In the federal system and in many state systems the judge will order a pre-sentence report, usually prepared by a probation or parole officer. In sentencing a defendant, the court can consider all kinds of information that may not have been relevant or admissible at trial.
In the federal system the sentence is determined pursuant to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are very restrictive and leave little discretion to the judge. Some state courts use guideline systems also. Other states like Louisiana leave sentencing largely up to the judge, who, absent any mandatory minimum sentence, has substantial discretion.
In recent years both the state and federal systems have seen an explosion of these mandatory minimum sentences. While many outspoken judges oppose mandatory minimums, their hands are often tied. Usually a criminal sentence will involve a term of imprisonment (incarceration). The sentence may be suspended and the defendant placed on probation. Often the sentence will include restitution to the victim for damages caused by the defendant or a fine and court costs. If the defendant is placed on probation there is usually a probation supervision fee.
Incarceration
Incarceration requires a convicted person to be sentenced to a penal institution. Once incarcerated, he or she will remain in custody until they have served their time unless they are released on parole. Parole eligibility and practices vary widely among the states. Parole violations can result in the offender being re-incarcerated to serve the remainder of their sentence.
Parole no longer exists in the federal system. When a prisoner completes his sentence in the federal system he or she must serve a period of supervised release during which he is supervised by a federal probation officer. Violations of the terms of supervised release can result in the person being re-incarcerated for the entire period of time they were to serve on supervised release.
Probation & Suspended Sentences
In some cases the court will sentence the convicted person to incarceration but suspend the sentence for a period of time and place the person on probation. Once on probation the person will have a probation officer that monitors their activities and to whom they must regularly report. If the probation is successfully completed, then the person will not be incarcerated. However it the probationer violates any rule of probation the court may order the sentence be served.
Other Sentencing Options
Depending on the jurisdiction and the particular offense a court may have sentencing options other than incarceration or probation. The court may order restitution, a fine, home incarceration, or intensive incarceration, sometimes referred to a "boot camp" for young offenders.
"My goal in sentencing is to limit the clients' exposure to straight imprisonment or incarceration at hard labor while urging the court to adopt a sentencing options that work toward the rehabilitation of the client and encourage their return to productive citizenship."
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