Determinate or Indeterminate Sentence

Determinate sentencing carries a set time that must be served and cannot be reduced. If one is to serve six months or a year then that is what one must serve, with credits for good behavior, where applicable. Indeterminate sentencing on the other hand gives a minimum that must be served and then it is up to the parole board to decide if the convict has demonstrated rehabilitation. If so, he may be released early.

I would prefer a determinate sentencethat way I would not always be wondering if I might get paroled early. One of the criticisms of indeterminate sentencing is that it puts a lot of power into the hands of prison officials and the parole board. If they are biased, then ones odds of getting out early for good behavior might be lessened. Plus, if one slips up in prison or gets baited into some sort of misbehavior then it counts as a strike against him, and his odds of getting out early are reduced even further.

With determinate sentencing, one goes in knowing that he is going to do the time and all he has to do is persevere until the release date. It gives him something to look forward to. With indeterminate sentencing there is always that hope that maybe the parole board will look favorably upon you, but there is also the fear and doubt and dread that the board might rule against you when you are up for parole.

Rather than deal with all the anxiety that might come with indeterminate sentencing, therefore, I think that I would rather know what I have to serve and set my mind to serving it and not carry around what could otherwise be false hopes of an early parole. Indeterminate sentencing might sound nice in theory, but the reality of not knowing can be draining and, in the end, not necessarily worth it.