NCJ Number
81251
Date Published
1980
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Procedural issues emanating from West German court reform legislation are raised concerning sentencing, information available to the sentencing judges, the preventive effectiveness of media coverage, and attorney education.
Abstract
The law requires that sentencing courts analyze the offenders' personalities, weigh the probable effects of sentences on individuals, and predict their future behavior. The intent is to adapt sentencing procedures to contemporary thought on criminality prevention and offender rehabilitation. However, difficulties abound in practice. Prognoses about individuals' future behavior are still basically guided by the judge's common sense, experience, and discretion. For that reason they are frequently in error. Intensive research must supply judges with reliable behavior prediction approaches, for this area defies exact scientific measurement. Furthermore, gathering new types of offender data would enable judges to base sentencing decisions on information about the offender's person and circumstances. Flexible and open communication procedures should be instituted for sentencing hearings, as they have been for trial courts. Even if media publicity has no deterrent effect on the public, the public's right to be informed remains essential in the democratic process although it must be balanced with the offender's privacy rights. Finally, law curricula and professional examinations should be redesigned to emphasize criminology. Footnotes are given.