Chapter 2 Flashcards
Sentencing & The Correctional Process
What is pretrial release?
the temporary release of a criminal defendant from jail before their trial, often with conditions like paying bail or wearing an electronic monitor.
What is bail bond?
The means, financial or property, used to release a defendant from jail
What is bail?
temporary release of a prisoner in exchange for a sum of money or other security, guaranteeing their appearance in court.
What is bail bondsman?
a person or company that pays the bail for a criminal defendant in exchange for a fee, typically a percentage of the bail amount, and guarantees the defendant’s appearance in court.
what is release on own recognizance (ROR)?
letting defendants go free without bail if they have strong ties to the community and are likely to show up for court.
What is unsecured bail?
Lets defendants go free without having to pay a deposit or go through a bondsman to set up bail.
What is percentage bail?
Defendants deposit about 10 percent of the bail amount with the court clerk.
What is third-party custody?
When the court gives custody of the defendant to a person or organization that promises to make sure the defendant shows up in court.
What is signature bond?
Generally given for minor offenses and based on the defendant’s written promise to appear in court.
What is supervised release?
Requires more frequent contact with pretrial officers, phone calls, and officer interviews.
What was the Bail Reform Act of 1966?
A federal law pushed for pretrial release in all non-capital cases unless it looked like the defendant was not likely to show up to court, which sped up the bail reform movement even more.
What was the Bail Reform Act of 1984?
This federal law made it official to hold people in jail before they go to court if they are thought to be dangerous or unlikely to show up.
What is preventative detention?
Keeping defendants in jail who are thought to be dangerous or likely to commit crimes while they wait for their trial.
What is a concurrent sentence?
Two or more sentences imposed at the same time and served simultaneously.
What is a consecutive sentence?
Two or more sentences imposed at the same time and served one after the other.
what is good time?
A reduction in the amount of time that people in prison get for being good.
What is sentencing sanctions?
There are different kinds of sentences that courts can give.
What is an indeterminate sentence?
The sentence lets the offender get out of jail or prison early after serving a certain minimum amount of their sentence.
What is a determinate sentence?
sentencing that sets a sentence for a set amount of time.
What are sentencing guidelines?
Federal and state guidelines were made to limit judges’ freedom of choice so that people who committed similar crimes would get the same amount of time in prison.
What are mandatory minimum sentences?
the sentences that are required by law for people who have been found guilty of a certain crime in a certain situation
What are the three main types of determinate sentences?
mandatory sentences, flat-time sentences, and presumptive sentences.
How do they structure sentencing?
where the longer the sentence, the worse the crime.
Selling drugs to a minor near a school or robbing someone with a gun is an example of what?
mandatory minimum sentences
What is the Three Strikes law?
Rules for repeat offenders that say people who are convicted of a third or higher-level felony must serve long sentences without the chance to get out.
What is truth in sentencing?
There is a strong link between the sentence given and the time spent in prison. The actual time that criminals spend serving their sentence.
What is the Eighth Amendment?
Too much bail should not be needed, fines should not be too high, and cruel and unusual punishments should not be given.
