Prison Term Policy Recommendation

Essay by mvan22University, Bachelor'sA-, April 2010

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Prison Term Policy Recommendation

As a criminologist advisor for the state of Nevada, I am going to review the upcoming bill that will be voted on by the legislator and make some recommendations about the change of doubling the maximum prison term for anyone convicted of armed robbery. This bill is very popular in many other states but in the state of Nevada, some individuals are unsure whether or not doubling the maximum prison term will do any good. When an individual commits a crime and are convicted of that crime, some will return to committing that same crime once released, others will be rehabilitated and continue normal lives. So what would be the appropriate punishment to deter criminals from committing crime in the first place?

The state of Nevada defines robbery as "the unlawful taking of personal property from the person of another, or in his presence, against his will, by means of force or violence or fear of injury, immediate or future, to his person or property, or the person or property, or the person or property of a member of his family, or anyone in his company at the time of the robbery (Nevada State Legislation, n.d.,

NRS 200.380)" by the use of a weapon.

In the state of Nevada, the current minimum sentence for a Category B felony is a minimum of one year and a maximum of 20 years. Robbery is considered a Category B felony in Nevada. Nevada does not recognize armed robbery that would be considered aggravated robbery which is still listed under Category B. With this new bill aggravated robbery would then be a minimum of two years and a maximum of 40 years. Will this help or hurt society? Armed or aggravated robbery should be held at a...