Impacts of Discretionary Decision in Criminal Justice

School: Southern New Hampshire University - Course: CJ 230 - Subject: Accounting

CJ 230 Module Four Assignment Template Complete the table below by replacing the bracketed text with the relevant information. Zaquawn Harris SNHU CJ-230 Discretionary DecisionImpacts of DecisionLaws and Policy The discretionary decision that the judgemade in the case was sentencing theoffender to six months in jail and a lifetimeregistry of being a sex offender.The decision will have a negative impact onthe victims and their families. A positiveimpact for the offender is he will not have tospend to much time in jail, but a negativeimpact is that he is a registered sex offenderfor the rest of his life. Another impact theoffender could be released in a short periodof time and not be rehabilitated and commitanother crime.California Penal Code Section 261(a)(2-4) states the following: (a) Rape is an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a person not the spouse of the perpetrator, under any of the following circumstances: (2) Where it is accomplished against a person's will by means of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the person or another. (3) Where a person is prevented from resisting by any intoxicating or anesthetic substance, or any controlled substance, and this condition was known, or reasonably should have been known by the accused. (4) Where a person is at the time unconscious of the nature of the act, and this is known to the

Discretionary DecisionImpacts of DecisionLaws and Policy accused. As used in this paragraph, "unconscious of the nature of the act" means incapable of resisting because the victim meets any one of the following conditions: (A) Was unconscious or asleep. (B) Was not aware, knowing, perceiving, or cognizant that the act occurred. Unless otherwise noted, rape is punishable by imprisonment for 3, 6, or 8 years, as well as a fine not to exceed $70 (to be paid towards AIDS education). The laws that the judge used to help make his decision was California's penal law code section 261(a)(2-4). Discretion makes an impact on the judges decision because there is no mandatory minimum sentence imposed for a rape conviction. Discretion was also applied in the case because the judge attended the same elite college that the defendant was attending.