Prison Sentences and Time Served for Violence. Bureau of Justice Statistics Selected Findings. Number 4

摘要

Since the mid-1970's, legislatures around the Nation have sought to reduce discretion in both the sentencing process and the determination of when the conditions of a sentence have been satisfied. Determinate sentencing, use of mandatory minimums, and guidelines-based sentencing are illustrations of approaches that limit discretion and increase the predictability of penalties. A majority of State prisoners today serve presumptive sentences 90% of State inmates can estimate their probable release date, and their discharge from prison is less likely than in the past to be determined by a parole board decision. In 1977, 72% of those released from State prisons had served an indeterminate sentence, and a parole board decided their release. In 1992, by contrast, less than 40% of prison releases were determined by a parole board. Interest in truth-in-sentencing reflects continued attention to discretion and to the relation between sentences and time served. Truth-in-sentencing is generally meant to describe a close correspondence between the sentence imposed upon those sent to prison and the time actually served prior to prison release.