Concerning granting judicial discretion to sentence a defendant to an indeterminate or determinate sentence for a sexual offense, and, in connection therewith, requiring the criteria and basis for the sentencing decision to be articulated on the public record. Sentencing in the Criminal Justice System Interim Study Committee. Currently, a court is required to sentence certain sex offenders to an indeterminate sentence that is a maximum of the sex offender's life. The bill allows the court to choose either the indeterminate sentence or a determinate sentence in those cases. The bill addresses the factors related to punishment and treatment that a court must consider when deciding between an indeterminate
or a determinate sentence. The court must specify its reasons on the record for choosing either a determinate or an indeterminate sentence.
Prisons
and jails frequently suffer from overcrowding. Even in the best of times they are, by definition, facilities where people are placed in close contact with each other on a near-constant basis. Factor in the unique health challenges faced by incarcerated people and the limited availability of quality healthcare, and it’s no surprise that correctional facilities are uniquely vulnerable to diseases such as Covid-19. Correctional administrators have limited control over how long people spend incarcerated, but they can use what authority they possess to release people outright or direct people to less restrictive forms of
confinement. They can also ease conditions of confinement and increase access to health products. Some correctional authorities have already begun this work. Between March and June, more than 100,000 people were released from state and federal prisons. According to analyses by The Marshall Project and The Associated Press, this constitutes an 8% decrease in the national prison population since the pandemic started. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the country, and particularly its incarcerated populations,
government actors have turned their attention to vaccine distribution as the solution to this health crisis. Though some states have explicitly included incarcerated individuals in their vaccination plans, many have not yet provided information as to how and when those behind bars will be granted access to this protection. Brennan Center Recommendation: Elderly and sick
people and those incarcerated for parole violations should be released or recommended for release under compassionate release provisions or another authority. Barring that, prison officials should use their discretion to transfer people to community corrections options. Spring 2020 Summer 2020 Fall 2020 Winter 2020–2021
Spring 2021
Summer 2021
Fall 2021
Winter 2021
State/Local Responses and VaccinationsAlabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawai’i
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
U.S. Territories
Telephone and Video CallsBrennan Center Recommendation: Correctional authorities should make telephone and video calls free for the duration of the crisis and, where necessary, work with private vendors to achieve this goal.
Hygiene and Access to HealthcareBrennan Center Recommendation: Correctional authorities should further waive commissary fees for soap, toilet paper, and other hygienic essentials for the duration of the crisis.
Community SupervisionBrennan Center Recommendation: Jurisdictions should implement alternative methods — such as video or telephone — for people released on some form of community supervision to stay in touch with their supervising officer and waive the need for in-person meetings except in extraordinary cases.
Additional Resources
Stay up to date Informed citizens are our democracy’s best defenseWhen can an indeterminate sentence be imposed?A product of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the IPP must be imposed upon individuals who are convicted of a serious offence (that is a specified sexual or violent offence carrying a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment or more) where 'the court is of the opinion that there is a significant risk to members of the ...
Who decides the length of incarceration in an indeterminate sentence?Under state criminal laws, and within the criminal justice system, “indeterminate sentencing” refers to a specific way that a sentence is imposed in a criminal case. For example, a judge might impose the following indeterminate sentences: “5 years to 15 years in state prison,” or. “20 years to a life sentence.”
What is the ISRB Washington State?The Indeterminate Sentence Review Board (ISRB or Board) is a quasi-judicial board that makes informed release decisions relating to a convicted person's release or further incarceration by a thorough analysis of the persons past and present behavior and risk to public safety.
Do indeterminate sentences still exist?In May 2012 the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act abolished IPP sentences and from December 2012 no new IPP sentences have been imposed. Around 6,000 prisoners were sentenced under IPP from their introduction in 2005 to 2012.
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