alternative sentencing
Non-prison judicial options
Alternative sentencing refers to criminal penalties other than standard incarceration—community service, probation, house arrest, drug treatment programs, or restorative justice measures.
Judges impose alternative sentences for nonviolent offenses or when rehabilitation seems more appropriate than prison: The judge offered alternative sentencing in exchange for completing rehab.
Also called alternative punishment.
- probationSupervised trial period
- house arrestCourt-ordered domestic detention
- ankle braceletChain worn around lower leg
- community serviceUnpaid labor benefiting society
- electronic monitoringRemote tracking via devices
restorative justice · vocational training · addiction treatment · drug courts · counseling · criminal justice · first-time offender · plea deal · supervised release · mentoring programs · mediation · judge · court-ordered rehab · restitution · recidivism · parole · mental health courts · juvenile courts
- criminal justicearrest, jail, court, prison, crime
- penologypenology, prisons, incarceration, parole board, prison
- judicial reformjudicial reform, court reform, justice reform, legal reform, judicial independence
- prisoncell block, inmate, jail, prison, prisoner
- correctionscorrection, corrections, fix, fixing, rectification
- clemencypardon, amnesty, clemency, reprieve, commutation
alternative sentencingimprisonment
Legal detention in jail
incarceration · prison sentence · jail time · confinement · detention
alternative sentencingmandatory sentencing
Legally required punishment terms
mandatory minimums · retributive justice · tough on crime · zero tolerance · throw away the key