NCJ Number
146156
Journal
Administration of Justice Memorandum Issue: 93/03 Dated: (September 1993) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1993
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The sentencing commission established by the North Carolina legislature in 1990 drafted recommended legislation that was enacted by the legislature in 1993 and that establishes determinate sentencing and affects nearly all previous sentencing laws.
Abstract
The new sentencing legislation consists of the structured sentencing bill, plus its companion measures, the offense classification bill and the State-County Criminal Justice Partnership Act. The structured-sentencing legislation retains the previous purposes of sentencing: punishment commensurate with the injury caused by the offense, protecting the public by restraining offenders, rehabilitating offenders, and deterring criminal behavior. Sentences include imprisonment, intermediate sanctions such as special probation and electronic monitoring, community punishment such as probation, fines, shock incarceration (boot camps), and deferred prosecution. The new law drastically reduces judges' discretion to select a sentence. It also makes some important changes in the implementation of a probation sentence. Prison and jail populations are projected to increase gradually under the new legislation. 18 reference notes