ACLU: Prison Policy Analysis

This model provides a specialized program for the offender, and assessment of offenders’ needs, and an assignment for offenders to be in the appropriate program. In this model, we relate it to the Martinson “Nothing Works” model. This fits in with the case I chose to analyze because it is about parole, and according to some facts and statistics, parole doesn’t really work. The Government attempted to abolish it around 1970, which is where the Brokerage of Services Model came into play and they really did realize that nothing

The data that was assembled from the program was found inconclusive and conflicting (Gould, p.5). Recidivism rates seemed to remain the same while the perception that the youth had of their treatment improved but those results didn’t appeal to the public (Gould,

Overview: The purpose of the Executive Summary, The Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation: Executive Summary (Rossman, Roman, Zweig, Rempel, Lindquist, 2011), was to show how Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center (UI-JCP), RTI International (RTI) and Center for Court Innovation (CCI) conducted research on how drug courts impact the overall crimes related to drugs. The main issue being explored is how well the drug courts are doing to help lower crime revolving around the drug epidemic. This issue is significant to criminal justice because it shows that the United States has a serious drug dilemma that started in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s that has to be combated by government and law enforcement agencies. This includes the issue you of whether or not drug courts are actually helping reduce crime.

Researchers found 2-3 years after completing the program, youth had a 30.2% rate of recidivism (Wylie et al, n.d.). Those who did not successfully complete the program had at 51.1% to 61.1% rate of recidivism over the course of 2-3 years (Wylie et al, n.d.). This study also looked at whether the subsequent offenses were more or less severe (Wylie et al, n.d.). Wylie and Hobbs (n.d.) found 75.2% of offenses were of the same severity as the offense for which the youth was in the diversion program. Additionally, 7.6% decreased in severity and 17.2% increased in severity (Wylie et al, n.d.).

“We will give first-time, non violent drug offenders a chance to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in type of drug- rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior,” (Subject, 2003). Since some crimes are committed while the offender is under the influence of

As of September 2011, California incarcerated close to 144,000 inmates in its state prisons. This number fell in recent years owing to the pressure from SCOTUS and California policy changes. In 2006, California had a peak incarceration rate of 172,000 inmates (Rogan, 2012). Since 1970, California has seen 750% rise in incarceration levels, especially during the “war on drugs” campaign during the 1990s (Harvard Law Review, 2010, p. 753). With no end in sight to the rapidly growing number of inmates in California’s state prisons, the CDCR was challenged to manage the growing population.

Similarly, Brown found that in a matched cohort study comparing traditional prison sentencing to drug court programs it was shown that there was significantly less recidivism in the drug court participants than in the offenders that were sentenced to jail or prison time. In this study 137 drug court participants were matched with offenders that had been sentenced traditionally. It was shown that the recidivism rate for drug court participants was only thirty percent, whereas the traditionally sentenced participants had a forty-seven percent recidivism rate. Brown also examined the time between program completion and participants committing a new crime. In the drug court participants, the mean time was 614 days, and in the traditionally sentenced participants the average time was 463 days (Brown,

In the novel “More God Less Crime” the author Byron R. Johnson analyzes the effects of several different approaches to introducing faith into the criminal system. Through various different case studies, Byron Johnson proves that by utilizing faith-based programs the reduction of crime and rehabilitation of criminals will be far more successful in comparison with non-faith-based programs. He further articulates that through the reduction of crime and its motivating causes society as a whole will benefit greatly by being cost-effective and by keeping high-risk citizens out of jail. One of the cases observed by Byron Johnson is the Texas InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI) program which was developed by the Prison Fellowship organization in

Recidivism is rapidly becoming more popular in this world. Recidivism is the “tendency to relapse back into criminal behavior and ultimately end up back in jail upon already being released” (Recidivism). The pattern in recidivism is that these males that commit lesser crimes are not getting the help they need inside the jails and then end up back into jail. Being in jail is a hard thing depending on the person, but breaking the law is why they ended up in jail and now they have to pay they consequences. Thus being said being productive and getting help to try to better themselves inside will make it a lot easier for them to adjust to living on their own again.

In the 1970s the United States entered the era known as mass incarceration, the byproduct of the drug war. The War on Drugs changed how society handled drug dependency, diverting the problem from public health to criminal justice. Since the Nixon administration, the political stance on being tough on crime has resulted in various laws and policing practices that heavily criminalized drugs to point in which the prison population in the United States increased from 300,000 people in 1972 to 2.3 million today (Barish, DuVernay, Averick & DuVernay, 2016). The epidemic of mass incarceration corresponds to a variety of public health issues such as mental illness, increased violence within society, increased incidence of addictions, and increased incidence of chronic illnesses (Drucker, 2013).

(Wormer, Persson, 2010). This program would save the communities a lot of money and help out the families of the person who is in trouble. Not all people who commit drug related crimes would qualify but people who would be facing long prison time. This would be for first time offenders who have not committed violent crimes. They would get treatments such as cognitive behavior therapy, drug treatments and be under the very intense supervision of the drug court.

Some critics have issues with both models and how they are placed under undue stress upon themselves from variables outside the institution and institutional factors as well. Each model serves as the next step for offenders to be released from prison after showing signs of rehabilitation or good behavior. The advantages differ but overall the two models contribute to offering offenders a second chance at life, which can have an enormous impact on their lives. However, not all inmates deserve a second chance so parole boards have to be careful in theroally conducting evaluations on potential candidates who are eligible for parole to ensure that they have met all the proper

They are less likely to return if low level drug offenders receive treatment during and after prison. Olson and Lurigion state ,"Drug addiction is a chronic relapse brain disease with biological, psychological, social and behavioral concomitants"(600). If a drug criminal is treated for his addiction, he/she will be less likely to commit crimes. The treatment has to be comprehensive and provide a wide range of treatment (Olsen and Lurigion (601) Many professions believe treatment is more effective than incarceration for several months.

The Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison Program is another attempt to provide better treatment for people who are convicted. The study showed that drug offenders who underwent a treatment program outside of prison had a 26 percent less rate of re-arrest after two years than a control group that was sent to prison (Justice Policy Institute, 2010). Rehabilitative programs like the Second Chance Act and the Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison Program has shown to growth and positive

These offenders will face difficulties re¬connecting with jobs, housing, and perhaps their families when they return, and will remain beset by substance abuse and health problems. Based on data from the national Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program, “nearly 80% of arrestees admitted to the Jail in 2012 were positive for an illegal drug. Of all the people admitted to the jail nearly half did not have a high school diploma or GED.” (Recidivism Reduction Demonstration, Web). Unfortunately most of these individuals will return to prison as a result of the social disadvantages that they are accustomed to.