Sentencing Continued

Suspended Sentence

Another sentencing option is the suspended sentence. An offender who receives a suspended sentence is convicted of a crime (and acquires a criminal record) but doesn't receive a sentence for it. Instead, the offender must meet certain conditions during a period of time - much as in the case of a conditional discharge, if the conditions are not all met, the offender will find him- or herself back before the judge.

If a person receives a suspended sentence, he or she is placed on probation and must meet with a probation officer on a regular basis. While on probation, the offender must comply with the terms of the probation order. Offenders who breach their probation orders will then be sentenced for their original offences and get an additional sentence for breach of probation.

Intermittent Sentence

In some cases where a sentence is for 90 days or less, an offender may be permitted to serve it at intervals. This is called an intermittent sentence; the advantages of serving a sentence in this way is that the offender can work during the week and serve time on weekends. This allows offenders to keep their jobs and support their families while doing time.

Restitution

In some cases, a judge may order an offender to repay the victim of the crime for losses suffered. This restitution can take the form of replacement of stolen or damaged property, lost income, and other losses suffered.

Fines

Most people are familiar with fines as a type of sentencing. Judges usually order offenders to pay fines for offences of a less serious nature. If the maximum penalty for an offence is less than five years, the judge may order the offender to pay a fine instead of sending him or her to jail. If the maximum penalty is greater than five years in jail, a fine may be imposed only in addition to a jail term. There is also the option to have a fine option program.

Community Service

The principle of community service is much the same as that of restitution; rather than paying back the victim, however, the offender is ordered to pay back the community by performing work or providing some special service. An added bonus is that the offender, rather than becoming further alienated from society by the prison system, can begin to feel like a contributing member with a positive role to play.

Teacher's Note

You read about sentencing involving community service in the case of Kevin, the young man from Ontario who was responsible for the deaths of his two best friends in a car crash.

Conditional Sentences

In recent years, changes have been made to the Criminal Code to allow judges in some situations to give offenders conditional sentences. Normally this involves confining the offenders to their homes, setting curfews, and so on. Such sentences are relatively cheap to enforce and they prevent people guilty of minor crimes from being exposed to the prison system and repeat offenders.

Dangerous Offenders

The Dangerous Offender provisions of the Criminal Code are intended to protect all Canadians from the most dangerous violent and sexual predators in the country. Individuals convicted of these offences can be designated as a Dangerous Offender during sentencing if it is shown that there is a significantly high risk that they will commit future violent or sexual offences. The objective of protecting innocent Canadians from future harm can and will ensure in such cases that the offender will remain in a penitentiary for an indeterminate period. An example of a dangerous offender in Canada is Paul Bernardo.