ACC 15

72%

% of African Americans from 1930 to 1966 that were executed in the south

90%

% of African Americans that were executed in the south for rape

offender victim dyad

1. black offender, white victim 2. white offender, white victim 3. black offender, black victim 4. white offender, black victim

truth-in-sentencing laws

A sentencing scheme requiring that offenders serve at least 85% of their original sentence before being eligible for parole or other forms of early release.

Per curiam

Attributed to the entire court, no author listes

Douglas v. California

Free court-appointed lawyer for appeal

Concurring opinion

Judges agree with the opinion and want to emphasize certain points

Plurality opinion

Limited or no precedential value because there is no majority decision.

Error correction

Protects against arbitrary, capricious or mistaken decisions by a trial court judge

true

T/F. in particular, a judge's sentencing decision decision is restricted by the bargains struck between the prosecutor and defense.

real offense

The actual offense committed, as opposed to the charge levied by a prosecutor as the result of a plea bargain.

Standard of review

The amount of deference an appellate court gives to the determinations made by a lower court.

82%

US General Accounting Office reported what % of the studies, "race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty."

Gregg v. Georgia (1976)

Upheld new Georgia death penalty laws requiring dual-phase trial and special circumstances; capital punishment does not constitute cruel & unusual punishment of 8th Amendment.

Notice of appeal

Usually filed in 10, 30, or 60 days

postconviction review

a form of appeal undertaken after the first appeal of right in which the defendant challenges the constitutionality of the case process. Broader than appeals - Can bring up issues not raised at trial - Assert constitutional protections raised since trial - Contest conditions of confinement - Unlimited in number in state courts, 1 in federal cour

Graham v. Florida (2010)

juvenile offenders cannot be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide offenses

ex of mitigating factors

lack of mental capacity and role in the crime

evil women

most contemporary researchers now explicitly reject what hypothesis?

Three Strikes Law

the law that applies mandatory sentencing to give repeat offenders longer prison terms

seriousness

the most important factor in setting normal penalties is the what of the offense?

Error correction and Policy formulation

what are the purposes of appeal?

minority

what judges were found to be a little lenient?

95%

% rate of agreement between the judge and the probation report who probation was recommended

88%

% rate of agreement when the PSI report opposed probation

Rehnquist Court

1980s to 2000s: A more conservative court, but also sharply divided 5-4. Begins to allow restrictions to abortions and more skeptical of government regulations, affirmative action, and other federal powers. Pragmatic but conservative - Near elimination of habeas corpus relief - Flag burning & civil drug-related forfeitures

US Sentencing Commission

A government agency created in 1984 to ensure that corporate crimes receive hefty enough punishments to be effective deterrents.

structured sentencing

A model of criminal punishment that includes determinate and commission-created presumptive sentencing schemes, as well as voluntary/advisory sentencing guidelines.

aggravating circumstances

Any circumstances accompanying the commission of a crime that may justify a harsher sentence.

mitigating circumstances

Any circumstances accompanying the commission of a crime that may justify a lighter sentence.

Policy formulation

Appellate courts fill in the gaps in existing law, clarify old doctrines, extend existing precedent to new situations & on occasion even overrule previous decisions.

4.2

Colorado prosecutors were more likely to seek the death penalty for homicides with white female victims (regardless of the race of the defendant) and that the probability of death being sought was how many times higher for those who killed whites than those who killed blacks?

Law in action

Defendants rarely win on appeal

law on the books

Expanded opportunity to appeal criminal convictions

Dissenting opinion

Explains why they believe their fellow judges reached the wrong conclusions.

Stone v. Powell

Federal courts cannot consider Fourth Amendment search & seizure questions in habeas corpus proceedings

House v. Bell

New DNA evidence, while not necessarily proving his innocence, was sufficiently compelling that no reasonable juror would have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt

normal penalties

Norms for proper sentencing based on the crime committed and the defendant's prior record.

equal treatment

Pennsylvania sentencing data indicate that "when men and women appear in (contemporary) criminal court in similar circumstances and are charged with similar offenses, they receive similar treatment."

presumptive sentencing guidelines

Required, rather than suggested, guidelines for a judge to use when deciding a sentence

voluntary sentencing guidelines

Suggested, rather than required, guidelines that stipulate a time range for a judge to use when deciding a sentence. they do not have the force of law.

Written Opinion

Summarizes the facts of the cases and discusses the legal issues raised on appeal

true

T/F. Appellate courts created because "several heads are better than one" when examining legal questions.

true

T/F. Appellate standards of review: - De novo - Clearly erroneous - Abuse of discretion - Arbitrary and capricious - Substantial evidence - Reasonableness

true

T/F. Copyright © 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Scope of Appellate Review (1 of 2) • Losing party has the right to one appeal • No longer considered innocent - Possibility of bail while on appeal is small • No appeal for prosecutors in a finding of "not guilty" - Double jeopardy • Discretionary except in death penalty cases - Losing party is not required to appeal • Interlocutory (pre-trial) appeals require trial judge's approval

true

T/F. Note that judges may resentence more harshly based upon additional aggravating information not presented at the original sentencing.

true

T/F. Scope of Appellate Review (2 of 2) • Losing party may appeal only from a final judgment of the lower court • Appeals are restricted to questions of law - Findings of fact are not appealable • Confined to issues properly raised in court - Contemporaneous objection rule - Otherwise issue is waived Might this be ineffective assistance of counsel? • Limited to findings of guilt

true

T/F. Standard of Appellate Review in Criminal Cases From least to most deferential - Questions of law - Mixed questions of law and fact - Questions of fact decided by a judge - Questions of fact decided by a jury - Discretionary decisions by a judge

true

T/F. historically, the presentence report has been based on police reports, prosecutor's records, an interview with the offender, and perhaps a talk with the defendant's family as well.

true

T/F. in murder cases, defendants who victimize women are punished more harshly. the three victimization factors were rape, forcing the victim to disrobe, and killing an unclothed victim.

true

T/F. judges afford more leniency in sentencing to offenders over the age of 60 compared to their younger counterparts, regardless of gender. women benefit from the age discount more than men in terms of less likely to be incarcerated and serving less time than men.

true

T/F. most often, the PSI is ordered by the court following the defendant's conviction. a date is set for sentencing the offender, and meanwhile the probation officer conducts the investigation. the presentence report is designed to give the judge, who must select the proper sentence, an appropriate database.

true

T/F. of the 21 states that adopted sentencing guidelines, 11 required judges to sentence within the presumptive sentencing guidelines while 10 states made judicial compliance with sentencing guidelines voluntarily.

true

T/F. opinion research finds that the public "overwhelming favors spending more on policing, crime prevention programs for young people, and drug treatment for nonviolent offenders" while they oppose additional funding for prisons.

true

T/F. presumptive sentencing guidelines are more likely to reduce sentencing disparities than voluntary sentencing guidelines

true

T/F. sentencing involves a two stage, decision making process. after conviction, the first decision is whether to grant probation, to incarcerate the defendant. or to impose some intermediate sanction. the second decision is determining how long the sentence should be.

true

T/F. state sentencing guidelines are best viewed as ranging along a continuum of more voluntary on one side and more mandatory on the other.

true

T/F. steffensmeier and colleagues found that the relationship between age and sentence length was best characterized by an inverted U shaped pattern, meaning individuals who were 18-20 years old and those over the age of 50 received especially lenient sentences. spohn and holleran found no support for this pattern. morrow, vickovic, and fradella found no direct effect of youthful age, mitigating sentences for offenders between 18 and 20, but did find what they termed a "senior citizen discount".

true

T/F. studies also found that jurors are more likely to choose a sentence of death rather than life imprisonment during penalty phase of trial.

true

T/F. the courtroom workgroup often consider the length of time between the current offense and the previous one. if there has been a significant gap, the defendant will often receive a sentence more lenient than normal.

true

T/F. the federal sentencing guidelines proved to be highly controversial. members of the courtroom workgroup resisted these guidelines. according to Michael Tonry, the federal sentencing guidelines "are a failure and should be radically revised and repealed." in support, he offered two conclusions to this argument: first, the guidelines are unduly harsh and as a result have produced a dramatic increase in in the federal prison population. second, the guidelines have failed the to achieve their primary goal of reducing unwarranted disparities in federal sentencing. indeed, the guidelines contribute to unfairness in sentencing bc they are rigid and complex.

true

T/F. the goal of PSIs is to allow the judge to make an informed sentencing decision that balances risk management of the offender(the safety of the community if the defendant is not incarcerated) with rehabilitative reasons to allow the defendant to remain in the community under supervision.

true

T/F. the normal sentences or "going rates" for typical sentences are not used mechanically; rather, they guide sentencing.

true

T/F. when the crime is perceived as being less serious, individual factors such as prior record seem to be relatively more weight than when the crime is more serious.

McCleskey v. Kemp

The 1987 Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty against charges that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment because minority defendants were more likely to receive the death penalty than were White defendants.

Roberts Court

a Supreme Court that had a conservative majority and presented resistance to the Democrats and President Obama in that it limited Congress's authority and limited Congress's power to force states to expand Medicaid

Burger Court

a conservative jurist appointed by Nixon that nonetheless continued the judicial activism of the Warren Court as seen by Roe v. Wade; this was due to the other members of the court rather than his own liberal beliefs

sentencing guidelines

a mechanism to indicate to judges the expected sanction for certain offenses, in order to reduce disparities in sentencing

mandatory minimum sentences

a requirement that for certain crimes or for certain types of offenders, there must be a sentence to prison for at least a minimum term

presumptive sentencing

a structured sentencing model that attempts to balance sentencing guidelines with mandatory sentencing and at the same time provide discretion to the judge. under this approach, legislatures specified a presumptive term of imprisonment for a particular criminal offense. ex: 4 years of imprisonment instead of an indeterminate sentence of 2 to 10 years.

Habeas Corpus

a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention. "you have the body"

Blakey

applies to state sentencing laws

prosecutors

by agreeing to a count or charge bargain, who limits the maximum penalty the judge may impose?

determinate sentencing

control release decisions, usually by abolishing boards and requiring offenders be released after serving the term impose (or a high % of the term imposed, such as 85%).

primary homicide

crimes of passion involving persons who knew each other

4

defendants convicted of killing a white victim were how many times more likely to receive a sentence of death than those found guilty of slaying an African American victim?

United States v. booker

determined judges no longer had to follow the sentencing guidelines that had been in place since 1987

evil women

emphasizes that women lose the advantages normally provided by chivalry and paternalism when they are convicted of "manly" crimes such as robbery and assault. this view argues that women rightly actually be treated more harshly than men when they deviate from stereotypical sex role expectations.

PSI(presentence investigation)

help the judge select an appropriate sentence by providing information about the crime and the criminal.

349

how many DNA exonerations since 1989?

149

how many other exonerations in 2016 alone?

40

how many times more likely was the South Carolina prosecutor more likely to request the death penalty for African American offenders who killed white victims than in cases where African American defendants were accused of killing other African Americans.

North Carolina v. Pearce & Texas v. McCullough

if a defendant wins on appeal and is retried & reconvicted, the sentencing judge cannot increase the sentence merely out of vindictiveness

Blakey

limited judicial discretion in sentencing even more than mandatory sentencing guidelines did.

evidence based sentencing

makes use of such data by using risk by empirical research to help determine whether a particular defendant would be a suitable candidate for a particular correctional rehabilitation or treatment program.

frustrations of sentencing

need to weigh the possibility of rehabilitation, the need to protect the public, popular demands for retribution, any potential deterrent value in the sentence, and restoration of the victim to the extent possible.

non-primary homicide

occur during the commission of another felony (most typically an armed robbery) and the victim is a total stranger.

Discrimination

refers to illegitimate influences on the sentencing process; defendants' attributes are the primary focus.

disparity

refers to inconsistencies in sentencing; the decision making process is the principal topic of interest.

evidence based corrections

refers to the correctional practices and interventions "that are supported by the best research evidence... derived from clinically relevant research.. based on systematic reviews, reasonable effect sizes, statistical and clinical significance, and a body of supporting evidence."

Griffin v. Illinois

requiring people to pay a fee with their request for a transcript of their trial proceedings violated their rights under the due process & equal protection clauses

two

sentencing happens in how many stages?

factors in sentencing

seriousness of the crime and prior record.

Chivalry and Paternalism

stresses that "women are awarded leniency in sentencing as a result of their inherent biological weakness and consequently, their need to be protected and coddled both as offenders and victims" paternalism emphasizes the notion that women are childlike, and therefore "women are incapable of achieving, nor are they in fact held to, the same standards of personal responsibility as men."

Warren Court (1953-1969)

the Supreme Court during the era in which Earl Warren served as Chief Justice, best remembered for expanding the rights of minorities and the rights of the accused.

non primary

those convicted of what type of homicide will most likely receive a sentence of death, regardless of the race of the offender or the victim.

Ex of Aggravating Factors

use of a weapon and personal injury to the victim

social dynamite

used to characterize the segment of the deviant population seen as particularly threatening and dangerous.

Kathleen daly

who fleshed out the equal treatment argument? she concluded that women were involved in less serious crimes, and this factor (not gender)explained lenient treatment.

judges

who is the only person possessing the legal authority to impose a sentence even though other members of the courtroom workgroup are influential?