How Mandatory Sentencing is calculated in law books?

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law_is_subjective

New Member
For example, in colombia law the mandatory sentencing for First degree murder is 30-60 years, Even Though the final prison sentence will be a subjective decision of the judge affected by various factors. I am curious to know how did the lawmakers create these ranges? Are they just random numbers or are there any factors/caluactions affecting these ranges?

How did they assign a value of any sort for a human life? How is it possible to "measure" the impact of some crime like murder of someone? I know developing any sort of system to control actions of a conscious being by words is a nearly impossible task but is this kind of system really justice?
 
law_is_subjective said:
For example, in colombia law the mandatory sentencing for First degree murder is 30-60 years, Even Though the final prison sentence will be a subjective decision of the judge affected by various factors. I am curious to know how did the lawmakers create these ranges? Are they just random numbers or are there any factors/caluactions affecting these ranges?

How did they assign a value of any sort for a human life? How is it possible to "measure" the impact of some crime like murder of someone? I know developing any sort of system to control actions of a conscious being by words is a nearly impossible task but is this kind of system really justice?
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The same way most laws are created. By miscellaneous ramblings of legislators.
 
law_is_subjective said:
The place really doesn't matter, all law books have some kind of mandatory ranges. Isn't it?
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You can't seriously expect someone to opine on the possible law in over 190 countries, not to mention lower level municipalities that may have their own laws as well...
 
law_is_subjective said:
For example, in colombia law the mandatory sentencing for First degree murder is 30-60 years, Even Though the final prison sentence will be a subjective decision of the judge affected by various factors. I am curious to know how did the lawmakers create these ranges?
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No one here will have the slightest idea how the lawmakers in Colombia came up with their sentencing ranges.

law_is_subjective said:
Are they just random numbers
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Highly unlikely.

law_is_subjective said:
are there any factors/caluactions affecting these ranges?
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I'm sure there are.

law_is_subjective said:
How did they assign a value of any sort for a human life? How is it possible to "measure" the impact of some crime like murder of someone? I know developing any sort of system to control actions of a conscious being by words is a nearly impossible task but is this kind of system really justice?
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These sound like great questions to pose in a philosophy seminar or to a doctoral candidate, but they're not particularly good questions for a forum such as this.

law_is_subjective said:
The place really doesn't matter, all law books have some kind of mandatory ranges. Isn't it?
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No one here is likely to have more than cursory knowledge of "law books" in any country other than the United States. That said, I would hope it obvious that the methodology used by lawmakers in the U.S. will be greatly different from those in Colombia, Russia, Iran, Bhutan, etc.
 
Some people have a propensity to prevaricate.

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Zigner said:
While I do agree with you...

This OP never claimed to be from anywhere in particular.
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OP????

I never mentioned (or even alluded to) this OP or ANY OP.

Nor did I "imply", "suggest", "hint", "indicate", "infer", "insinuate", "intimate", or even "mention" the OP in anyway, manner, or form.

I stand by my statement: "I never mentioned (or even alluded to) the OP."

Have a very nice day. :)

army judge said:
Some people have a propensity to prevaricate.
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I simply stated the following: "Some people have a propensity to prevaricate."

That is all, "Some people have a propensity to prevaricate."
 
army judge said:
OP????

I never mentioned (or even alluded to) the OP.



I simply stated the following: "Some people have a propensity to prevaricate."

That is all, "Some people have a propensity to prevaricate."
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Uh-huh

:p
 
In the US federally, there's no such thing as a mandatory sentence (or binding plea bargains for that matter). The sentence is ALWAYS at the discretion of the judge up to the maximum permitted by law.

In the US states that have them, they are enacted by the legislature for specific crimes and circumstances, that the representatives decide merit special consideration.
 
Sentencing is not done according to what is written in "law books". These types of things are usually specified in each states' body of law that deals with criminal law and/or procedure.
 
I took "law books" as meaning the volumes containing the embodiment of the law. Even though most of us use electronic forms now, Federal and most state laws are indeed still couched in terms of physical volumes (Titles, Chapters, Sections).

Mandatory sentencing (as I stated earlier) almost always end up being inserted in "the law" as part of specific legislation as a reaction to some set of special circumstances. Otherwise, a range applies set up by the law. The guidance discretionary range gets applied is often not enacted law directly (just enabled by it), The Feds and many states have separate documents that are sentencing guidelines and while these are not "law" it is what the courts use and if the court strays from it, it can result in the parties taking further legal action.
 
Highwayman said:
Sentencing is not done according to what is written in "law books". These types of things are usually specified in each states' body of law that deals with criminal law and/or procedure.
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Are you suggesting that those "bod[ies] of law that deal[] with criminal law and/or procedure" are found somewhere other than in "law books"?
 
I've never heard anyone refer to a body of law (for example, the NYS Criminal Procedure Law) as a "book". To me it sounded like he was referring to a textbook or something similar.
 
Highwayman said:
I've never heard anyone refer to a body of law (for example, the NYS Criminal Procedure Law) as a "book". To me it sounded like he was referring to a textbook or something similar.
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One would not refer to, e.g., the California Penal Code (a "body of law") as a "law book," but it certainly makes sense to refer to the books (plural) in which the CPC is published as "law books."

Tax Counsel said:
it is a common English word. Check out Webster's definition of the term lawbook.
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Interesting. I would have never have thought of it as a single word.
 

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