Research Paper Instructions
No. of pages 6
Spacing: Double
Subject: Criminal Justice
Type of paper: Essay
Paper Format: APA
Academic Level: Bachelor
Sources needed: No specific sources required
Public Policy and Sentencing Guidelines
Sentencing guidelines are determined through best practice research and public policies. Criminal justice practitioners must be well-informed regarding public policies and trends that impact sentencing in order to uphold best practices. In this summative assessment, you look at your state’s sentencing guidelines for 2 crimes, as well as the public policies that influenced them.
Research examples of sentencing guidelines for 2 specific crimes in your state and the public policies that influenced these guidelines.
Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word analysis of sentencing guidelines and the related public policies. Address the following in your paper:
Identify the 2 crimes you researched.
Describe the sentencing guidelines in your state for each crime.
Compare the sentencing guidelines for adult offenders and juvenile offenders for each crime.
Compare the sentencing guidelines of your state to the guidelines of another state and the guidelines at the federal level for each crime.
Describe public policies and trends that influenced the sentencing guidelines in your state for the crimes you researched.
Explain the impetus for the public policies and data that supported the public policies.
Propose a change to the sentencing policies in your state for the crimes researched and substantiate your proposal with support from research on the benefits of this change.
My State is Texas and the two crimes I'm thinking is Murder and Sexual Assualt
Research Paper: Public Policy and Sentencing Guidelines in Texas
Description of the Crimes Researched
This summative assessment examines the guidelines for punishing murder and sexual assault and the trends and public policies that affect the sentencing of these wrongdoings in Texas. In the state, homicide takes four forms or levels, including murder, capital murder, manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide (DeLisi et al., 2019). While capital murder is the most severe crime in the Texas penal code, the guidelines for other crimes in the division carry extremely serious penalties. On the other hand, the state’s public policies recognize first-degree and second-degree felonies for sexual assault depending on the definition and facts of the case. For instance, second-degree sexual assault charges carry a two to twenty-year imprisonment and a maximum fine of $10,000, or both (Wheeler & Reuter, 2021). This essay examines best practice analysis of Texas’s murder and sexual assault sentencing guidelines. It compares the findings to the standard directives of Florida while highlighting relevant policies affecting the crimes.
Sentencing Guidelines in Texas
Capital Murder
The charges and punishments of homicides in Texas vary significantly. However, the text has already established that it will focus on capital murder. Therefore, in the state, Wheeler & Reuter (2021) assert that murder is capital murder if the defendant causes the death of a police officer or fireman on duty and intentionally commits murder in the courses of a robbery, kidnapping, arson, aggravated sexual assault, or terroristic threat. Other situations include murder for hire, the cause of death while attempting to escape a penal institution, the defendant murdering more than one person, and when the defendant causes the death of a child younger than six years old (Diamond et al., 2022). Owing to the notion that Texas allows capital punishment, the primary penalty for such a capital felony is either the death sentence or life without parole. Still, if the court declares the defendant incapacitated, the individual will not receive the death sentence.
Sexual Assault
Texas sexual assault law states that a “child” is a 17-year-old and younger. Conversely, Diamond et al. (2022) allude that there is a lack of consent if the perpetrator threatened or used physical violence to obtain the victim’s submission. Other phenomena that place the defendant in a position of more power include when the victim is unable to resist the act if the defendant is a healthcare provider, public servant, clergy, or the victim’s co-worker (Atkins v. Virginia, 2002). In addition, a regular sexual assault charge is elevated into aggravated sexual assault if the defendant causes severe physical injury or the victim’s death or uses a deadly weapon, among others (DeLisi et al., 2020). All in all, Texas law typically recognizes this offense as a second-degree felony. Besides a sentence of two to twenty years in state prison, this charge carries a fine of up to $10,000. On the other hand, a first-degree felony of sexual assault has a penalty of five to ninety years and a $10,000 fine. The minimum sentence for an aggravated charge is 25 years in state prison.
Comparison of Sentencing Guidelines: Adult and Juvenile Offenders
Capital Murder
Texas treats capital murder very seriously, both for adults and juvenile offenders. Firstly, starting with the similarities, the law considers all forms of capital murder a first-degree felony, regardless of the offender’s age. Secondly, for a regular murder to be termed capital murder, in adult and juvenile courts, all the elements must apply (Aspinwall, 2021). Nonetheless, there are differences. Except for determinate sentencing guidelines, the Texas penal code does not have a standard minimum or maximum sentence for juveniles. This is not the case for adults, as anyone over eighteen faces a maximum death penalty sentence and a minimum of five years or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (DeLisi et al., 2019). In essence, there are considerations if the person who committed the capital murder is younger than 18 years. More specifically, if the court does not seek the death penalty, a juvenile offender gets a mandatory life in prison, whereas an adult gets mandatory life imprisonment without parole.
Sexual Assault
Similar to a capital felony crime, the Texas penal code applies the same elements when elevating a sexual assault charge to an aggravated sexual assault charge for adult and juvenile offenders. For instance, Aspinwall (2021) states that an adult or a juvenile would be charged with the same degree of aggravated sexual assault if they cause the victim’s death while committing the crime. Still, a significant difference between adult and juvenile sexual assault charges is that when a Texas court orders a juvenile offender to register as a sex offender, it is for a maximum of ten years. On the other hand, the law requires that an adult enters the registry for life. There is another leeway that juvenile offenders get and adults do not. In some cases, judges in juvenile courts could maintain a discretion that states that young offenders do not have to register with the local enforcement (Varghese, 2021). Unlike adults, juvenile courts in Texas could order the youth to attend mandatory counseling and therapy sessions before deciding whether the individual should register or the rules against it.
Comparison of Sentencing Guidelines: Texas and Florida
Capital Murder
The sentencing guidelines for first-degree murder in Texas and Florida are similar. In both states, for a killing to be elevated to first-degree murder or capital murder, it should satisfy one of three elements. The states’ penal code prioritizes the main elements of premeditation (Wheeler & Reuter, 2021). The other elements include the fact that the federal level checks whether the murder occurred when the defendant committed another felony and if the killing occurred in the process of a drug-related offense. If the murder fulfills one or more of these dimensions, the court categorizes it as first-degree murder. If one gets convicted of capital murder in Texas and Florida, generally speaking, there are two alternatives that the courts will assess (Aspinwall, 2021). These two options are the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. In addition, at the federal level, the standard punishment for second-degree murder in a particular jail term does not exceed life imprisonment.
Sexual Assault
Although the sentencing guidelines for the conviction of sexual assault in Texas and Florida are similar, it is apparent that the latter has more elaborate penalties than the former. In Texas, a first-degree felony charge carries a sentence of 5 to 99 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $10,000 (DeLisi et al., 2019). For a second-degree charge, if the offense is against a child, one could go to prison for 25 years or pay a maximum of $10,000. However, the Florida penal code is different as the state’s federal level of the government considers sexual assault a serious felony. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) (2022) demonstrates that if convicted, the defendant’s most severe consequences are a lengthy jail term or even life in prison. In Florida, sexual assault in the second degree carries a 15-year sentence and fines accumulating up to $10,000. Further, if the offender is a minor and the victim is under 12 years old, the defendant faces a minimum of 25 years. On the other hand, the state of Florida seeks the death penalty for offenders who are 18 years or older.
Public Policies that Influenced Texas Sentencing Guidelines
Particular public policies and trends influence the judicial system’s decisions on capital murder and sexual assault in Texas. In the context of the punishment of a capital murder charge in the state, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) (2022) states that the death penalty imposed on this offense is unlawful, promotes cruelty, and denies citizens the right to equal protection under the law. This public policy or opinion states that even for capital murder, the death penalty is unfair, uncivilized, inequitable, and violates the Constitution and the core values of the country’s democratic system (Norris & Mullinix, 2020). Additionally, one issue that influences the federal sentencing of a sexual assault charge in Texas has to do with the different definitions and implications surrounding the offense. More specifically, there are varying punishments for the first and second-degree conviction of sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, statutory rape, and sodomy (Diamond et al., 2022). However, the concerns pertaining to the punishment of capital murder in Texas largely outweigh the people’s public opinions on sexual assault.
The primary impetus that supports the public policies surrounding the death penalty in the state of Texas includes the Eight Amendment’s abolition of cruel punishment, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process statute, and specific ethical and religious dispositions (American Civil Liberties Union., 2022). These public policy drivers contribute to the people’s objections to Texas Penal Code’s death penalty for capital murder. The policies’ components assert that the death penalty is cruel because it perpetuates the nation’s dark and penological days of slavery, and unusual because the United States’ growth and development rest upon its civilization and industrialization. Additionally, the sentencing guideline violates the standard process of the law as it forever denies the defendant the opportunity to appeal in the event that new evidence arises (Wiley & Vladeck, 2019). Other objections to the conviction include the sense that capital punishment is not a reliable mechanism for controlling crime in society, wastes limited resources, and goes against the universal rule of respect for one’s life. Aspinwall (2021) clarifies that proponents of this public policy state that the Texas penal code not only does all these but also destroys the required amount of decency required in a community.
Proposition and Recommendation for Change
Indisputably, the crimes that are punishable by death in Texas deserve and should be dealt with the most aggressive extent of the law. However, ACLU’s (2022) case against the sentence holds substance, and the state’s justice system should indeed consider placing the guideline under reform. Ina vast critique of the punishment, Levick (2019) demonstrates that the guideline should be changed because of several recent indications of prosecutorial misconduct, errors in the cases, unprofessionalism in the process, racial bias, and inadequate representation of disadvantaged offenders. Aspinwall (2021) adds that the risk of wrongful conviction makes the death sentence obsolete and unacceptable. In addition, it is common knowledge that life is God’s gift to humankind and even those who commit the worst crimes still hold some sanctity and dignity, and one should not deny them the chance to redeem themselves. Therefore, the most viable alternative that Texas should adopt to replace capital punishment is the sentence of life without parole.
References
American Civil Liberties Union. (2022). The case against the death penalty. American Civil
Liberties Union.
Aspinwall, C. (2021, May 22). Life without parole is replacing the death penalty - but the legal
defense system hasn't kept up. The Marshall Project.
Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S. Ct. 2242, 153 L. Ed. 2d 335 (2002).
DeLisi, M., Ruelas, M., & Kruse, J. E. (2019). Who will kill again? The forensic value of 1st
degree murder convictions. Forensic science international: Synergy, 1, 11-17.
Diamond, B., Bowen, K., & Burns, R. (2022). Factors affecting sexual assault case processing:
charging through sentencing in a large southern county. Journal of interpersonal violence, 37(13-14), NP11605-NP11627.
Levick, M. (2019). Kids are different: the United States supreme court reforms youth sentencing
practices for youth prosecuted in the criminal justice system. Juvenile and family court journal, 70(3), 25-44.
Norris, R. J., & Mullinix, K. J. (2020). Framing innocence: An experimental test of the effects of
wrongful convictions on public opinion. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 16(2), 311-334.
Varghese, B. (2021, August 24). What is the difference between murder and capital murder?
Varghese Summersett PLLC.
Wheeler, A. P., & Reuter, S. (2021). Redrawing hot spots of crime in Dallas, Texas. Police
Quarterly, 24(2), 159-184.
Wiley, L. F., & Vladeck, S. I. (2019). Coronavirus, Civil Liberties, and the Courts: The Case
Against" Suspending" Judicial Review. Harv. L. Rev. F., 133, 179.
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