Sentencing in North Carolina
QUESTION
Prompt: In a short paper, respond to the questions below about sentencing policies and the demographics of offenders. Summarize your research from available resources that describe corrections in your selected state.
What type of sentencing is employed in your selected state?
What is the current sentencing philosophy in the state?
Since when has this philosophy been in place?
What was the impact on the prison population?
What are the demographics of offenders in your state in terms of the criteria below?
o Age
o Race
o Gender
o Incarceration rate
o Education level
o Whether or not offenders had substance abuse problems at time of incarceration (if available)
Guidelines for Submission: Your milestone should be about 1 to 2 pages in length, with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins.
Sources should be cited according to APA style.
Sentencing in North Carolina
ANSWER
Sentencing Policies
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Code and Name
Instructor’s Name
Due Date
Sentencing in North Carolina
Sentencing in North Carolina is dependent on the type of crime committed. The Structured Sentencing Act authorizes that an offender should serve at least one hundred percent of the minimum sentence and eighty-five percent of the maximum sentence. When these individuals serve their time sentences, they are then released on post-release supervision. Structured Sentencing classifies offenders according to the crime committed and their previous criminal record and is effective for every felony and misdemeanor crime apart from impaired driving (Collins et al., 1999).
Sentencing Philosophy and impact on Prison Population
North Carolina’s structured sentencing law was made effective in 1993 and stipulates North Carolina’s sentencing philosophy that the primary objective of imprisonment for crime is punishment. The types of punishment under this Act include incarceration (Active punishment), probation (intermediate punishment), and community punishments such as fines, treatment, restitution, and community service. Active punishment requires offenders to be incarcerated for at least 3 months for felonies and less than 3 months for misdemeanors in county jails. Intermediate punishment requires offenders to undergo probation.
The structured sentencing law in North Carolina increased the level of infraction rates among inmates hence a higher prison population. Inmates under the structured sentencing law have infraction rates higher by twenty-five percent among males and fifty-five percent among females, compared to infraction rates among prisoners sentenced under the prior sentencing law.
Demographics of offenders
Age: Currently, the mean age of those incarcerated in North Carolina is 40.8 years which is a 10 percent increase compared to the 1980s when the mean age was 32.8 years. The curve continues to shift to the right as time progresses, as more and more inmates are aging in prison (Johnson, 2020).
Race: in North Carolina, the people of color are overrepresented in jails and prisons. Among North Carolina’s residents, the black people constitute 23% where over forty-five percent of this population are in jail and over 50% in prisons. The whites have the lowest population in jail and prisons.
Gender: the inmate population is overrepresented by males than females where males take 92 percent of the total population and 8% of female inmates.
Incarceration rate: the incarceration rate in North Carolina is 617 per 100000 people which covers jails, prisons, juvenile, and detention facilities.
Educational Level: High number of inmates in North Carolina’s prisons have educational qualifications of up to high school education, whereas only 8% of the total inmates have educational qualifications beyond high school.
Substance Abuse problems: In North Carolina, drug possession is the number one crime that lands an individual in prison. About 19 percent of offenders entering prisons were due to drug possession in 2017.
References
Collins, J. J., Spencer, D. L., Dunteman, G. H., Gogan, H. C., Siegel, P. H., Lessler, B. A., … & Sutton, T. (1999). Evaluation of North Carolina’s Structured Sentencing Law, Final Report. Annotation.
Johnson, S. (2020). Aging Prison Demographics: A Study of the Ticking Time Bomb that is the North Carolina Prison System.