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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1510 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 3, 2024

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In reading court opinions, it is routine to see sentences like "15 years with a 7.5-year parole bar", "16 years with the possibility of parole after 8 years", or "5 to 10 years".

Today, I was somewhat surprised to learn that parole is, not the exception, but the norm. According to federal statistics, the typical state prisoner serves only 44 percent of the sentence nominally imposed.

Do the illustrious lawyer denizens of this website have an opinion on this? Should a sentence of "16 years with the possibility of parole after 8 years of good behavior" be rephrased to "8 years with the possibility of extension to 16 years upon bad behavior", to avoid confusion?

Should a sentence of "16 years with the possibility of parole after 8 years of good behavior" be rephrased to "8 years with the possibility of extension to 16 years upon bad behavior", to avoid confusion?

No, for the same reason that a product/service should be "Regular $10, on sale for $5!" instead of "Regular $5, surge pricing to $10!". The headline number you choose matters, and if you go worse than the baseline you had better be prepared to rigorously defend your choice.

No, because being granted parole isn't the end of things. If you're sentenced to 10 years and are granted parole after 5, you're still under the supervision of the Department of Corrections for the remainder of the sentence. If you violate the terms of your parole you could get thrown back into jail for the remainder of your sentence. The other angle to thinking about it is that parole isn't a right; it's at the discretion of the parole board. You could be a model prisoner but be denied parole for other reasons. Saying that you're sentenced to 5 years with a possible extension of up to 10 would imply that the parole board would need an affirmative finding of some kind of bad behavior in order to keep you in jail longer than 5 years, which they don't need.

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