Chapter 15 CRJ 320 True/False

Because of evidence of racial discrimination, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Georgia's capital punishment statute in McCleskey v. Kemp

F

Contemporary research provides strong and consistent support for the idea that female offenders are treated more leniently than male offenders due to judicial paternalism.

F

Federal sentencing guidelines are now mandatory rather than advisory.

F

Legislative changes from indeterminate to determinate sentencing have not affected the use of parole.

F

Legislatively altered sentencing structures have had a minimal effect on prison populations across the United States.

F

Mandatory minimum sentencing laws are one method legislatures use to decrease the severity of sentencing.

F

Overall, states in the western region of the United States impose the harshest punishments for crime.

F

The Supreme Court has held that judges and not juries have the authority to determine important facts (other than prior record) that determine sentencing.

F

The finding that poor, young, minority males are disproportionately represented in prison populations provides proof of discrimination

F

When a crime is perceived to be less serious, individual factors such as prior record are given relatively less weight than when the crime is more serious

F

A law on the books approach to mandatory minimum sentences stresses nullification by discretion, whereas a law in action approach stresses certainty of punishment.

T

A sentencing guidelines grid allows for upward and downward departures from the guidelines.

T

Determinate sentencing abolishes parole.

T

Executions in the South clearly show major racial differences.

T

In Kimbrough v. U.S. the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal judges may sentence defendants more leniently than the guidelines prescribe, particularly in crack-cocaine cases.

T

In United States v. Booker (2005), the Supreme Court held that the federal sentencing guidelines are unconstitutional but judges may use them as advisory.

T

Judges generally follow the sentencing recommendation provided in a probation officer's presentence investigation report.

T

Many judges say that sentencing is the most difficult part of the job.

T

Researchers find that urban courts make greater use of probation and shorter prison terms than their rural counterparts.

T

Since Cunningham, it is clear that Blakely applies to state sentencing laws.

T

Some empirical research suggests that women are less likely to be incarcerated in jail or prison than men.

T

The U.S. Supreme Court has emphasized that racial discrimination in the imposition of the death penalty violates the 14th Amendment's guarantees of due process and equal protection. However, proof of such discrimination cannot rest on statistical evidence of racially disparate sentencing outcomes.

T

The results of the most recent and methodologically sophisticated studies provide evidence that the contemporary sentencing process is not racially neutral.

T

The trend since the 1970s has been to reduce judicial discretion in sentencing.

T

The use of discretion by criminal justice system actors can sometimes nullify or compensate for severe punishment laws.

T