically receives a sentencing date approx. 30 days from the day of conviction (even if this is an acceptance of a plea bargain). During that 30 days, a judge may order a PSI or Pre-sentence Investigation. This is a very important document as it lets the judge know what is a defendant’s criminal history score. This is determined by how many convictions this person had prior and any special sentencing factors or enhancements. It also lets the judge know if this sentence is presumed to be probation or presumed to be prison.
    The most common sentence is probation. This typically comes with a suspended sentence. For example, a defendant is sentenced to 24 months in prison but it is suspended and the judge allows the defendant to go on probation. If he/she is successful, that sentence is satisfied. If they do not successfully meet the terms of their probation, they may be sentenced to prison for the duration of their term.
    Probation comes with many conditions that are standard, such as, you may not commit new offenses, do not consume illegal substances, etc. It may also have special conditions specific to that offender such as a restraining order to not contact the victim.
    Most drug offenders in Kansas are sentenced at least once to drug treatment. This may be in or outpatient. These types of sentences in Kansas are called SB 123 cases.
    Module Six – Reading Assignment
    There are 2.2 million people incarcerated in America today.
    Modern day sentencing practices are influenced by five goals. These goals attempt to limit an offender’s potential harm to society.
    Retribution – A just deserts perspective that is basically society seeking revenge on an offender for the harm they have caused. You did this, you deserve this punishment.
    (Links to an external site.)
    Below is a link outlining dangerous prisons in America. You don’t have to memorize it, I just want you to get an idea.
    http://www.arrestrecords.com/the-28-most-dangerous-prisons-in-america/ (Links to an external site.)
    Incapacitation – This is the lock-up goal. We’re going to remove you from society, keep you imprisoned to some degree to keep others from harm.
    Deterrence – This goals is two fold. One is we’re going to punish Offender A, so would be criminals B, C, D and others are deterred from future crime because they fear the punishment. That’s general deterrence. Specific deterrence is we’re going to punish Offender A, to teach A a lesson.
    Rehabilitation – We want to reform a criminal into becoming a law abiding citizen. We’re going to provide resources to improve their education, vocational training, social skills, parenting and life skills, addiction counseling, etc.
    Restoration – This goal operates under the belief that offenders can be “made whole again”. That is, help them to unlearn the behaviors that led them to their criminal lifestyle.
    Having stated these goals, the primary function of sentencing is to hold offenders accountable for their behavior, hopefully in similar ways. When similar offenses are not punished by similar sentences, this is called sentence disparity. Here are three articles for you to read:
    https://www.sentencingproject.org/issues/racial-disparity/ (Links to an external site.)
    https://www.sentencingproject.org/issues/incarceration/ (Links to an external site.)
    https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/what-should-be-the-purpose-of-prison/ (Links to an external site.)
    There are many issues to consider in sentencing. I’m going to use Kansas (the home state of Barton Community College) as an example.
    Most felons (upwards of 95%) enter a voluntary guilty plea through a process of plea bargaining. The sentence or range is generally recommend by the prosecuting attorney based on the sentencing grid in addition to a variety of factors. The sentencing grids in Kansas are called, the non-drug grid (offenses not involving illicit drugs) and the drug grid. Here is a link to each of them. Notice how they are shaded.
    https://www.sentencing.ks.gov/docs/default-source/2018-forms/2018-nondrug-grid.pdf?sfvrsn=64d4fd3f_0 (Links to an external site.)
    The drug grid:
    https://www.sentencing.ks.gov/docs/default-source/2018-forms/2018-drug-grid.pdf?sfvrsn=52d4fd3f_0 (Links to an external site.)
    Each block has three numbers in it representing months in prison or probation. The judge will typically go to the middle block unless there are justifications for upward/downward departures or mitigating and/or aggravating circumstances. This means there are factors which make the crime more or less serious.
    The green shaded areas are designated such for presumptive probation sentences. This means, if you are convicted or plead guilty to a crime, you look at the severity level of on the left of the grid and find the intersection with the offender’s criminal history and this is the sentencing block. If it is in the green area, even though a jail or prison sanction is available for that offense, the judge is likely to sentence that offender to probation (which is a sentence). I specifically mention that probation is a sentence because many people believe it is a privilege, a courtesy, when in fact there are conditions and guidelines which govern probation.
    Every criminal law or statute defines it’s punishment or severity level. Here’s an example:
    21-5420. Robbery; aggravated robbery. (a) Robbery is knowingly taking property from the person or presence of another by force or by threat of bodily harm to any person.
    (b) Aggravated robbery is robbery, as defined in subsection (a), when committed by a person who:
    (1) Is armed with a dangerous weapon; or
    (2) inflicts bodily harm upon any person in the course of such robbery.
    (c) (1) Robbery is a severity level 5, person felony.
    (2) Aggravated robbery is a severity level 3, person felony.
    So, robbery by itself is a Severity Level 5, person felony. You can see that on the left side of the non-drug grid. If you use, display or threaten a weapon or inflict, threaten or display bodily harm, it becomes a Severity Level 3, person felony. You can see that adds many more months to an offense. Where it falls on the grid is by finding the intersection between the severity level of the offense and the criminal history of the offender.
    Here are two links of individuals receiving different sentences for robbery:
    https://salinapost.com/2016/06/16/kansas-man-sentenced-for-gas-station-armed-robbery/ (Links to an external site.)
    http://www.hdnews.net/news/20180910/man-sentenced-to-prison-for-armed-hotel-robbery (Links to an external site.)
    While we’re still examining the sentencing grid, you’ll see a small number of boxes shaded in blue. These boxes represent sentences that are called “border box” sentences. That is, they can be either probation or prison, it is up to the discretion of the judge. If the judge finds aggravating circumstances or the offender has failed in previous rehabilitation attempts, the judge may send them to prison. Conversely, if the judge deems this offender could perhaps be successful on probation, may suspend a prison sentence and allow the offender to go on probation.
    Here’s an example of that:
    http://www.hutchpost.com/hutch-man-sentenced-to-over-five-and-half-years-in-child-sex-case/ (Links to an external site.)
    The above article is interesting because it includes victim impact statements. The offender (defendant, Don Adams) seemed to believe he was going to be sentenced to probation. However, the judge has the discretion in a border box case and utilized it here.
    The white blocks represent presumptive prison sentences.
    When you are calculating a prison sentence, you must take into account any special sentencing enhancements. These are typically found on a PSI which we will cover in Introduction to Corrections. For our purposes, and realize this is a very brief overview, sentencing enhancements are generally because a crime is especially aggravated in some way. Perhaps the victim was particularly vulnerable, such as a child, disabled person or elderly. Or, the defendant was a convicted felon and committed another felony with a firearm. There are many ways to enhance a sentence with an upward departure.
    Module Six – Video/Other
    https://sentencing.ks.gov/docs/librariesprovider26/2018-forms/2018-je-complete–pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=8bd5fd3f_0&sfvrsn=8bd5fd3f_0

    Module Six Questions
    Go to the homepage for the Kansas Sentencing Commission.
    https://www.sentencing.ks.gov/home (Links to an external site.)
    Read the following report (it’s an easy read, lots of it is redundant) The guts of the report starts around page 10. When you see the abbreviation in a chart as N or D, this stands for Non-Drug grid (criminal offenses that are sentenced here:
    Non-Drug Grid
    https://www.sentencing.ks.gov/docs/default-source/2020-drm/2020_nondrug_gridad38960efbcb68218de7ff0000981210.pdf?sfvrsn=a3f3fe3f_0 (Links to an external site.)
    or D, the Drug Grid, found here:
    https://www.sentencing.ks.gov/docs/default-source/2020-drm/2020_drug-grid9d38960efbcb68218de7ff0000981210.pdf?sfvrsn=9cf3fe3f_0 (Links to an external site.)
    The purpose of this assignment is for you to have an idea of the margins the prison system is operating under. Who actually is in prison? It’s not all new committments. Where are we going to house the projected population? We are not building new prisons. In Kansas, we just re-built a part of the prison at Lansing and Kansas doesn’t even own it, we pay rent. Prisons in Kansas as in most states, have a severe understaffing problem that needs to be addressed.
    The assignment is to write a 1 or 2-page summary based on this report about projected prison populations. I’d like you to not just copy and paste, but if you do include a chart or graph, please cite it like this (KS Sentencing Commission report, page _____). I hope this is more explanatory and please let me know if you have additional questions.
    Fiscal Year 2021 Adult Inmate Prison
    Population Projections
    https://www.sentencing.ks.gov/docs/default-source/publications-reports-and-presentations/fy-2021-prison-population-projection-report.pdf?sfvrsn=203dfd3f_0

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