Skip to main content
re-sentencing

re-sentencing

7.9
Giving a new, often lighter, punishment to someone after a judge already gave them one
  • noun
  • /ˌriːˈsɛn.tə.sɪŋ/
  • UK
translation icon : re-sentencia
  • After the appeal, the judge ordered a re-sentencing that significantly reduced the defendant's punishment.

Examples

  • The court's re-sentencing decision took into account the defendant's good behavior while in prison.

  • During the hearing, the lawyer argued for a re-sentencing based on new evidence that emerged.

  • And so we began introducing bills that were this kind of re sentencing, putting the case back in front of a judge.

Synonyms

commutation
vsre-sentencing
  • Formal
5 7.7

To officially reduce a prisoner's punishment to a lighter sentence

is the legal act of assigning a new often reduced punishment

How Severe

death penalty
  • NSFW
305 4.1
life sentence
76 5.7
prison term
19 4.2
sentence
  • Specialized
659 7.0
re-sentencing
  • UK
7.9
probation
  • Formal
187 5.6
acquittal
41 7.1

Surface Forms

re-sentencing singular

Morphology

re-sentencing = re-sentence (transparent) = re + sentence + ing

This is a regular event noun built from the verb 're-sentence' with '-ing', and its legal meaning is directly predictable.

Etymology

Re-sentencing combines re- meaning 'again' with sentencing from sentence, which can mean 'a punishment'. So re-sentencing is literally giving someone a 'sentence' again, often a new or smaller punishment when a judge changes the first one.