minimum sentence
Lowest required punishment
A minimum sentence is the shortest prison term a judge can impose for a particular crime.
Sentencing laws often set mandatory minimums that remove judicial discretion: The drug charge carries a minimum sentence of five years.
Critics argue minimum sentences lead to disproportionate punishment; supporters see them as ensuring consistent consequences.
- mandatory minimumsLegally required base sentences
- throw the bookImpose maximum legal consequences
- parole eligibilityQualification for supervised freedom
- early releasePremature freedom from confinement
- good behaviorAcceptable, rule-following conduct
mitigating factors · plea bargains · court ruling · retributive justice · aggravating factors · first offense · criminal codes · prison overcrowding · doing time · hard time · behind bars · rehabilitation programs · three-strikes laws · moral culpability · community safety · social inequality · victim advocacy
- prison sentencesprison term, jail time, life without parole, doing time, hard time
- sentencingdeath row, probation, imprisonment, prison term, mandatory minimums
- Sentencing Factorsmitigating factors, aggravating factors, extenuating circumstances, criminal history, prior record
minimum sentencemaximum sentence
Longest term a judge can impose
life sentence · death sentence · capital punishment · life without parole · death penalty
minimum sentencejudicial discretion
Judge's decision-making freedom
judge's discretion · sentencing guidelines · suspended sentence · alternative sentencing · probation
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