Phase 2 Individual Project Colorado Technical University Online Eraka Lewallen CJUS285-1304A-01 Professor Don Kalamas In Criminal Law a split sentence can be given to first time offenders of a lessor crime, basically what this means is that the offender does his or her mandatory time incarcerated but only half of the time the individual will spend in Jail, the other half of the time is suspended by the courts and will be spent on some type of probation depending on the charge.
During the probationary period the offender will be rdered and required to complete a number of tasks like meeting with their assigned probation officer, mandatory substance abuse drops and breath tests, user fees and fines and educational classes that has to also be paid for. It is up to the offender to complete these tasks in order to still be eligible for probation, if the offender fails to complete these tasks he or she is placed on violation of probation and is subject to either fifteen days incarcerated or incarcerated for the remainder of their sentence.I think a great example of a successful split sentence would have to be Martha Stewart n July 16th 2004 Martha Stewart was found guilty in her part in a suspicious stock trade and sentenced to five months incarcerated, five months of house arrest and two years of supervisory probation as well as a thirty thousand dollar fine.Stewart was a first time offender and even though there is a ten to twenty-four month federal sentencing guideline the Judge took it easy on her and gave her a split sentence. As of today Martha Stewart has completed all of her split sentencing tasks and is now doing great as well as repaired her social standing and celebrity name (Brady, D 004).Split Sentencing Failures is a hard one I researched but could not find much information but I feel a split sentencing failure would be the case of a eleven year old boy that was charged with murder in Oakland County Michigan (Kersnak,J 2000), the judge not only refused to charge him as an adult but also gave him a split sentence, this case made national news and him at a fragile age, I feel he should have been charged as an adult but placed in juvenile detention until the age of eighteen with extensive counseling.I believe that plit sentencing is a great solution to our nation’s Juvenile problem. I feel that these kids Just need guidance and someone to take interest in them and show them a better way as well as showing them the consequences of their actions by giving them a moderate amount of time in an incarcerated environment, boot camp or detention center.
Split sentencing gives these Juveniles a chance to see the road they are going down, in hopes that it will deter them from becoming career adult criminals.Probation is also a great way to deter these Juveniles from criminal activities because f the tasks involved with probation and the fact that if they do not complete these tasks they will go back to the incarcerated environment they were in previous to starting their probation for the remaining amount of time from the original sentence. No I do not agree with the sentiment that Juveniles are getting off easy with receiving a split sentence in some cases.The reason I do not agree is because one we are talking about kids, teenagers that do not know any better if they were not raised to know correctly. It stems from the Juveniles parents and their upbringing and home nvironment so giving these Juveniles a harsh sentence thinking that it is going to change that child is not the way to reform a Juvenile from wanting to commit further criminal activity, if anything locking them down will cause them to become angry more than anything.Rehabilitation is the best way with our youth, they are our future and we need to take more interest in our youth and teach them better ways of living. References: www.
sparkaction. org Case of the 1 1 year old killer (Kresnak. J. ) February 1st 2000.
Best services for writing your paper according to Trustpilot
www. businessweek. com A Split Sentence for Martha (Brady, D. ) July 16th 2004.
