Transcript Probation, Intermediate Sanctions, and Restorative Justice

Chapter 12
Community Sentences:
Probation,
Intermediate Sanctions,
and Restorative Justice
The Menu of
Choices
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Punishment can range from
little to death
Probation
A criminal sentence mandating that an
offender be placed and maintained in the
community
 Subject to certain rules and conditions
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Probation (cont.)
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The History of Probation
– Traced back to English common law
– Judicial reprieve – allows judges to suspend
punishment so that convicted offenders could seek a
pardon, gather new evidence, or demonstrate they
had reformed
– Recognizance – enabled convicted offender to remain
free if they entered into a debt obligation with the
state
– John Augustus – the “father of probation”
– 1878 – Massachusetts passed a law for paid probation
officers
Probation (cont.)
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Philosophy of probation
– The average offender is not actually dangerous
– Institutionalization prohibits successful
adjustments of behavior once returned to
society
– Even dangerous offenders can be rehabilitated
in the community given the proper balance of
supervision, treatment, and control
– It is cheaper than imprisonment
Probation (cont.)
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Approximately 2,000 probation agencies
nationwide
Half of the probation agencies are at the
county or municipal government level
Almost 30 states combine probation and
parole supervision into a single agency
About 4 million people are currently on
probation
– Number has grown almost 2 percent each year
since 1994
Probation (cont.)
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Probationers are subject to a set of probation
rules or conditions mandated by the court
– Keep a job, contact probation officer, have a place of
residence, do not go certain places (e.g., bars; no
guns)
Violation of these conditions may result in
revocation of probation requiring the original
sentence to be served
 Technical violations (terms of probation) rather
than new crimes committed by probationer are
the major cause of revocations
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Probation (cont.)
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In approximately half the cases there is a
direct sentence to probation without the
threat of prison
– Subsequent violations will result in harsh
punishment
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In 30 percent of the cases judges use a
suspended sentence as part of probation
Probation (cont.)
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Conditions of probation
– Standard conditions apply to all offenders in a
jurisdiction
– Special conditions are required on a case-bycase basis – substance abuse treatment
– Conditions must serve to either protect
society or rehabilitate offender
– Cannot be capricious or cruel
Probation (cont.)
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Administration of probation services
– Statewide probation services
– Local probation services
– Combination
– Juvenile and adult services can be separated
or combined
Probation (cont.)
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Duties of probation officers:
– Pre-sentence Investigation Reports
– Intake
– Diagnosis
– Treatment supervision
– Risk classification
– Maintain contact with probationer
Probation (cont.)
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Legal rights of probationers
– Entitled to fewer constitutional protections
– Some rules on self-incrimination before a
probation officer do not apply
– Rules on search and seizure are not always
the same – probation officer can enter home
at any time without warrant
– Due process rights apply during revocation
hearings
Probation (cont.)
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How successful is probation?
– Most commonly used alternative sentence
– Less expensive than incarceration
– 30 to 40 percent fail on probation – most for
technical violations of rules
– Recidivism rate is less than those sent to
prison
– Probation officers have heavy case loads
 Treatment and helping probationers is largely a
myth
Probation (cont.)
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How successful is probation?
– People with stable home environment and
employment are most likely to succeed
– Those with a prior criminal history, prior
probation, and previous incarcerations are
most likely to fail
– Males convicted on sexual offenses appear to
do well on probation
Probation (cont.)
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Future of probation
– Imposition of fees on probationers to defray
costs
– Hotspot probation initiatives – community
supervision teams
– Organizing caseloads around geographic area
rather than offender type
Intermediate Sanctions
Add additional sanctions to traditional
probation sentences
 May include monetary fines, intensive
supervision, house arrest, electronic
monitoring, restitution, boot camps, shock
probation, etc
 Allows judges to fit punishment to the
crime without resorting to a prison
sentence
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Intermediate Sanctions (cont.)
Believed to be cost effective alternatives
to incarceration
 Can serve the needs of a number of
offender groups to reduce overcrowding in
jails/prisons
 Can be used as halfway back strategies for
those who violate conditions of probation
or parole
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Intermediate Sanctions (cont.)
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Fines
– Monetary punishment
– Used more often in lesser offenses or when
financial profits were high
– Fines may discriminate against the poor
– Many fines go uncollected
– Day fines – make the fine fit the offender’s
income; equalize the pain of fines
– The money from fines goes to the state, not the
victims
Intermediate Sanctions (cont.)
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Forfeiture
– Can be used in civil and criminal cases
 Civil forfeiture can be done without probable cause
or any proof by government of a crime
– Seizure of goods and instrumentalities related
to the commission or outcome of a criminal
act
– Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organization (RICO)
– Zero tolerance
Intermediate Sanctions (cont.)
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Restitution
– Pay back to victims or society
 monetary restitution or community service
restitution
– Benefits the victim, the offender (symbolically),
and the community
– Most restitution clients successfully complete
their orders and do not recidivate
– The money, goods or services from restitution
goes to the victim or community, not the state
Intermediate Sanctions (cont.)
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Shock probation: sentence in which offenders
serve a short prison term before they begin
probation to impress on them the pains of
imprisonment
Split sentence: Practice that requires
convicted criminals to spend a portion of
their sentence behind bars and the remainder
in the community
Disagreement over whether these two
sanctions are helpful or harmful
Boots Camps
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Mainly for juvenile and non-serious adult
offenders
Frequently offered as alternative to prison by
the judge
Confinements tend to be short
Mainly focus on discipline and physical
activities
Try to teach life skills
Effectiveness varies – most boot campers
return to their prior lives
Intermediate Sanctions (cont.)
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Intensive probation supervision – goals
– Diversion from prison/decarceration
– Maintain control of the individual
– Facilitate reintegration into the community
Intermediate Sanctions (cont.)
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Intensive probation supervision
– Rely on great degree of client contact by probation
officer
– Reduce case loads for probation officers and
increase their ability to supervise probationers
– Criteria for use vary throughout U.S.
– Many systems use very specific conditions (e.g.
mandatory curfew, employment, drug testing,
community service, etc.)
– Effectiveness varies – failure rates appear to be
high
Intermediate Sanctions (cont.)
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House arrest
– Offender required to spend extended periods
of time in one’s own home as an alternative
to incarceration
– Little standardization throughout U.S. in how
house arrest is administered
Intermediate Sanctions (cont.)
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Electronic monitoring
– Often used to ensure compliance with house
arrest
– Similar recidivism to traditional systems
– Costs are lower
– Overcrowding is reduced
– Issues of privacy and liberty
– Compliance technologies vary
Intermediate Sanctions (cont.)
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Residential community corrections
– Usually non-secure buildings
– Residents work and/or attend school during
the day and return to the center at night
– Used to provide structured environment for
treatment
– Many are used as day reporting centers for
nonresidential clients
Drug Courts
Developed in the 1990s
 Instead of sentencing drug offenders to prison, develop
a program of treatment for the drug offender.
 Offender is offered the option to take the treatment
instead of prison.
 Drug courts combine the carrot and the stick .
 Treatment groups can involve different agencies and
private groups.
 Sentence is served when treatment is completed.
 Drug courts seem to be more effective in preventing
further drug use than prison or other sentences.
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Programs and Problems
Restorative Justice
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Policy based on restoring the damage
caused by crime and creating a system of
justice which includes all parties harmed by
the criminal act
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Victim
Offender
Community
Criminal justice practitioners
Society
Stress mediation and reconciliation
Restorative Justice (cont.)
All crimes bring harm to the community,
disrupt social relations, create conflict, and
disharmony
 The traditional justice system does not
Involve the community in the justice
process
 Our focus on punishment, stigma, and
disgrace of the offender prohibits us from
repairing the harm caused by crime
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Restorative Justice (cont.)
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Restoration Programs
– Sentencing circles
– School programs to avoid expulsion
– Police programs to deal with the crime when it is
first encountered
– Courts to divert offenders from the formal
criminal justice process
– Vermont Sentencing Boards
– Family Groups Conferences
– Navajo Peacemaker Court
Restorative Justice (cont.)
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Challenges
– Entry into programs may favor whites over minorities
– Cultural and social differences may dictate what is
“restorative”
– Lack of a common definition of “restorative”
– Balancing the needs of offenders with those of the
victims
– Strikes many people as being overly optimistic about
the nature of offenders
– Can it be used for more serious crimes
– Difficult to maintain involvement of community in
programs