Section IV Courts and Corrections: Law Enforcement’s Partners in the Criminal Justice System

1. Section IVCourts and Corrections: Law Enforcement’s Partners in the Criminal Justice System Chapter 14 Corrections

2. The Corrections System Corrections is that portion of the criminal justice system charged with carrying out the sentences of our courts. Corrections refers to the programs, services, agencies and institutions responsible for supervising individuals charged with or convicted of crimes. Officers’ arrest decisions directly affect who ends up in corrections. Officers are also key partners in reentry efforts.

3. Primary Purposes of Corrections Retribution Deterrence Incapacitation Rehabilitation

4. Conflicting Views of Corrections • Classical view • Humans have free will and are responsible for their own actions. • This view focuses on crime. • Positivist view • Humans are the product of environmental and cultural influences. • This view focuses on the criminal.

5. Correctional Ideologies and Models • Punishment: Justice model • Assumes offenders are victims of society and their environment who need to be cured. • Control: Custodial model • Goal is restraint of those convicted • Treatment: Medical model • Assumes offenders are self-directed, acting on free will and are responsible for their crimes • Prevention: Reintegration model • Goal is to prevent further offenses

6. Pretrial Services Provide a window of opportunity After an offender is arrested and charged, offender assessment should begin (to determine what level of supervision and services are required). Presumed to be innocent until found guilty Right to bail

7. Intermediate Sanctions/Community Corrections • Tougher than traditional probation, but less restrictive and costly than imprisonment • Alternatives to incarceration include • Straight fines and day fines • Forfeiture • Restitution • Community service • Intensive supervision • House arrest and electronic monitoring • Day reporting centers • Residential community corrections • Probation

8. Probation The oldest community-based correctional program. The most common alternative to a prison sentence. Provides a foundation on which to build a wide range of community-based services. Offender is put under the control, supervision and care of a probation field staff member in lieu of imprisonment as long as the probationer meets certain standards of conduct. Allows offenders to remain in the community, able to maintain important family ties and fulfill vital work, family and community obligations.

9. Who Gets Probation? First-time offenders Property offenders Low-risk offenders Nonviolent offenders

10. Conditions of Probation • The general purpose of probation is to help offenders maintain law-abiding behavior through supervision. • One universal condition for all probationers is to obey the law. • Other conditions may include • Adherence to a curfew • Maintaining steady employment • Completing prescribed training • Meeting family responsibilities • Staying away from certain types of people or places • Abstaining from drug and alcohol use • Abiding by firearms possession restrictions • Performing community service • Making restitution

11. Incarceration • The primary goal of these correctional institutions is to protect society. • Secondary goals include • Deterring offenders • Rehabilitating offenders • Reintegrating offenders

12. Jails • Detain individuals waiting to appear before the court • For trial (preconviction) • For sentencing (postconviction) • Hold those sentenced to a year or less of incarceration • Jail differs from prison in that • Inmates are there for shorter terms, usually for less serious crimes. • Jails are usually the responsibility of local or county law enforcement.

13. Prisons • Where the inmates have been convicted of a crime • Holds offenders sentenced to more than one year of incarceration • May be punitive • More formal and rigid • Emphasis on obedience through negative incentives • May be treatment-oriented • More informal and flexible • Positive incentives through good behavior

14. Issues Facing Prisons Overcrowding Continued inward flow of contraband Assaults and rapes Prison gangs Criminalizing environment Privatization

15. Parole The conditional release from prison before the expiration of the sentence and the period of supervision in the community following this release Differs from probation in that a person who is paroled has spent some time serving a prison sentence Required supervision and a set of certain conditions the offender must meet

16. Factors Influencing Parole Eligibility Type of offense committed Offender’s prior record State statutes Inmate’s behavior while incarcerated Participation in programs Whether the inmate has a plan for life on the outside If the inmate poses any public risk

17. Conditions of Parole Regular meetings between the parolee and officer Requirement to hold a job Promise to act lawfully Restriction on leaving the county or state without permission Prohibition on purchasing or using a firearm Submission to random or routine drug testing

18. Community-BasedReintegration Programs Halfway houses Restitution centers Furloughs

19. Recidivism One or more arrests of a returning prison inmate over three years

20. Death Penalty vs. Life without Parole (LWOP)Group work! Proponents of Death Penalty Proponents of LWOP Death penalty is morally reprehensible Disparity (race, gender) Execution neither swift nor certain: “empty threat” Potential good an inmate might do (make restitution) Possibility for error: executing the innocent • Serves as a deterrent • Serves as a form of retribution • LWOP adds to prison overcrowding • Cost to imprison young offenders for life is too prohibitive

21. Reentry Prisoner reentry is a statewide issue. The current approach to corrections is costly and the outcomes are not great. Solutions do not lie solely within correctional departments. Both human services and law enforcement must join together with corrections. Communication and data-sharing are essential. Success can (and should) be measured.

22. Juvenile Corrections Of the estimated 100,000 juveniles in detention centers each day, less than a third have been arrested for violent crimes. Despite a substantial investment in detaining juveniles, all too often none of the primary objectives of confinement are achieved. An estimated 50–80% of youth released from juvenile facilities are rearrested within three years.

23. Correctional Alternativesfor Juveniles Probation Intermediate sanctions Incarceration Death penalty

24. Reentry for Juveniles • Offenders receive services and supervision. • Offenders receive intensive intervention • While incarcerated • During transition into the community • While under community supervision

25. Study! Lex Talionis The primary focus of juvenile corrections Number of Capital Punishment States Number of adults in the United States incarcerated or under correctional supervision.