Explain and discuss the history and significance of Sentencing Reform and Three Strikes Laws.

What will be an ideal response?


In 1980, Minnesota adopted sentencing guidelines in an effort to provide for uniform, proportionate, and predictable sentences. Currently more than a dozen states employ guidelines. In 1984, the U.S. Congress passed the Sentencing Reform Act. The law went into effect in 1987 and established the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which drafted binding guidelines to be followed by federal judges in sentencing offenders. Sentences under the federal guidelines are based on a complicated formula that reflects the seriousness and characteristics of the offense and the criminal history of the offender. The judge employs a sentencing grid and is required to fix a sentence within the narrow range where the offender’s criminal offense and criminal history intersect on the grid. A series of Supreme Court cases beginning with United States v. Booker have established that the guidelines are advisory and do not bind federal judges in sentencing.

Criminal Justice

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Early British criminal law was dominated by the objectives of punishment and retribution.

Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)

Criminal Justice

Discuss the different leading cases involving ineffective assistance of counsel. How difficult is it to prove ineffective assistance, and how might a defendant attempt to do so? Discuss the reasons that the U.S. Supreme Court has stated for its holdings in these types of cases

What will be an ideal response?

Criminal Justice

In ________ v. Alabama, the Supreme Court held that it would be unconstitutional "for the trial judge to accept a guilty plea without an affirmative showing that it is intelligent and voluntary."

Fill in the blank(s) with correct word

Criminal Justice

The problem with teaching democracy and legality at the same time is

a. That they are the same thing c. That they are both hard to teach b. That they can conflict with each other d. That no one understands either one

Criminal Justice