How are prison sentences applied?
May 29, 2009 12:32 PM   Subscribe

Phil Spector received a "19 years to life" sentence. Does this mean that (a) he must serve 19 years without exception and possibly more, or (b) he will be eligible for parole based on various factors before he serves 19 years? Can you explain the "to life" part? His sentence might be extended? I've always wondered how it works when you hear of someone getting "5 to 10 years," and reading of Spector's sentencing today reminded me to ask. Thanks!
posted by jackypaper to Law & Government (7 answers total)
 
It means he will be eligible for parole in 19 years.
posted by zsazsa at 12:34 PM on May 29, 2009


Best answer: That's what's called an indeterminate sentence, it means that instead of being totally exactly how long you'll serve in jail, you're given a range. You can't serve more than the upper bound, and you can't serve less than the lower bound. The parole board determines when you're released precisely within that range, by deciding when you're paroled. The other thing that tends to be true is that when you're on parole, you can only be sent back to prison for violating the terms of your parole for the length of time you have left. This is called "backup time." That might not be universally true, however, I'm not sure.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 12:44 PM on May 29, 2009


To piggyback on this question:

Where on the scale of severity does this sentence fall? Since Spector is nearly 70, this comes close to a life sentence anyhow, I suppose. Would such a factor be taken into consideration?
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 1:35 PM on May 29, 2009


Dee Xtrovert - IANAL, but I believe there are standard ranges of options based on conviction, and the flexibility is to choose something within that range. In this case, it seems he got 15 to life for second-degree murder, plus 4 years for "the gun-use enhancement conviction" (source). The judge also ordered Spector to pay $16,811 in funeral expenses, $9,740 to a state victims’ restitution fund and other fees (source). Funeral expenses seem like a decision made by the judge based on Spector, not the crime, but again I'm not a lawyer.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:43 PM on May 29, 2009


Age isn't generally considered in giving murderers prison sentences. I suppose that, were Spector in failing health, his lawyer could argue to the judge that he should be spared prison, or given a sentence at the low end of the range, in order to spare him the "cruel and unusual punishment" (got to love lawyers!) of dying in prison, but whether this would gain sympathy from the judge is another question.
posted by dfriedman at 3:00 PM on May 29, 2009


Searching through the California Department of Corrections website was informative on this. With an indeterminate sentence, Specter becomes eligible for parole in 19 years, although the process may start a year earlier. I wasn't able to figure out if California has medical parole for terminally ill inmates, but they do have a hospice in-system. Other states such as New Hampshire do have a medical parole system that releases terminally ill patients to supervised medical care. California may have a similar system, but I wasn't able to find it.

dfriedman: With mandatory sentencing guidelines, judges have substantially less leeway to look at age and health as guidelines in sentencing. The Department of Corrections is empowered to assess his medical needs and required to provide a reasonable level of care. The possibility that he'd die in prison is pretty much the point of a life sentence.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 3:20 PM on May 29, 2009


It looks as if there is a compassionate release option for California for those with less than 6 months to live, but relatively few prisoners have their request granted.
posted by dragoon at 3:52 PM on May 29, 2009


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