I HEARD FROM A DIFFERENT PRISON SITE THAT " TRUTH AND SENTENCING " WAS GOING TO BE CHANGED- ANYONE KNOW OF ANY INFORMATION ON THAT?- THANKS, BYE FOR NOW-JENNIFER

Jennifer:

Explain a little about the Truth & Sentencing... I don't thing I have heard anything about anything like this..... What does it do? Who should it help? Is this a Federal Thing?



Thanks
Donna

I have never heard of "Truth and Sentencing" either. Would like to know what that is.

Joy

well - maybe it is just for the state of wisconsin(lucky us)
it is a law that states that whatever "time" a person gets- they have to serve the whole time- which means they get no time deducted for good behavior- like my babys dad(jay) got 10 years for the crime he commited and he will have to serve all 10 years- no early release or anything. i heard somewhere that the prisons were getting to over crowded so the law was going to be changed.? i thought every state had truth and sentencing- i guess i was wrong- bye for now-jennifer

Most states have some kind of gain time or parole unless it is a mandatory sentence. Then you have to serve every day of the time. Does Wisconsin not have parole either?
In Florida they have the 85% law. You can get gain time and loos gain time but you must serve atleast 85% of you sentence. The stopped parole about 10 years ago and then created the 65% law. A few years back they changed it to 85%. Since then there has been a lot of talk, rummors, that they will be bringing bach the 65% due to overcrowding.
Where did you hear the info. I don't want to upset you but unless it's a reliable source don't get your hopes up. Rummors like this go around. If it was from a reliable source is the law retroactive (will it apply to those sentenced before the law was passed). I hope that it is true and people are able to gain some good time in Wisconsin. My thoughts are with you.
Michelle

Well, I agree with Michelle and Jennifer, I guess the state you live in does make a difference! Parole was abolished in Virginia in 1995, and truth in sentencing took affect and in Virginia it means that what ever time you are given you will serve 85% of that time no matter what before you are released! I had some different ideas of what it might mean but, I went to see Larry today and that's what he told me. Hope everyone is having a great day! Penny

NC has 85% too--but i hope the "rumors" are right about the % going down--I do know that the prisons are very overcrowded.

sherri

Hey I'm new here - have a friend in jail, I'll post that whole story a little later.

As far as truth and sentencing goes... Joe (friend) got hit with that. Here in Michigan, its for violent crimes only and if it is your first offence you have to serve 85%, if it's your second or more it's 100%. Rumors have been going around Joe's prison that they are lowering the percentage or dropping it all together. I'm still not totally sure what's going on with that, and since he's been sentenced already they lawyer doesn't care too much anymore.

they have some screwed up laws in our country. i have heard a lot about the 85% thing. I am not sure which states all have the truth or sentancing thing.

I heard that it will be lowered in AZ too....I hope somebody will be able to tell us for sure...one day

i think that there should be some way to find out.. I have a good link for info so i will check there and let everyone know what i find out..

thanks Shortie! let us know what you find out

shortie-did you find that link yet? I just found an article from the washington post on truth and sentencing-and it says that when they made that law that later on they were suppose to make another law that tells judges that they have to lower inmates sentences since the inmate will have to do "all" the time-no getting out early- but a second law was never passed- so judges are still giving the maximum sentences-and now our prisons are getting overcrowded.Here in wisconsin there is no parole-and all inmates sentenced after dec.1999 have to do 100 percent of there time.

that really sucks i have not found the link yet i will work on it tonight and let you know...

THANKS SO MUCH SHORTIE-I'M NEW AT THIS COMPUTER THING- SO I NEVER KNOW WHERE TO LOOK TO FIND OUT INFO ON SUCH THINGS- LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU FIND!! BYE FOR NOW................JENNIFER

jennifer... have you tried looking up the statutes specific to your state? Try findlaw or law crawler or something along those lines. Truth in sentencing exists in IL as well and how much time you serve depends on the class of the felony. Being that it is a law there should not be any mystery involved once you locate it in WI statutes. All laws have to be written clearly and specifically or they are considered constitutionally vague and can't be passed as law. The problem might be in deciphereing all the "legalese." For a layman's description try one of the sites by NOLO publishing. Good luck in your search & don't be surprised if the more you dig the more curious you become!

THANKS- I HAVE LOOKED AT SOME SITES ON THE TRUTH AND SENTENCING LAW- BUT ALL I CAN FIND IS WHEN THE LAW WAS PASSED AND SO ON... WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR IS TO FIND OUT IF THE LAW IS GOING TO CHANGED- OR IF THE RUMOR IS TRUE THAT CERTAIN INMATES WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR GOOD-TIME .BUT I'LL TRY TO DIG AROUND A BIT- TO SEE WHAT I CAN FIND......JENNIFER