What factors do judges consider when sentencing offenders? Why is it difficult to determine how they make their decisions?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Studies of judges' sentencing decisions reveal that these decisions are based on the seriousness of the offense and the offender's prior criminal record, offender and victim characteristics, the type of disposition (plea vs. trial), the defendant's pretrial status (released or in custody prior to trial), and the type of attorney representing the defendant (private attorney vs. public defender). In sentencing offenders, judges seek to implement sentences that fit individual offenders and struggle to impose just punishments, judges consider the harm done by the crime, the blameworthiness and culpability of the offender, and the offender's potential for reform and rehabilitation. The ambiguity and uncertainty inherent in the sentencing process, coupled with the fact that judges exercise considerable discretion in deciding what the sentence will be, means that we cannot conclusively determine how a judge arrived at a particular sentence in a particular case. We know that judges' sentencing decisions rest to a considerable degree on their assessments of harm and blameworthiness and their predictions of dangerousness, but we don't know with certainty how these assessments and predictions are made.