Sentencing

I think the sentencing process has failed on many occasions. Discussing the sentencing outcomes of Brock Turner and Alice Johnsons are examples of how the sentencing process needs to be improved immensely.  It is very obvious how bias and personal beliefs affected these cases, these are just some of the ones that were widely broadcasted. This stems from the problems with equity. There are many factors that impact whether a sentence will be fair or not. The big one discussed in recent years is race but age, gender, and social status also impact sentences regularly. This is one of the biggest issues with sentencing is the inability of many judges to look past these factors and give the proper sentence for an individual. Sentencing structures can help make it to where individuals have to serve a minimum for their crime and they can not ‘get away with it’ per se. It can take a while to reach the pre-trial phase of a case and this is where the individual learns what they may be charged for and this information is very important for a defendant. The time it can take to reach the pre-trial is an issue because while the individual is waiting they are in jail unless they post bond. Although the issue with bond is it can be very expensive so an individual will have to either wait in jail until then or get a bail bondsman. The problem with bail bondsman is they can also require a large fee to have the bail paid off and take a certain percentage. Many people do not want to stay in jail because the treatment can be poor and often people in jail have not yet committed a crime (75%) so why would they want to stay. Probation allows an individual to remain in the community while also being supervised to ensure they do not engage in illegal or negative behaviors. The individual can still maintain relationships with friends and families which can be beneficial in their rehabilitation. While prisons create a separation from society which makes it difficult to keep healthy relationships and puts the individual in a whole new culture. People often have to change to adjust to prison life and this can make them feel personally distant from loved ones. Probation gives the individual more opportunities to grow and be a better person while in prison they are not given many opportunities to do anything. I would reserve violent crimes such as murder, rape, abuse, kidnapping, and assault for prison sentences especially if the crimes are crimes against children.