Dr. Adam McKee's

Probation and Parole

Spring 2006

Assignment 3

Definitions and questions beginning with "list" need not be answered in essay form; all other questions must be in essay form.  Use standard English grammar, punctuation, and capitalization rules.  All files must be double spaced, written in 12-point times new roman font, have 1-inch margins, and readable in Microsoft Word.  [I can't read MS Works files!]  Do Not Send Me Assignments In the Body of an Email.  They must be attached files.

After carefully reading chapter 3 in your text, answer the following questions:

1.  Define the following terms in your OWN words:

1. Presentence Investigation Report (PSI)
2. Offender-based Presentence Report
3. Presentence Investigation
4. Indeterminate Sentence
5. Determinate Sentence
6. Offense-based Presentence Report
7. Victim Impact Statement
8. Disclosure
9. Hearsay Evidence
10. Exclusionary Rule

2.  What are the purposes of the PSI report?  How might other agencies in the criminal justice system use the PSI?  [1/2 p.]

3.  How have sentencing guidelines affected the content of the PSI report? [1/2 p.]

4.  What is the purpose of the victim impact statement in a PSI report?  [1/2 p.]

5.  Is the probation officer required to give the Miranda warning to a defendant before the presentence investigation interview?  Why or why not? [1/2 p.]

6.  What factor(s) might explain why probation officers' recommendations are so highly correlated with actual sentences imposed by judges? [1/2 p.]

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