Chapter 3

1. Chapter 3 Sentencing and the Presentence Investigation Report

2. Philosophy of Community Corrections An offender can learn best how to live productively in a community by remaining in free society under supervision, as opposed to being transferred to a warehouse-like setting of a jail or prison

3. Factors That Affect Granting a Community Sentence • Eligibility for community corrections • Conditions of probation fixed by statute • Availability and quality of intermediate sanctions and other community-based services • Factors such as the social stability of the offender, family ties, marital status, employment and drug abuse history

4. Sentencing Guidelines • Goals include: • Reduction or elimination of sentencing disparity • Increased judicial accountability • Increased punishment for violent offenders • A basis for population projections and resource allocation

5. Sentencing Guidelines, cont. • Presumptive sentencing guidelines require judges to use the guidelines and provide written reasons for any deviation • Voluntary sentencing guidelines are suggestions that judges may or may not accept • Punishment Units is a system tried by Oregon that converted sentences into predefined unit numbers

6. Sentencing Commissions • Sentencing commissions exist in about half the states and the federal government and monitor the judicial use of the guidelines • The commissions are responsible for evaluating and revising the guidelines as appropriate

7. Conditions of Community Corrections • Standard Conditions are imposed on all persons with community sentences regardless of the offense • Special Conditions are in addition to standard conditions and are tailored to fit the problems and needs of the offender

8. Conditions of Community Corrections, cont. • Limitations of special conditions • Must be clear and specific • Must be reasonable • Must either protect society or rehabilitate the offender • Must be related to the offense of conviction

9. Conditions of Community Corrections, cont. • Supervision conditions must be constitutional • The government must establish a “compelling state interest” • First Amendment rights of religion, speech, assembly, press, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances • Searches and seizures • The privilege against self-incrimination

10. The Presentence Investigation Report • The PSI is a document prepared by a probation officer to aid judges in the sentencing decision, and • Used by prosecutors, defense attorneys, parole boards and probation and parole officers • Describes the nature of the offense, offender characteristics criminal history, loss to the victim and sentencing recommendations

11. Offender-Based PSI Reports: 1920s- 1980s, were: focused on rehabilitation utilized an indeterminate sentencing structure Offense-Based PSI Reports: 1980s-Present: focus on the crime committed utilize a determinate sentence structure Contents of the PSI Report

12. Contents of the PSI Report • A Victim Impact Statement is required in all federal and most state PSIs • Includes physical injuries and emotional and psychological toll on victim and victim’s family • Federal PSIs must include the defendant’s ability to pay fines and restitution

13. Preparing the PSI Report • The PSI is ideally prepared after adjudication of guilt but before sentencing • The PSI process consists of: • The initial interview • Investigation and verification • The evaluative summary • The sentence recommendation

14. Legal Issues Concerning the PSI Report • Disclosure • Inaccuracies • Hearsay • The Exclusionary Rule • The Miranda Warning • The right to a lawyer