Shawshank’s Redemption, an all-time best movie produced in 1994 starred and led by actors Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. A story about two imprisoned men’s experience with the corrupted prison institution through their way of self-redemption. There is a line, which was well read by Morgan Freeman, I am particularly fond of. Here I quote ‘These walls are funny. First you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That 's institutionalized.’ A prison should aim at retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. I am very well convinced that prison has served its first three purposes by depriving offenders’ freedom, but the
Sentencing occurs after a defendant has been convicted of a crime. During the sentencing process, the court issues a punishment that involves a fine, imprisonment, capital punishment, or some other penalty. In some states, juries may be entitled to determine a sentence. However, sentencing in most states and federal courts are issued by a judge. To fully understand the sentencing phase of criminal court proceedings, it is important to examine how sentencing affects the state and federal prison systems, learn the meanings of determinate and indeterminate sentencing, and understand the impact Proposition 57 has had on sentencing in California.
The United States incarcerates a greater percentage of the population than any country in the world (CBS, 2012). According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 2.3 million adults were incarcerated in federal and state prisons, and county jails in 2013. There are an additional 820,000 people on parole and 3.8 million people on probation (Wagner & Rabuy, 2016)
Intermediate sanctions is a courts response to the overcrowding prisons in the United States. These sanctions are a step up from probation and a set down from incarceration. With these sanctions, rehabilitation is the primary goal, which is used to reform offenders who return to society.
The jail population in Rockingham County and Harrisonburg City has increased to the point where action needs to be taken. Operating sometimes at close to 200% of intended occupancy, studies have been conducted to project the costs of constructing a new jail facility. With this study came potential recommendations to alleviate overcrowding at the jail and to address some issues with the inmate population, particularly that of recidivism. It was noted that the inmate population is a ‘revolving door’ and that those incarcerated for a second or further time sometimes represents close to 90% of inmates. With these issues in mind, we were tasked with looking at the feasibility of a Day Reporting Center to help address these two prominent issues.
Halfway houses are places where offenders can live, work, and pay rent, while receiving treatment or job training, they are a critical component in reintegrating offenders into society. There are two types of halfway houses, in or out, halfway in refers to the last chance for an offender to correct criminal behavior before being incarcerated, and halfway out is typically parolees and prerelease offenders. Both equally as important, correcting antisocial behavior is key in rehabilitating offenders, teaching positive behaviors and necessary skills to overcome the challenges of life. The environment allows offenders to live in society, and enables them to learn how to navigate and overcome obstacles in real life scenarios, while under supervision.
Court Judges, prosecutors, and even law enforcement officers very often cannot resist the urge to impart their very own passions and interest into the administration of justice. Far too often an individual’s social, background, and even financial status plays a significant role into the courts official’s decisions and administration of justice. The decision to impose a stiff penalty as oppose to showing
What are your thoughts about the prison system? Today 's prisons are so bad that prisons in the United States hold 5 percent of the US population. Many people get sent to jail cause of the 3 law strike because a lot of minorities are caught with drugs. Plus the government is wasting 75 billion dollars on these facilities instead of using the money in a better way like making programs for the prisoners that need help with mental health or other stuff.
Intermediate sanctions are an alternate form of punishment and monitoring offenders that falls between incarceration and probation. The intermediate sanctions can be issued by a judge or a probation agency. They are used to restrict a probationer’s activities, as well as make them more accountable for their actions.
With well over two million people incarcerated in the United States and countless more tied up within the criminal justice system, alternatives to incapacitation are needed now more than ever. Jails and prisons are feeling the strain on their resources due to overcrowding. This overcrowding has debilitated their ability to function as a place to serve out sentences and to rehabilitate inmates. Alternatives to incarceration could reduce prison populations as well as reduce economic costs. A few programs that have shown to be effective are probation and restorative justice. Probation in particular has allowed for individuals to be interactive with the community and has substantially reduced the prison and jail populations. Restorative justice
I enjoy reading your post.I agree that intermediate sanctions, including supervision with requirements for residential substance abuse treatment and probation restitution centers are less costly than prison since your offender is a low risk he should be able to get the help he needs at a re-entry center that can help him to succeed with his treatment . I further believe that offenders who successfully complete these type of alternative sanctions are less likely to recidivist.
Sentencing methods and rationales are continually highly contested in the Criminal Justice system. Monetary penalties are particularly pivotal in these debates. According to Walsh, research from all corners of the world continually demonstrates that the poorest in society are more likely to be subject to the Criminal Justice System. This evidence Walsh argues, ‘cannot be ignored’, when considering which sentencing options should be used. The fine is the most commonly used penal sanction in most Western Penal systems. Fines are a historic type of monetary penalty which have remained incredibly popular. Outside of the United States, fines make up about 70 % of all punishments in the lower courts. The fine can be seen as a modest penalty, and appropriate, in my opinion, only if the offence was minor. Bentham sees monetary penalties as ‘ideal’. This I argue is incorrect. Monetary penalties have so many disadvantages that they should not be used to a greater extent in the criminal justice system. Thus some have gone as far to argue that they should be completely abolished. However Burch has said that this would not be possible so reform should be favoured instead. I will argue that updating their current use is essential in order to make the current system of fines more effective and more restricted. I will continue to discuss why fines are not effective, from their rational, to their effect on the offender to the way that they are set in practice. I will conclude
What is the purpose of corrections? Briefly describe different types of correctional supervision. The many facets of the correctional system are all centralized towards one goal that is to carry out the criminal sentence that has been given to the offender. Corrections is defined as any action apply to offenders after they have been convicted and implies that the action is corrective, or meant to change the offenders according to society's needs. It is also stated that corrections have been placed on those individuals that have not been convicted of a crime they have been merely accused. Offense, guilt, and punishment are the three basic concepts of Western criminal law. It is upon these basic concepts that conduct is deemed criminal. As stated
Incarceration refers to the constitutional deprivation of an offender the capacity to commit crimes by detaining them in prisons. The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any free nation. The U.S incarcerates five times more people than the United Kingdom, nine times more than Germany and twelve times more than Japan (Collier, 2014, p.56). Incarceration has several objectives. One of these is to keep persons suspected of committing a crime under secure control before a court of competent jurisdiction determines whether they are guilty or innocent. Incarceration also punishes offenders by depriving them of their liberty once the court of law has convicted. Moreover, incarceration deters criminals from committing further crimes
Batley (2005) stated that restorative justice is about restoring, healing and re- integrating victims, offenders, as well as the society and also preventing further harm. In this assignment, I will be discussing approaches to restorative justice and illustrating their advantages and disadvantages to offending. I will also provide the applications of these five approaches of restorative justice which are retributive approach, utilitarian deterrence approach, rehabilitation approach, restitution approach and restorative approach in the given case study. I will then explain my preferred approach to justice through identifying a personal belief or value that underpins my choice.