Sentencing usually entails the issuance of a penalty to the offender for the crimes they are found guilty of. In essence, the sentence may take two forms, either a penalty or a punishment depending on the crimes committed. Most of these sentencing decisions are clearly set out in laws that define particular crimes and their respective sentences.
Determinate sentencing, which is applicable in a few states, involves the judge sentencing the offender to a given period. The law clearly dictates the precise sentence to be issued to a particular crime committed. This means that the judge will not have any form of discretion during sentencing (King, 2015) . For instance, instead of giving an option of one to five years, the law might explicitly state that three years is the automatic sentence for a particular crime. It is like the verdict is already determined.
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Elsewhere, indeterminate sentencing is typical in most states. Here, the law allows for a given range instead of a specific period, for instance, the law might dictate a sentence of one to five years (Reitz, 2012) . This provides the judge with significant discretion, and they will have to come up with an appropriate sentence depending on different variables and evidence. With indeterminate sentencing comes a parole hearing that may enable the offender to serve part of their sentence away from jail.
Determinate sentencing is known to promote fairness since similar crimes committed receive similar sentences. This is not the case with indeterminate sentencing due to the discretion that judges have during sentencing.
The New Mexico law offers judges some level of discretion during sentencing. However, capital felony attracts a mandatory punishment of life in prison without any possibility of parole. Other felony cases do not necessarily have a predetermined sentence since the judge may allow a defendant to serve part or his entire sentence on probation. The prison sentence is also dependent on different variables, such as the impact of the crime on the community and the extent of damage caused. As such, New Mexico may be considered as a largely Indeterminate Sentencing Jurisdiction.
References
King, R. (2015). Balancing the goals of determinate and indeterminate sentencing systems. Federal Sentencing Reporter , 28 (2), 85-87. https://doi.org/10.1525/fsr.2015.28.2.85
Reitz, K. R. (2012). The “Traditional” indeterminate sentencing model. Oxford Handbooks Online . https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199730148.013.0011
