If you have been charged with a crime, the best thing you can do for yourself is to contact a criminal defense attorney to find out how we can help you. There are many factors to consider when deciding to fight a case or negotiate for the best possible plea deal. One of those considerations is the fact that California uses indeterminate sentencing in some cases.

What does this mean? Keep reading to learn and then contact Law Office of Michael L. Fell at (949) 585-9055 if you require a free legal consultation with an experienced criminal defense attorney.

What is the meaning of indeterminate sentencing?

“Indeterminate sentencing” refers to a certain method that a sentence is given in a criminal case under state criminal legislation and within the criminal justice system. When a sentencing judge imposes an indeterminate sentence, he or she sets a mandatory minimum term of confinement but does not specify a specific release date. For example, a judge might impose the following indeterminate sentences: "5 years to 15 years in state prison," or "20 years to a life sentence."

Indeterminate sentence is not the same as determined sentencing. A court imposes a determinate sentence when he or she sentences someone to a particular amount of time in prison (for example, 3 years in county jail or 7 years in prison. A parole board or a state's department of prisons cannot modify the duration of a sentence imposed by a judge.

Advantages of determinate sentencing

Here are a few advantages of determinate sentences

• Justice. A system in which all offenders get the same fundamental punishment for the same offense is presumed to be more fair than one in which some criminals are freed while others remain incarcerated.
• Efficiency. A determinate system saves time and money for the state since judges can impose a sentence without the need for a parole board to meet to set a release date.
• Reduction in crime rates. According to analysts, crime rates will fall since criminals will know exactly what punishment they would receive if they commit a crime.

There are disadvantages, too:

• More inmates. Indefinite sentences are thought to result in smaller prison populations since parole boards can award early release.
• Less adaptability. Similarly, parole boards give sentencing flexibility by allowing offenders to be released early and begin a new life.
• Lower rehabilitative value. A parole board can release an offender after he or she has rehabilitated under an indeterminate system (a major tenet within the criminal justice system). Because parole boards have limited power in release choices, this isn't a significant issue in a determinative system.

Indeterminate sentencing leaves the eventual release date open. Although California is a determinate sentencing state, certain offenders are punished under the indeterminate sentencing legislation.

How may a prisoner request a release date that is earlier or shorter?

In a determinate system, an inmate can receive a shorter release date than the judge imposes for two reasons: good behavior or work release. Work release is a program in which certain inmates are transitioned into a county-based institution and leave during the day to attend regular work, returning to the institution immediately after work for confinement purposes.

Early release eligibility in an indeterminate system is usually determined by rehabilitation. Inmates who can demonstrate that they have rehabilitated themselves, or that they have distanced themselves from the causes that led them to commit a crime, are more likely to be released by parole boards.