List and discuss each of the factors that influence sentencing

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Factors influence judges when they decide on criminal sentences including the severity of the offense, the offender's prior criminal record, whether the offender used violence, whether the offender used weapons, and whether the crime was committed for money. Research shows a strong correlation between the above legal variables and type and length of sentence received. Judges sentence more severely in cases involving the more serious criminal charges, while tempering the severity of sentencing in less egregious offenses. People with prior felony convictions are much more likely to receive prison time than those convicted of misdemeanors and those who have no prior convictions. There is also potential for some judges to be influenced by the defendant's age, race, gender, and income. Judges may be more lenient with elderly defendants and more punitive toward younger ones. When race is concerned, no issue concerning personal factors in sentencing is more important than the suspicion that race influences sentencing outcomes. The chivalry hypothesis suggests that women benefit from sentence disparity and receive more favorable outcomes the further they go in the criminal justice system. Finally, social class is a factor in sentencing as we often see that members of the lower class may expect to get longer prison sentences