| The prison .has traditionally been seen as the way to accomplish the sentencing goals of denunciation and general deterrence -- the expressive functions of punishment. The development of the conditional sentence of imprisonment ire 1996 in Canada poses a challenge to this tradition, as this new sanction can be imposed for a variety of offences, and to accomplish all sentencing goals. The conditional sentence of imprisonment allows the judge, after imposing a sentence of imprisonment, to order that it be served in the community under specified conditions. This paper examines the findings of a national survey of Provincial Court Judges and interviews with Court of Appeal judges in various provinces about their views on conditional sentences of imprisonment. As a new sentencing option for judges, there is interest in understanding their views and values about the substitution of a term of imprisonment to be served in the community for a traditional prison sentence. This paper will focus on a set of questions relating to judicial sensibilities about the conditional sentence of imprisonment. What is seen as the most important objective of this new sanction? for which offences do judges see &c conditional sentence as unacceptable and why? Is the nature of opposition to the conditional sentence for some offences (e-g., violent offences) related to the issue of effectively accomplishing denunciation and general deterrence? Finally, do judges view the conditional sentence as equivalent to imprisonment, or as an 'intermediate' sanction lying somewhere between prison and probation? |
Updated 05/20/2006