NCJ Number
219531
Journal
Punishment & Society Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2007 Pages: 271-299
Date Published
July 2007
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This article describes the historical circumstances that led to the emergence of sentencing hearings as a distinct hearing within a criminal trial.
Abstract
The analysis suggests that sentencing hearings emerged as a perhaps unintended result of major changes in the adversarial trial process that took place during the second half of the 18th century. One of these major changes was the increased role of lawyers in criminal litigation during this period. While the rise in legal representation began gradually, it developed steadily and by the end of the 18th century, most criminal defendants were assisted by legal representation. The increased involvement of lawyers in criminal proceedings brought many structural changes to the process, such as the right to review opposing counsels’ evidence and the right of cross-examination. Another major change that ushered in the emergence of sentencing hearings was the increasing perception during the 18th century that the punishment should reflect the seriousness of the offense. A third factor that contributed to the emergence of sentencing hearings was the continuing limitation of judicial authority under the new adversarial system. Lawyers, instead, became the managers of the courtroom. As more and more lawyers began to demand separate sentencing hearings, the procedural gap between the stages of the criminal justice system increased over the years. By the end of the 19th century, the welfare state had developed, modernism flourished, and new scientific fields emerged, including criminology, sociology, and psychology--all of which significantly impacted evidence presented in a court of law. Eventually, a treatment model for criminal justice was adopted in the early 20th century, followed by the “just desserts” model that focused on punishment rather than rehabilitation. The increased use of plea bargaining as a result of the punishment model, naturally focused attention on the sentencing hearing as a separate process from the criminal trial. Notes, references