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Sentencing finality
Definition
The principle that criminal sentences should be final and not subject to endless relitigation. The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 emphasized finality by abolishing federal parole and establishing determinate sentencing, while leaving narrow exceptions like compassionate release.
Examples
- •The government argued that allowing compassionate release to address trial errors would undermine the finality goals of the Sentencing Reform Act, which deliberately eliminated parole.