Exam 1 - Institutional Corrections (DeShay) (TCU)

Rights on Crime regarding the get-tough movement

- A conservative criminal justice policy organization that advocates for reducing the prison population, increasing probation and parole, eliminating mandatory sentences for nonviolent crime, and providing drug treatment for offenders with substance abuse problems. - > This group advocates for laws that would divert nonviolent and non-sex offenders to probation and other community options. "Conservatives are known for being tough on crime, but we must also be tough on criminal justice spending. That means demanding more cost-effective approaches that enhance public safety. A clear example is our reliance on prisons, which serve a critical role by incapacitating dangerous offenders and career criminals but are not the solution for every type of offender. And in some instances, they have the unintended consequence of hardening nonviolent, low-risk offenders—making them a greater risk to the public than when they entered."

Mental illness and Jails

- According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, about 2 million times a year, people with serious illness are booked into jails. - Less than 45% of people with a history of mental illness receive mental health treatment while held in local jails. - About 55% of veterans held in local jails report experiencing mental illness. - Mental Health Transition Center (MHTC) includes: - individuals and group therapy - addressing participants thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and beliefs - strengthening community transition and long-term recovery plan - new staff getting advanced training in the treatment of mental illness while existing staff get trained as well. - Alumni of the program have access to transportation to and from job interviews, doctor appointments, and/or court as needed.

What is specific deterrence? Give an example

- Aimed at reducing the chances of recidivism - if a person is punished harshly, the idea is that they are unlikely to repeat criminal acts. Example - If you are the one who got caught selling drugs and sent to prison, the idea is that once released from prison you will not do it again because you do not want to go back. You know that it is possible to be caught and punished because it has already happened to you.

Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (explain the legislation and discuss its significance)

- Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 - 100:1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine - 500 grams of powder cocaine vs. 5 grams of crack cocaine triggered the same mandatory minimum sentences. - powder cocaine was more likely to be used by those who were affluent, while crack cocaine was more often used by members living in poor communities of color - most often Black communities. - The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced this disparity to 18:1. - The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 was a landmark legislation that sought to remedy a long-standing disparity in federal sentences for crack- and powder-cocaine possession. - The FSA eliminated the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine and increased statutory fines.

Industrial Revolution impact on the penal system

- Changing labor conditions led to a decline in existing penal institutions - The conditions in houses of corrections were deteriorating - Existing prisons were mostly designed to hold people for short periods before their trials. - These facilities became increasingly overcrowded. - Existing buildings were renovated to make room for more people. - Conditions of the confined were said to be despicable (hateful). - There were many reports of widespread disease, starvation, and death. - The population of incarcerated individuals was growing rapidly, just as the need for their labor was diminishing.

What is realignment? (what purpose does it serve)

- Criminal justice realignment changes the place where many felony sentences are served when the defendant is not granted probation. Instead of being sentenced to state prison, defendants convicted of a non-serious, non-violent, non-sexual felony with no prior such offenses serve their time in county jail. - The way Realignment is designed, judges now have more options for how they sentence individuals for certain crimes, and some of these options help to keep prison populations down by placing more low-level offenders in local jails and under community supervision. - Some are modifying the mandatory minimum sentencing schemes that dominated the tough-on-crime era, again allowing judges discretion to reduce sentences to more appropriately fit the crimes. Efforts are also being made to change sentencing practices that have produced stark inequities in sentence lengths for Whites versus people of color for similar offenses. These efforts should have the effect of both reducing disparities in the rates of incarceration for people of color and reducing the overall incarcerated population.

Middle Ages (Primary method of punishment in early Middle Ages)

- Death - Fines - Shaming - Mutilation

What is general deterrence? Give an example

- Designed to eliminate crime by convincing those who may engage in criminal activity that "crime does not pay." Example - if you are thinking about selling drugs but you see someone get convicted for doing the same thing and get sentenced to prison, this may prevent you from selling drugs to avoid a similar punishment.

Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington 2012

- Florences was arrested on a minor charge and had to strip down and check for scars, gang tattoos, and contraband. - He believed that using such an extensive search when he was arrested for a minor charge violated his constitutional rights. - The U.S. Supreme Court said strip searches were constitutional for any type of arrest. - They believe that jails are pretty dangerous and can be subject to gang violence, contagious diseases, and drug smuggling. - It was discussed by several (opinionated) that such a search of an individual arrested for a minor offense that does not involve drugs or violence is an unreasonable search forbidden by the Fourth Amendment.

What is gallery slavery? (response to? and describe/characterize it)

- Gallery Slavery was a response to the need for rowers for sailing vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. - It was characterized by very harsh conditions that often resulted in a slow death. - Convicted individuals do the labor that free workers would never perform, even under the worst financial circumstances. - Transportation emerged as the primary penalty for property crimes. - The exploitation of African enslaved people replaced the use of forced prison labor. - Gallery slavery led to the emergence of prisons as a significant component in the penal systems of Europe.

Describe and identify the characteristics of the Pennsylvania System

- Generally attributed to Quakers in Pennsylvania and referred to as the Pennsylvania System. - The punishment was justified on religious grounds. - > Individuals were supposed to spend all their time contemplating (viewing) God. - > Bibles were the only material that was permitted. - > It was very big on solitary confinement, prisoners would only see institutional officers or visitors if they had any. They had zero contact with the other prisoners. - Changing labor conditions in the early to mid-19th century contributed to the Pennsylvania system's collapse. - > The need for labor was growing, and the labor of those who were enslaved was being limited through legislative enactments. - There was a concern about the deteriorating mental condition of those who were held in solitary.

Cesare Beccaria's views on punishment

- He advocated for greater fairness and proportionality in the punishment system. - He expressed concern that the current brutal penal system would lead to juries that would clear guilty defendants to avoid being part of administering draconian (harsh) punishments. - Cesare Beccaria argued for proportional punishment, humane conditions of confinement, and renouncing brutality. - For the penal system, the core idea was that "the punishment must fit the crime."

Describe and discuss the Sandra Bland Act

- In 2017 this act was signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. - It was named after Sandra Bland, who was found dead in a county jail several days after being arrested during a routine traffic stop. Her death was ruled a suicide. - This legislation mandates county jails redirect people with mental health and substance abuse issues toward treatment, making it easier for defendants to receive a personal bond if they have mental illness or intellectual disability, and requires that independent law enforcement agencies investigate jail deaths.

The Era of Civil Rights and Community Corrections (1960-1970) (thoughts of sociologists LaMar Empey)

- LaMar Empey suggested that the 1960s ushered in an era in which there were attempts to extend basic constitutional protections to individuals incarcerated in prisons and jails. - California enacted the Probation Subsidy Program, which paid localities to keep people on probation. - Massachusetts went so far as to shut down all of its state juvenile prisons in favor of community services.

Describe and identify the characteristics of the Auburn System

- New York State pioneered a different approach to penal labor known as the Auburn System. - > involved solitary confinement during the night, but collective labor in prison workshops during the day. - > During the day, they were required to work quietly so that no communication was getting around between them. - > There were many rules that were enforced to instruct strict silence.

What are some examples of punishment based on the views of the Get-Tough Era?

- No Frills Prison Act: Amendment to Prevent Luxurious Conditions in Prisons. It was this legislation that helped to spur a debate on prisoner privilege in general, and weightlifting in particular. In the wake of the federal legislation, some states enacted similar laws, which also eliminated or limited cable television, computers, legal research materials, and many other amenities. - The War on Drugs - this "tough on crime" strategy promoted the use of mandatory minimum sentences, long prison terms, and strict zero-tolerance drug and violence policies.

President Biden's use of his clemency (pardon and commutation)

- President Joe Biden has granted 120 acts of clemency as of August 2023. - These 120 acts of clemency include 9 pardons and 111 commutations. - Most acts of clemency were for individuals convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. - He issues a presidential proclamation that pardons federal convictions for simple marijuana possession offenses.

President Obama's views on his pardon and commutation powers

- President Obama had extended presidential mercy to 1,927 individuals. - The primary idea was to rectify the sentences of federal prisoners who had already served more time than they would receive under the present U.S. sentencing guidelines. - Obama's total was skewed heavily by commutations (1,715) instead of pardons (212).

convicted vs non convicted population (2021)

- Prisons generally hold convicted individuals with sentences longer than 12 months, and jails hold everyone else. - Jails may house people arrested for DWIs, armed robbery, youth violence, vagrancy, or violation of probation or parole, all in the same facility. - Most individuals in jail are labeled as having an "unconvicted" status. - 71% of those in jail were awaiting court action on a current charge. - 29% were serving a sentence or awaiting sentencing on a conviction.

Presentence (Investigations) Reports (contents/preparations of the reports)

- Probation staff prepare resentence reports to present the convicted person's pertinent information to the sentencing judge. - The report focuses on the severity of the current offense and any prior contact the defendant has had with the criminal justice system. - The report also notes any outstanding arrests or bench warrants. - The report has to do with the likelihood that the defendant will re-offend in the future, as measured by a risk assessment instrument. - The RAI helps evaluate the risk level by ranking offense severity and offense history, among other factors. - The resentence report may play a small role in the actual sentencing decision. - Risk and Needs assessment Risk - the likelihood that an individual will re-offend Need - problem areas for an offender

What is retribution/retributive justice?

- Punishment is society's price for the harm done by lawbreakers. - Presumed to satisfy basic human instincts to exact a price from those who offend us or our social group. - Assumes that the criminal justice system is in place to punish rather than rehabilitate individuals - Main focus is on arranging the correctional system so that the punishment fits the crime.

Zebulon Brockway (views about punishment and what causes people to participate in criminal activity)

- Reducing the costs of penal operations and making prisons self-sustaining was a major Brockway goal - Brockway explained that with the "productive employment of prisoners, the public expenditures for prisons should be limited to the cost of providing the plant; the matter of selecting and organizing the prison industries became at first and naturally the central purpose of management at a new county prison." - Brockway's penal philosophy rested on the assumption that criminals were the product of physical, moral, and intellectual imperfections; he believed their behavior was not determined by reason and logic. - Brockway emphasized that lawbreakers were incapable of controlling their own conduct either in prisons or in the community. - He attributed this basic inferiority to genetic inheritance and inadequate early family experiences.

Increase of punishment for juveniles seen during the Get-Tough Era

- Some populations, such as women, the mentally ill, and serious offenders, are less likely to be held in private facilities because they are more expensive to house, making it difficult for prison companies to make profits. Almost one-third (32% in 2013)8 of juveniles are held in private facilities. - During the Get Tough Era (1980s-1990s), state lawmakers shifted juvenile justice policies from a nominally offender-oriented rehabilitative system toward a more punitive and criminalized justice system. Punitive pretrial detention and delinquency dispositions had a disproportionate impact on minority youths. - Many states made it easier to prosecute juveniles in criminal courts, shifting to prosecutors the discretion to file juvenile cases directly into criminal courts, bypassing judicial reviews to determine the appropriateness of removing those cases from the juvenile court system. - "Get Tough" legislation has lowered the legal age of criminal responsibility. Just under 15,000 individuals under the age of 18 were held in adult jails and state prisons during the 1990s.

What were the views of conservative voices and politicians during the Get-Tough Era?

- States passed hundreds of laws designed to lengthen prison terms, make specific sentences mandatory, and make parole release harder to achieve. - "surveil them, nail them, and jail them." - Even more ominous, conservative politicians argued that inmates were being coddled and that the basic conditions of confinement should be tougher. - More conservative voices such as James Q. Wilson and Charles Murray echoed this pessimistic view and urged reliance on harsh punishments to deter crime. From the book - There were calls to stiffen sentencing penalties, eliminate plea bargaining, and build more prisons. States passed hundreds of laws designed to lengthen prison terms, make specific sentences mandatory, and make parole release harder to achieve. The epitome of this movement was the enactment of three-strikes laws and the restriction of any time reductions for inmate good behavior.

What is incapacitation? Give an example

- Suggest that the principal goal of the penal system is to separate those who have committed crimes from the community. - Prevents those who have committed crimes from victimizing people outside of prison.

How does sentencing in Texas differ from many other states?

- Texas allows jurors to decide on punishment - Texas uses determinate sentencing, meaning the punishment for a crime committed is decided based on previously set sentencing guidelines.

Damon Allen Act (goal and origins of the legislation)

- The Act was signed into law in 2021 by Governor Abbott. - This Act was named after a Texas state trooper who was killed during a traffic stop. The person who killed him was a violent repeat offender. - The goal of the legislation is to block those accused of violent crimes from being released without paying bail. - Critics have said it still allows these individuals to get pretrial release if they can afford it, while also discriminating against the poor, especially Texans of color. - Prevents the release of people accused of violent crimes on persons bonds, requiring instead that they be able to post the amount of cash set by the court, or pay a percentage to a bail bonds company. It will also disallow cashless release for those arrested on any felony charge if they were already out of hail

What is rehabilitation?

- The corrections system could engage incarcerated individuals in activities including work, education, religion, counseling, and other therapeutic interventions that could supposedly transform them into law-abiding citizens. - It is not just about helping offenders but also about societal protections. - Advanced more rapidly with juveniles, who were thought to be more amenable to reform.

A critical view of the system (dramatic stories of the breakdown in corrections)

- The nation's corrections systems have always been under-resourced and challenged with violence, abusive practices, scandals, and other severe problems, but the sudden and unprecedented growth in incarceration at the end of the 20th century helped fuel an explosive crisis reflected in prison violence, riots, increasing civil rights violations, and a lack of public confidence. - The obscenely high rates of people of color compared to Whites in the corrections system have resulted in this mass incarceration being dubbed the "New Jim Crow." - In July 2012, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was brought into Los Angeles jails to investigate the excessive use of force against jail inmates by the county's deputy sheriffs. There had been no internal investigations, despite a score of complaints. Some of these deputies formed a clique, wearing skeleton tattoos and operating as if they were a street gang. Other deputies were accused of having sex with female inmates and participating in drug trafficking inside the jail and in the surrounding community. Although some top managers at the Los Angeles County jail have been terminated, there are all too few signs of fundamental reform. - About a year later, in the Baltimore City Detention Center, federal prosecutors handed down criminal indictments of 13 female corrections officers who permitted members of a prison gang, the Black Guerrilla Family, to operate criminal enterprises from the jail, including gun and drug smuggling and prostitution. Several of the indicted officers were having sex with inmates, and 4 of them became pregnant from these jailhouse liaisons. Some of the corrections officers were taking in more than $15,000 a month selling contraband in the jail. The indicted officers were allegedly retaliating against inmates who refused to participate in these criminal acts.15 In November 2013, 14 additional correctional officers were arrested for their participation in the conspiracy, revealing that the scandal was more widespread than the original reports indicated. At that point, 9 of the charged officers had pleaded guilty, six current employees were placed on leave without pay, and the rest were charged but had not entered a plea.16 In both Los Angele

Jail Deaths in the U.S. (data from 2019)

- There were 1,200 deaths in local jails in 2019. - The local jail mortality rate in 2019 was 167 deaths per 100,000 inmates. - Suicide was the leading single cause of death for jail inmates in 2019. - Almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 were not convicted of a crime at the time of their death. - Almost 40% of those who died in local jails in 2019 had been held 1 week or less. - It was found by the U.S. Senate that the U.S. has been underrepresenting the number of in-custody deaths.

Purpose/ Justification/ Impact on mandatory minimum sentencing?

- These sentencing reforms fundamentally changed the practice of sentencing in indeterminate sentencing states and altered the impact of sentencing commissions. - It decreased the ability of judges to consider traditional mitigating factors (reducing the charges/sentences). - The mandatory minimum required for crack cocaine vs. powder cocaine. - Mandatory minimums undermine our nation's commitment to justice and fairness by preventing judges from taking into account the individual's background and the circumstances of his/her offenses in the sentencing determination. - Mandatory minimum sentencing laws were intended to deter offenders and reduce crime (and drug use), control judicial discretion, increase prison sentences for certain crimes, and to send a message that the legislature was taking action against crime.

What is deterrence? Give an example

- This theory of punishment is perhaps the most widely accepted in Western criminal law systems. - It rests on the assumption that the goal of punishment is not reactive but rather preventive. - This idea is prominent in efforts to head off repeat offending, or recidivism. - Found that serving time in prison weakened social bonds.

Rates of Blacks and Native Americans compared to Hispanics

- Those who are black in gross disproportion to their percentage of the nation's total population. - Blacks/African Americans were about 13% of the general population but made up about 35% of those in jail. - Blacks made up 35% of the jail population. - Hispanics made up 14% of the jail population. - Native American's jail incarceration rate was about double the rate for Whites and Hispanics. - Blacks were the only racial group to have higher jail incarceration rates from 2010-2021. - 2,180 Native Americans were confined in 80 jails in Indian County. - Most Native Americans were there for domestic violence or simple/aggravated assault.

The significance of the new Tennessee truth-in-sentencing law discussed

- Took effect in July 2022. - It requires those who are convicted of some violent crimes (second-degree murder, and carjacking) to serve 100% of their time. - Other lesser-violent crimes (aggravated assault, trafficking persons for forced labor or services) must serve at least 85% of their sentence.

What was the purpose of "truth-in-sentencing" laws?

- Truth in Sentencing is a 1998 state law that eliminates disciplinary credits, good time, and corrections centers for certain offenders and requires offenders to serve the entire minimum sentence in prison prior to being considered for parole. - Policy stemming from the belief that convicts should serve the period that they have been sentenced to and not be allowed to earn good-time credit toward a parole release.

Rates of Blacks and Native Americans compared to Whites

- Whites made up 49% of the jail population. - Blacks made up 35% of the jail population. - Native American's jail incarceration rate was about double the rate for Whites and Hispanics. - Blacks were the only racial group to have higher jail incarceration rates from 2010-2021. - 2,180 Native Americans were confined in 80 jails in Indian County. - Most Native Americans were there for domestic violence or simple/aggravated assault.

Women and Jails (the characteristics of women in jail)

- Women have historically made up a small fraction of the jail population, but the fraction has grown over the years, though it has been declining. - Women in custody have significantly different backgrounds and treatment needs than men. - Women may have reproductive health issues (pregnancy and childbirth) or other physical and mental health-related issues specified to their gender. - A large majority of incarcerated women have histories of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. - Women are more often than men the primary caregivers for young children, which can create significant challenges while they are in jail.

male vs female population (2021)

- Women in custody have significantly different backgrounds and treatment needs than men. - Women may have reproductive health issues primarily pregnancy and childbirth or other physical and mental health-related issues specific to their gender. - A large majority of incarcerated women have histories of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. - Women are more often than men the primary caregivers for young children, which can create significant challenges while they are in jail.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder's views on sentencing and corrections policies. How do they compare to the views of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions?

Eric Holder - He ordered federal prosecutors to no longer pursue mandatory minimums in many nonviolent drug cases; and to decline to pursue add-on charges, called "recidivist enhancements"; and to indicate smaller quantities of drugs when charging defendants in order to avoid unnecessarily longer sentences. - He encourages the use of specialty courts and diversion and improvements in reentry programming. - Solidly rooted in principles of reform and a more rational, multifaceted (many) strategy for controlling crime and criminals. Jeff Sessions - He demanded stiffer penalties and longer sentences for most crimes.