Determinate Sentencing is defined as sentencing to a fixed term of incarceration that may be reduced by good time (Schmalleger, 2014). In this sentencing model, all types of bias will not play a role when it comes to the …show more content…
The sentencing commission plays a major role in this model because they have the ability to review the gravity of the offense as well as review the prior record of the criminal offender. A criminals prior criminal record should always serve as a factor when comes to sentencing a criminal for any new offense that is committed. Undue harshness will continue to be a problem that needs to be addressed, as seen by the over-crowded jails and prisons. The criminal justice system may need a different approach when assigning certain people to be present on committees that are designed to be fair when handing out a sentence based on the evidence they have in front of them. When criminals are placed in prison for a certain crime defined by the presumptive guideline-sentencing model, prisoners create new problems for correction officers. Those problems are brought to the forefront when the correctional employees are dealing with these criminals on a daily basis. Certain crimes have punishments, but we must be careful when the sentence is handed down because we don’t want to create a new problem when that person is in either jail of prison for an extended amount of time that doesn’t warrant additional time added to the sentence. Some states still struggle with the presumptive sentencing structure and create disparities across the board. Arizona has struggled to achieve its goal of ending unwarranted disparities by increasing the severity of the sentencing guidelines. The numbers of minorities convicted on non-capital felony offenses receiving unbalanced sentences in relation to equally culpable non-minorities continues to increase despite legislative policies instituted to prevent this disparity (Johnson,