sentence, in criminal law, punishment that a court orders, imposed on a person convicted of criminal activity. Sentences typically consist of fines, corporal punishment corporal punishment, physical chastisement of an offender. At one extreme it includes the death penalty (see capital punishment ), but the term usually refers to punishments like flogging, mutilation, and branding. Until c.
..... Click the link for more information. , imprisonment for varying periods including life, or capital punishment capital punishment, imposition of a penalty of death by the state.

History

Capital punishment was widely applied in ancient times; it can be found (c.1750 B.C.) in the Code of Hammurabi.
..... Click the link for more information. , and sometimes combine two or more elements. In the United States, the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution bans "cruel and unusual punishments" (effectively excluding corporal punishment), and exile and forfeiture of property by heirs are not imposed. Especially in punishing misdemeanors misdemeanor, in law, a minor crime, in contrast to a felony . At common law a misdemeanor was a crime other than treason or a felony. Although it might be a grave offense, it did not affect the feudal bond or take away the offender's property. By the 19th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. , payment of a fine may be the alternative to a prison sentence.

The sentence to be imposed is generally fixed by statute. In some cases (mandatory sentencing) the duration is exactly prescribed; in others the judge (and in some instances, the jury) has limited discretion. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that courts in sentencing may, and sometimes must, consider not only the crimes for which a defendant was convicted, but also other charges, even if they led to acquittal. The Court has also ruled that only a jury may make the factual findings that can increase a sentence beyond the usual range specified in law for a crime. If a person is convicted of more than one crime at a single trial, the sentences may run concurrently (i.e., all beginning at the same time) or consecutively. In indeterminate sentencing, a minimum and maximum term is set, and good behavior may allow a convict to be released on parole parole (pərōl`), in criminal law, release from prison of a convict before the expiration of his term on condition that his
..... Click the link for more information. any time after the minimum term has been served. In many states successive convictions on felony felony (fĕl`ənē), any grave crime, in contrast to a misdemeanor , that is so declared in statute or was so considered in common
..... Click the link for more information. charges bring longer sentences, and in the 1980s some U.S. states and the federal government began to impose "three strikes" and similar laws, ordering mandatory long-term or life imprisonment for repeated felony offenses. Such laws have been criticized for sometimes requiring long sentences for nonviolent offenders whose crimes may include petty theft or drug possession. Persons found incapable of understanding the nature of their crimes or of helping in their defense are often committed to mental institutions for periods that are to end if they recover sanity; these are effectively, if not technically, sentences. See also verdict verdict, in law, official decision of a jury respecting questions of fact that the judge has laid before it. In the United States, verdicts must be unanimous in federal courts, but majority verdicts are constitutionally permissible in state courts.
..... Click the link for more information. , jury jury, body convened to make decisions of fact in legal proceedings.

Development of the Modern Jury

Historians do not agree on the origin of the English jury.
..... Click the link for more information. , and pardon pardon, in law, exemption from punishment for a criminal conviction granted by the grace of the executive of a government. A general pardon to a class of persons guilty of the same offense (e.g., insurrection) is an amnesty .
..... Click the link for more information. .

sentence

In criminal law, a judgment formally pronouncing the punishment to be inflicted on a person convicted of a crime. Among the major types are the concurrent sentence, which runs at the same time as another; the consecutive sentence, which runs before or after another; the mandatory sentence, which is specifically required by statute as punishment for an offense; and the suspended sentence, the imposition or execution of which is suspended by the court. See also capital punishment, parole.

(logic)

sentence - A collection of clauses.

See also definite sentence.

sentence playV2('en/US/df/dfsgdssksydosgdod7gk');playV2('en/UK/df/dfsgdssksydosgdod7gk')

History

Development of the Modern Jury

sentence

sentence