No Indeterminate Sentencing Without Parole
42 Pages Posted: 27 May 2017 Last revised: 23 Feb 2019
Date Written: May 5, 2017
Abstract
This article looks critically at Arizona’s indeterminate sentencing system that survived after the elimination of parole in Arizona in 1993. It begins by exploring the purpose and history of indeterminate sentencing and parole as well as its earliest constitutional challenges and eventual decline. Next it compares two commonly confused forms of “release”: parole and executive clemency. The article then examines the three types of defendants and the potential consequences if Arizona does not reestablish parole for its indeterminate sentences: death row defendants denied parole eligibility instructions at trial, defendants whose plea agreement includes parole and defendants sentenced to parole at trial. Finally, the article argues that without parole, Arizona’s indeterminate sentences should be ruled unconstitutional.
Keywords: Arizona, Parole, Clemency, Sentencing
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