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Sentencing Disparity

            What are your thoughts on sentencing disparity?.
             Sentence disparity is a term used to describe the variations and equities that result when defendants convicted of the same crime receive varying sentences; may refer also to varying sentences from state to state. An example of sentencing disparity is if a three-time offender in one jurisdiction receives 5 years for armed robbery, whereas a three-time offender in another jurisdiction receives 15 years for the same offense.
             In my opinion sentencing disparity is unfair. I believe that there should be equal time for the same crime. The justice system should create a sentencing score to go by when handing down sentences. The score should be the same for all jurisdictions in all states and should be followed exactly as written. Judges have too much authority when it comes to sentencing. All judges are not fair and we as realistic citizens can not expect them to be because that would be unrealistic. So, therefore when it comes to sentencing the people or the race that a particular judge may be prejudice against does not receive fair sentencing, whereas others that the judge may not be prejudice against and may even know does get fair treatment. Judges jobs are to make decisions based on what they hear in court, but just like all people judges also have bad days meaning that one day one person may receive 15 years with the possibility of parole for armed robbery and the next day another person may receive 25 years without the possibility of parole. This is unfair to the people who commit crimes because they are not treated equally by the criminal justice system. In the long run this could cause the criminal justice system money because of the appeals that inmates may come back with after figuring they have not treated equally by the criminal justice system. If I had a chance to become a Judge I would pass because it comes with too many stipulations and it is also a dangerous job.


Essays Related to Sentencing Disparity

1. Crack Cocaine Prisoners Released Early by Fair Sentencing Law

Approximately 12,000 federal prisoners will be released early because of the U.S. Sentencing Commission's decision to retroactively apply the Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced prison terms for inmates convicted of crack-cocaine offenses. On a unanimous vote, "unfairly long sentences" for crack offenders, who are mostly African Americans, were reduced to ... lesser sentences to those who are already in prison (Serrano). Patti Saris, the head of the commission, said the Fair Sentencing Act is a result of Congress "recognizing the fundamental unfairness of federal cocaine-sentencing policy." T...

  • Word Count: 790
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Racial Disparity in Criminal Law and Justice

... for people being suspected and a lopsided number of blacks being arrested. The patterns of disproportionate arrests generate more extensive criminal histories for minorities and may influence sentencing outcomes of longer prison terms in average. II. Disparity Depending on Victim's Race This part will cover some specific cases of death penalty followed by the criminal acts of murder. Of numerous studies of death ... that corresponds to the severity of each crime, with this statistic data above, it is clearly shown that racial disparity exists in the application of the death penalty when...

  • Word Count: 2471
  • Approx Pages: 10
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3. Criminal Sentencing and Reform

... to the safety of society. Many can agree safety is important; however holding offenders accountable varies from state to state. Traditionally, there has been disparity among sentencing violent offenders. One way to reduce this disparity is to have uniform guidance to help judges determine the appropriate sentences a violent offender should receive. Many have argued against the perceived truth in sentences ... efforts to combat crime was against violent offenders. In the 1980s, States enacted tougher punishments for violent offenders in efforts to lessen the disparity among sentences. The...

  • Word Count: 1330
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System

... system, but race still plays a critical role in many Criminal Justice outcomes. Studies which have been conducted has proven that young, Black and Latino males will receive harsh sentencing compared to other offender populations, and black defendants convicted of harming white victims suffer harsher penalties than blacks who commit crimes against other blacks or white defendants who harm whites ... at the same rate as Whites, the unequal targeting and treatment of people of color throughout the criminal justice system – from arrest to sentencing – results in the disproportionate impr...

  • Word Count: 1374
  • Approx Pages: 5
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5. American Criminal Justice

... . Latinos constitute 19% of the prison and jail population compared to their overall 15% share of the population. (The Sentencing Project 2008) The impact of racial disparity can also be seen in the juvenile justice system. While African American youth represents 17% of their age group within the ... general population, they represent 46% of juvenile arrests (The Sentencing Project 2008). The US Bureau of Justice Statistics concludes that the ... 37% of the youth in juvenile jails and an astonishing 58% of the youth sent to adult prisons. (2009 Criminal Justice Primer, The Sentencing Pro...

  • Word Count: 2307
  • Approx Pages: 9
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  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Cultural Diversity and Criminal Justice

... processing practices and the potential for differential criminal sentences being imposed on racial and ethnic minorities. Early research on the role of race and ethnicity in criminal sentencing was more descriptive than theoretical. The methodologies involved in early studies were weak, and when theoretical explanations were offered, they often entailed unsophisticated notions of individual ... by prosecutors, together with whatever concessions may be made during plea negotiations. Since responsibility for determining the initial charges, and for plea negotiations, is vested in the prose...

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7. Cocaine

... found little inherent difference between crack and powder cocaine and concluded that the 100:1 ratio was unfair. Congress rejected the amendment by the Sentencing Commission to eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and powder. Other efforts to alter the ratio have also failed. Simple possession of any quantity of powder cocaine by fist-time offenders is considered ... serve a longer sentence due to the difference in price. The 100:1 quantity ratio in cocaine sentencing causes low-level crack offenders to receive illogically severe sentences compared to high level powder cocai...

  • Word Count: 745
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Death Penalty

... this country. "In 1848, for example, Virginia enacted a statute which required Blacks to be executed for any crime for which Whites might receive three years imprisonment." (Rothman, p.2) While discriminatory sentencing may not always have been written into law, numerous studies cite statistical evidence showing the increased likelihood of Black offenders being executed when compared the Whites. H.C. Brearley reported that in ... in how to hide racial motivation in jury selection, successful appeals are very difficult to achieve. Racism among the jury members has been offered as another p...

  • Word Count: 3013
  • Approx Pages: 12
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9. The State of Capital Punishment in Texas

... in a five to four decision that capital punishment "as was then administered, was arbitrary and capricious and opened the door to discriminatory practices- (408 U.S. 238 [1972]). It felt that current sentencing guidelines violated the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, and Fourteenth Amendment, which ensures equality of citizenship and due process of law. The Court then asserted that the ... over democrats, 85% to 74%, Protestants support it over Catholics, and whites support it over Hispanics and blacks, 87% to 65% and 54% respectively (Fair 1992 A News). Th...

  • Word Count: 4933
  • Approx Pages: 20
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  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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