Chapter 11 Criminal Justice Definitions

Parole

The conditional release of prisoners before they have served their full sentence.

Pardon

The most expensive type of clemency. With a pardon, the prisoner's crime is erased and his or her punishment is terminated.

Convict Code

A constellation of values, norms, and roles that regulate the way inmates interact with one another and with prison staff.

Habeas Corpus

A court order requiring that a confined person be brought to court so that his or her claims can be heard.

Mandatory Release

A method of prison release under which an inmate is released after serving a legally required portion of his or her sentence, minus good-time credits.

Hands-off Philosophy

A philosophy under which courts are reluctant to hear prisoners claims regarding their rights while incarcerated.

Deprivation Model

A theory that the inmate society arises as a response to the prison environment and the painful conditions of confinement.

Importation Model

A theory that the inmate society is shaped by the attributes inmates bring with them when they enter prison.

Clemency

Allows the governor of a state or the president of the United States, when federal or military law is violated, to exercise leniency or mercy.

Total Institution

An institutional setting in which persons sharing some characteristics are cut off from the wider society and expected to live according to institutional rules and procedures.

Jailhouse Lawyers

Inmates skilled in legal matters.

Commutation

Reduction of the original sentence given by executive authority, usually a state's governor.

Prisonization

The process by which an inmate becomes socialized into the customs and principles of the inmate society.

Recidivism

The return of legal activity after release from incarceration.

Sub-rose Economy

The secret exchange of goods and services among inmates; the black market of the prison.

Good Time

Time subtracted from an inmate's sentence for good behavior and other meritorious activities in prison.