DEMO BUILD · corrected architecture · not attached to production DNS · noindex/nofollow · see all page types
AttorneysOnline.Directory
Home / Answers / Criminal Law / Are Sentencing Statutes Often Changed Given Current Social Trends?
Criminal Law · answered on camera

Are Sentencing Statutes Often Changed Given Current Social Trends?

Quick answer

Sentencing law is constantly changing, Oakland criminal defense attorney Andrew Dósa says, and in recent years the trend has leaned toward criminalizing more behavior. He points to California's relatively conservative Supreme Court, which tends to favor 'tough on crime' outcomes and uphold rules like felony murder—leaving the legislature, not the courts, to drive defendant-friendly reform.

Excerpt summaries from the video and transcripts · how we make them

Answered by Andrew Dósa · Oakland, CA

Highlights

0:30

— why a traditionally liberal state can still move toward harsher penalties

0:51

— how legal precedent lets sentencing rules keep shifting

Frequently Asked Questions

Do sentencing laws change often?

Constantly. In recent years the trend has leaned toward criminalizing more behavior rather than less.

Why do sentencing rules keep shifting?

Legal precedent lets the rules evolve; California's relatively conservative Supreme Court tends to uphold tough-on-crime outcomes, leaving reform to the legislature.

→ Full interview on Attorneys.Media

Contact Andrew Dósa
Answered by

Andrew Dósa
The Law Offices of Andrew Dósa

102 filmed answers · full profile →

Build note · one page per video, built from the directory database: this video’s own Quick answer, Law update where one applies, Highlights and Q&A, attributed to its attorney. Nothing on it is quoted verbatim and no interview text is reproduced — the full interview stays on Attorneys.Media, linked above.