Exam Content

Sentencing guidelines are determined through best practice research and public policies. Criminal justice practitioners must be well-informed regarding public policies and trends that impact sentencing in order to uphold best practices. In this summative assessment, you look at your state’s sentencing guidelines for 2 crimes, as well as the public policies that influenced them.

Research examples of sentencing guidelines for 2 specific crimes in your state and the public policies that influenced these guidelines. 

Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word analysis of sentencing guidelines and the related public policies. Address the following in your paper:

• Identify the 2 crimes you researched.
• Describe the sentencing guidelines in your state for each crime.
• Compare the sentencing guidelines for adult offenders and juvenile offenders for each crime.
• Compare the sentencing guidelines of your state to the guidelines of another state and the guidelines at the federal level for each crime.
• Describe public policies and trends that influenced the sentencing guidelines in your state for the crimes you researched.
• Explain the impetus for the public policies and data that supported the public policies.
• Propose a change to the sentencing policies in your state for the crimes researched and substantiate your proposal with support from research on the benefits of this change.

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