criminal justice

In my criminal justice class i have to be present to what my professor calls a PDS and this is what I learned. I learned that Judge Schiff is from Broward County in the circuit court. He has been there since 1997. We learned about the philosophy of sentencing and if it is fair, effective, efficient, and meaningful. Judge Schiff talked about how punishment doesn't seem to have a impact on offenders. All they do it commit similar or the same crimes again. Punishment does not scare them away from committing another crime. Why are we still trying the same forms of punishment if they have no effect anyhow? I also learned that deterrence works the best on people that commit crimes that pose the least threat to society. If two people are the same age and same skill level and one steals a candy bar and the other steals a car these two situations should be dealt with differently. You can look at the criminal’s education, family life, hometown and such and then give them their punishment. Each defendant needs to be dealt with separately. There are so many different factors that affect how they shall be punished. More creative sentences are being used to get the criminals who pose the least threat to society to straighten up. Most of them don't want police problems on their record so the judges such as judge Schiff are using new and creative ways to stop crime from happening.