Types of Sentences You Should Know

Death sentence

When a person is handed down a death sentence from a jury, an individual faces the prospect of being put to death by the government. There are only 58 nations around the world in which a person can be sentenced to death. Although most countries oppose the death sentence, 60 percent of the world’s population can be sentenced to death because the death penalty is allowed in the four most populous countries in the world.

DUI sentence

A DUI sentence is imposed by a DWI court or a DUI court. DUI sentencing can involve an individual being enrolled in a combination of substance abuse treatments or incarceration Ninety DUI courts and 86 drug courts across the United States of America is concerned with managing recidivism rates among alcoholics involving drunk driving offenses. DUI sentencing involves punitive and rehabilitative measures to cause individuals to assume responsibility and abstaining from alcohol

Suspended sentence

A suspended sentence develops when a judge makes the decision to delay the requirement for a defendant to serve the sentence they have been convicted of in favor of allowing an individual who has either committed a minor crime or their first offense, they may be granted probation. However, if the probation is violated, the individual will be forced to serve out the remainder of the suspended sentence. A suspended sentence is similar to a deferred sentence, save that a suspended sentence remains on a public record.

Life sentence

A person sentenced to life imprisonment must have committed a serious crime. In the United States of America, felonies that may cause individuals to face a life sentence are murder, high treason, human trafficking, cases of aggravated burglary or robbery which result in death or great bodily harm, or severe/ violent cases that involve drug trafficking. A criminal may face a life sentence with the possibility of parole, or can be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Conditional sentences

Conditional sentences are a form of non-custodial criminal punishment which can only be served in Canada. The conditional sentence program was first developed in Canada in 1995 in order to address a perceived problem of over incarceration. Conditional sentences were especially targeted to assist aboriginal populations.

Mandatory sentencing

Mandatory sentencing guidelines are a program which serves to limit the discretion granted to a judge in a court of law. Mandatory sentencing assigns strict restriction on the length of incarceration that an individual will confront. The first mandatory sentencing laws that were passed in the United States of America were the Boggs Act in 1952 and the Narcotics Control Act of 1956.

Indeterminate sentencing

Indeterminate sentencing is a legal philosophy which holds that a criminal offender should be incarcerated not for a minimum or maximum amount of time, but should instead be held for as long as it takes until it is determined that the criminal does not pose any risk to the community or of recidivism.

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