Time for Change?

Sentencing criminals has been a topic of controversy for as long as it has been around. For centuries it has been up to much debate as to what to do with law violators, and interestingly enough this is still a predicament today. Throughout history there is documentation of criminals being exported to other lands, killed, tortured, and shunned. While modern sentencing includes a variety of punishments such as fines, incarceration, parole, probation, community service, and death. More recently attempts have been made to introduce intermediate sanctions for all types of criminal offenders such as boot camps, house arrest, drug courts, and even drug rehabilitation programs. The ever-evolving efforts to effectively sentence criminals shows that sentencing is of great importance to the criminal justice system. Sentencing is how justice is achieved for the victims and the community. Ideally, the effects of sentencing would deter individuals from committing future criminal offenses. However, there is clearly a flaw in the appropriateness of sentencing since the recidivism rates continue to grow.

Despite the creation of numerous sentencing methods and policies that have been implemented with the attempt to diminish criminal behavior, there is still an ever-increasing rate of recidivism. This is proven by the abundance of published statistics by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). BJS has stated on several occasions that the number of adults in corrections has been increasing. In 2007, over one million offenders on parole were considered at risk of reincarceration, and in 2009 there were over 7.2 million people under some form of correctional supervision (BJS, 2009). The increasing rates of recidivism are portrayed as a failure in the criminal justice system and it would appear as though sentences are not harsh enough to prevent crime from occurring. Reducing the crime rate is a goal of every law enforcement practitioner; however problems remain when determining what sentences are appropriate that can reduce recidivism, ensure justice, and are cost effective.

Whenever sentencing and corrections are discussed it is common to be concerned with the fiscal impacts. For example, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) was allocated $9,776,618,000 for the fiscal year of 2007-2008, and the question on many minds is what is that massive amount is being budgeted for. The goal of the money being spent on corrections and the several sentencing options like probation, parole, etc. is to serve justice for the victims, ensure that the criminal is punished for their criminal choices, and essentially to reduce crime rates. However, there is much controversy over the continued outcomes of such sentences being handed out. Crime rates aren’t decreasing, which infuriates society that so much tax payer money is being spent on this aspect of the criminal justice system that is not appearing to work. So the question remains, is there another option for sentencing that could have better results?

In the United States, prisons have been the method of sentencing for years. However, the costs both fiscally and socially may suggest it is time to determine if current practices are the best. Statistics can’t be ignored and they show that perhaps our current methods simply aren’t cutting it. It is possible that if nothing changes, we will be left with the same problems and crime trends. On the other hand, it may be determined that current methods are the best available. Regardless, there should be constant evaluation of whatever practices are being used to allow for improvements. Ultimately the goal of sentencing is simple, to punish the offender responsible for the crime, to deter them and others from future criminal behavior, to rehabilitate offenders, and to show that reduction of recidivism is possible.

References

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2011). Correctional Population Trends Chart. Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/corr2.cfm

 Bureau of Justice Statisctics. (2011). Recidivism. Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=17

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (2011). Budget Management. Retrieved from http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Budget/index.html

California Legislative Analyst’s Office. (2011). How Much Do California Counties Spend on Local Corrections? Retrieved from http://www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/laomenus/sections/crim_justice/2_cj_county_spending.aspx?catid=3