Truth in sentencing (TIS) is a collection of different but related

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

stances on

sentencing In criminal law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences f ...

of those convicted of crimes in the justice system. In most contexts, it refers to policies and

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

that aim to abolish or curb

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

so that convicts serve the period to which they have been sentenced. Truth in sentencing advocates relate such policies in terms of the public's

right to know Right to know is a human right enshrined in law in several countries. UNESCO defines it as the right for people to "participate in an informed way in decisions that affect them, while also holding governments and others accountable". It pursue ...

. They argue, for example, that it is deceptive to sentence an individual to "seven to nine years" and then release them after they have served only six years. In some cases, truth in sentencing is linked to other movements, such as

mandatory sentencing Mandatory sentencing requires that people convicted of certain crimes serve a predefined term of imprisonment, removing the discretion of judges to take issues such as extenuating circumstances and a person's likelihood of rehabilitation into co ...

(in which particular crimes yield automatic sentences regardless of the extenuating circumstances) and habitual-offender or " three-strikes" laws, in which

state law State law refers to the law of a federated state, as distinguished from the law of the federation of which it is a part. It is used when the constituent components of a federation are themselves called states. Federations made up of provinces, cant ...

requires the state courts to hand down mandatory and extended periods of incarceration to persons who have been convicted of a criminal offense on multiple occasions.

Canada

In Canada, the Truth in Sentencing act, or Bill C-25 came into effect on Monday, February 22, 2010. This bill amends s.719 of the ''Criminal Code of Canada'', limiting the discretion of a sentencing judges to give credit to individuals who have spent time incarcerated prior to conviction. Until then, as discussed by Justice Arbour in ''R v. Wust'', credit for pre-sentencing custody was not determined by a 'mathematical formula', but many judges frequently granted a two-for-one credit. That is justified by the quantitative and qualitative differences between pre-and post-sentencing incarceration. Most individuals who are incarcerated will not serve the full length of their sentence, and because time spent incarcerated pre-sentence does not count towards remission time, if a lengthy pre-sentence incarceration is credited equally to post-sentencing incarceration, the convicted individual will serve a longer sentence compared to an individual who is given the same sentence without a lengthy period of pre-sentencing incarceration. Arbour also points out that pre-sentence incarceration is typically served in detention, in harsher circumstances than the sentence will ultimately call for and without access to educational, rehabilitative and vocational programs. Bill C-25 creates three changes in the Criminal Code; now under s.719(3), generally the maximum credit a judge can give is 1:1. Under s.719(3.1) and 719(3.2) a judge can give a credit of 1.5:1 only "if the circumstances justify it." Under s.719(3.1), the sentencing judge cannot give greater than 1:1 credit if the reason for pre-sentencing incarceration is either that person's criminal record or if that individual has breached bail conditions. The constitutionality of this bill was challenged under s.7, s.13 and s.15 of '' The Charter'' in the Ontario Court of Justice by Marvin Johnson. The court found that the amendment survives ''Charter'' scrutiny if the phrase ''if the circumstances justify it'' is interpreted in a manner that does not limit the granting of a 1.5:1 credit to such a high standard "that mandates a level of exceptionality that goes well beyond the ordinary experience of "dead time" or the penal disparities that typically flow from such pre-sentence custody." In this case, Johnson, who was sentenced to 18 months for the sale of $20 of cocaine to an undercover officer, was given a 1.5:1 credit for the 12 months that he had spent in pre-sentence custody and was released two days after his sentencing hearing to a one-year period of probation.

United States

The first law requiring truth in sentencing in the United States was passed by Washington State in 1984. In 1994, the

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, commonly referred to as the 1994 Crime Bill, or the Clinton Crime Bill, is an Act of Congress dealing with crime and law enforcement; it became law in 1994. It is the largest crime bi ...

created the Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth in Sentencing program, which awarded grants to states so long as they passed laws requiring that offenders convicted of Part 1

violent crime A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful Force (law), force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violence, vio ...

s must serve at least 85% of the sentence for qualifying crimes before becoming eligible for parole. As of 2008, the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

and 35 of the 50 states qualify for this additional funding.

Australia

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, "truth in sentencing" was brought in with the '1989 Sentencing Act'. The term "truth in sentencing", which was commonly used to refer to the legislation, was endorsed by the Australian Law Reform Commission. As the legislation removed inmates receiving time off for good behaviour, it is also said to have removed an important incentive for prisoners to behave, and motivated some to attempt to escape. Alongside behaviour, motivation and work and educational performance from prisoners subsequently deteriorated, as did the rapport between prisoners and officers. Its introduction also resulted in significant overcrowding in NSW prisons during the 1990s. The first murderer to be sentenced under the legislation was Matthew Webster, who was convicted of the murder of Leigh Leigh. In 1990, Webster received 14 years with an additional six-year parole period; he remained in prison for 14½ years. If he had received a 'life sentence' under the previous legislation, it is likely that he would have only served nine years due to his age.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Truth In Sentencing Sentencing (law)

Canada

United States

Australia

See also

References