Why only serve part of a prison sentence?

Question

If someone is sentenced to say eight years in prison they can be out in 4...Why? Why not sentence them to 4 years in the first place and make them serve all of it?Some say it is to reward prisoners who behave themselves...I think it would be better to say
"You are sentenced to 8 years, if you behave you will be out in that time if you don't we will add extra years to your sentence.This would keep the scum off the streets for longer and reward good behaviour.Remember...these people CHOSE to break the law; they could like most of us have CHOSEN not to burgle, mug, assault, steal, rape etc..that's why they are in jail in the first place.

Answer 1

they shouldnt, 8 years should be 8 years there in to be punished not for a rest
it makes me mad that there given all the latest equipment etc while there in also

Answer 2

People serve the whole of the sentence, it's just that they serve some portion of it in the community. This is called being on licence. It is supposed to allow the offender to be supervised for a period when they come out of prison, rather than just returning to the community without anybody monitoring their behaviour. An offender on licence will be subject to a lot of restrictions on their liberty about where they can live, what they cannot do and what they must not do - for example, they will not be able to travel outside the UK, must inform their probation officer before moving house or taking a job, and may be required to undergo drug treatment and so on. Some offenders find licences very restrictive, don't comply and get recalled to custody - they may then have to serve further time in prison, perhaps up until the end of the sentence.

Adding further years can't happen in our legal system as we have a principle that the punishment fits the crime, not the offender. More serious offences merit more serious punishments, and so sentences are for a fixed term corresponding to the seriousness. The exception to this is the Indeterminate Public Protection Sentence brought in by the Criminal Justiced Act 2003, where offenders who commit a serious sexual or violent offence and who pose a continuing risk to the public may receive a sentence which doesn't have a fixed term but needs to be reviewed by the parole board.

Answer 3

We as a nation, lock up more than most. Our prisons are full. If every prisoner served the full sentence, we'd have no room for new prisoners. If you commit an offence whilst out, with the last part of your sentence still current, off you go back to jail. One of impacts of not having the death penalty is that lifers last a lifetime.

Answer 4

Well i think it has to do with space . This really says alot for us as a people kind of sad if you asked me . If they kept every person for full sentence then we would have to build many new prisons .

And that would cost me & you and the rest of the good folks lot's of cash . So now a few states have the 3 strike system so only after strike 3 do they really spend major time in jail .

I agree with you they should infact keep them locked up . Heck if you work a job and are really just making ends meet 1 B&E and it could take many years to replace the stolen stuff .

And i don't see any stores telling us well you got broke into so we will cut the cost in half Heck no so why give the moron who took everything we own a deal

Answer 5

Yes , i think you miss the point .
Anyone sentenced to 8 years could potentially be freed after half this sentence if considered worthy by the parole board.Most cases are refused parole and so would serve 2/3 of the sentence on sentences over 4 years.
When the judge sentences someone to 3 years ,he actually wants then to serve 18months.The extra 18 months to potentially serve ,is the sword of damocles.It gives the prison the right to add days to your sentence for bad behaviour without having to apply to the court.It also means that when you are released from prison, you will be "on licence",meaning that you are in danger of return to prison to finish your sentence if you violate your licence conditions.
Many ppl are easily wound up by the media in the light of cases where an offender causing public outrage apparently gets a light sentence.The system works very well and to recap,offenders are sentenced to DOUBLE the time the judge wishes them to serve and then they are released after half if they perform well inside.

Answer 6

One reason they do it, is prison overcrowding. If they made everyone serve the amount of time they are sentenced to, most states would not be able to house that many inmates. It is also an incentive for them to do the right thing. Do they always choose to? No. I am a correctional officer in Delaware. In the 90's they enacted Truth in Sentencing and did away with parole. If they get sentenced to eight years here, they are doing eight years and they do not have good time. After working in corrections for many years, I agree, they should do the time they are given. But in reality in some states, its not possible.

Answer 7

Because as alot of people have pointed out, our prisons are overcrowded and we have the highest prison population. By the end of last year, there was over 2 million Americans in prison or on parole or 1 in every 23 American adults. Most of these are for drug offenses including first time offenders. From 1995 to 2003, inmates in federal prison for drug offenses have accounted for 49 percent of total prison population growth. You make it seem like the Justice system is in favor of its citizens, protecting them from violent criminals, when they take offenders of non-violent crimes such as having a joint on them or petty theft and lock them up with murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and psychopaths. Not saying that they shouldnt be punished, but at least let the time fit the crime. Thanks to mandatory minimum sentences, a person found with drugs on them can get a longer sentence than a murderer or rapist. Then there are the innocent people that were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Most people think that prisoners wouldnt have been convicted if they were really innocent but put yourself in a similar situation. If for any reason at all a cop even thinks you have done something wrong, even without evidence, or were GOING to do something wrong (Apparently cops can see into the future) you can be arrested for probable cause or conspiracy. So your arrested and taken to jail, before your even get a trial. You can get bail, which goes from the hundreds to the thousands, but even if your found innocent at your trial, you wont be getting that money back. If you cant afford bail then you are kept in a holding cell for a few days to a few weeks, sometimes more until you are given your "speedy" trial. So once your at court your defender will usually tell you to take the plea bargain, which means admitting you are guilty to recieve a softer sentence. If you turn that down and decide to fight your case, you are given your trial but now if your found guilty your punishment will be harsher, for waisting the courts time. So wheter your are guilty or not, your future is in the hands of a judge, who is human and makes mistakes. So we have shortened sentences, so people that show good behavior and potential are given a second chance, released on parole, and new room is made for the next inmate in the long line of convicted americans. I know alot of people are going to disagree with my point of view but do some research on the subject and youll find alot of cases about the corruption in our law system. So to the poster of this question, If you ever find yourself at the wrong place at the wrong time and end up in jail, hopefully youll be able to serve your whole sentence without parole, since you did CHOOSE to break the law, which is why your in jail in the first place.

Answer 8

It's a question of viewpoint; of optimism/pessimism in interpretation of outcome; a form of is a glass half full or half empty.

Instead of looking at a sentence of 8 years and released in 4 negatively, look at it as a sentence of 4 years with the possibility of 8 if recalcitrant non-rehabilitatory behaviour is experienced while incarcerated.
Seen this way, more positively/optimistically, it makes perfect sense as offenders are encouraged to reform knowing they can be further penalised without costly return to court and the community further protected by longer restraint of the offender from re-entering it.

Incidentally, the U.S., -- "the land of the free" -- has a greater proportion of it's population incarcerated than any other nation on Earth. Also studies of Chicago inmates estimate up to 60% of inmates are actually misconvicted innocents and some studies suggest this is likely to be the same throughout many other parts of the U.S.

Of course none of this matters to anyone -- including the closed minded, ignorant and self-centred/self-opinionated -- unless it is THEY who are wrongly convicted.

Answer 9

prison over corwding is one reason, another is if you just dumb them back on the street with out a place to go, and no money, you are going to find a new crime happening soon for their own surrival. Thats why there is half way houses where they go , pay board, find a job, and get a place, most halfway houses charge 25% for board and make them save another 25% for when they are released. Parole also offers society a chance to supervise and watch a ex con, where as if you dont have parole they can do what they want.

Answer 10

You mustnt see things at face value. Dont assume that once a criminal, forever one. Doesnt work ALL the time.
anyway the reward makes sense. If the prison officers think he has behaved well and turned over a new leaf, dont u think he deserves a chance? (even if he cant undo the earlier damage)
Think about this mathematically - if u release him in 4 years and he continued his old ways, wont he be in jail again? And wont it be a lesson to punish him more the second time?
And if u let him do his 8 years, he will still come out right? and if he commits the crime again, wont the net result be the same?
Heartless people who dont give others a second chance probably have not been in the situation that the offenders have been in, right?

Answer 11

this is because there are not many prison cells availible so they cut short prison time to make more cell space for the more Dangerous cons.
I personally believe what sentence is given should be the served.
my brother got murdered last year and the bloke that killed him had his sentence cut in half.