DAY 48 - Sentencing to Release in YCJA

Under the YCJA, there are many options for sentencing including:

Absolute Discharge - for minor crimes only, e.g. shoplifting - it means the youth is guilty but no formal conviction is entered in the record.

Fines - maximum is $1000, judges will always consider the youth's ability to pay.

Compensation - pay the victims for their losses.

Personal and Community Service - in place of money (fines), offenders may be required to "work back" damage, usually in property crimes, like graffiti repair.  This is not used often and cannot be more than 40 hours in a year.

Police and Community Based Programs - Generally in large cities (Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg for example) and they often involve police and fire dept. volunteers.

Probation - youths are free (not in jail) but their under the supervision of probation officers who ensure that the youth is following the rules of their probation, e.g. staying off drugs/alcohol, good attendance at school or work, not association with known criminals, follow a curfew, etc.

Jail (Custody) - as a last resort youths can spend time in a youth jail, usually only if their crime is a violent crime and they have failed to comply with earlier sentences.

Open Custody - youths have some access to the community and the youths will live in group homes, residential wilderness camps - youths continue to attend school.

Secure Custody - real jail time is for violent youths with long criminal records and that are still considered a threat to society.

For youth criminals, the important principles of sentencing are:
1. To hold offenders accountable
2. To consider the victims' needs
3. To impose appropriate punishments and to rehabilitate the youth and to protect society.



FROM SENTENCING TO RELEASE

Why Sentence?
Sentencing reflects societal values.

In Canada judges have a lot of leeway in imposing sentencing, i.e. they are able to consider many factors when sentencing - the past history of the criminal, the impact on victims, the Criminal Code, time already spent in jail awaiting trial, etc.

Purposes of Sentencing - appropriate sentencing promotes respect for the law and helps to maintain a just and peaceful society.  When sentencing, judges have to have one of these objectives:

1. Denounce Unlawful Conduct - the crime is condemned from society's point of view.
2. Specific Deterrence - prevent (deter) the criminal from repeating the crime.
3. General Deterrence - send the message to the general public that committing that crime is not acceptable (deter others from committing the crime).
4. Keeping the Offender from Society - to protect society, some criminals need to be kept out of public.
5. Rehabilitation - restoring a person to good mental and moral character.
6. Reparation - to repay in one form or another the harm done to victims.