CORRECTIONS

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VI.

• CORRECTIONS
• IN THE
• UNITED STATES of AMERICA

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A. Questions of Concern

• 1. Why does the U.S. produce so many
  prisoners?
• 2. What is the cost of our incarceration
  rate?
• gt in terms of both economic and
  human capital
• 3. What is value of the incarceration rate?
• 4. Are most prisoners truly dangerous?
• a. does it matter?
• b. why do we punish?
• 5. What is the attraction of prison?
• gt i.e., why do so many prisoners
  seem so eager to
• return?

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B. Realities of Incarceration

• 1. most crime policies have dubious
  results
• gt i.e., what is the practical
  intent of our current
• corrections policy
• 2. do prisoners receive the punishment
  they deserve?
• 3. most prisoners are dangerous and
  should not be
• released
• 4. increased lengths of incarceration
  are cheaper in the
• long run
• 5. imprisonment is the most effective
  way of reducing
• the crime rate

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C. Corrections-Industrial Complex
(Sourcebook on Criminal Justice Statistics, 2002)

• Total Number of facilities 1,668
• Confinement 1,208
• Community-Based 460
• Private 264 (both
  confinement/
• 
  
  community)
• Rated Capacity 1,278,471
• Adults in Jail 699,182
• in Prison
  1,335,118
• Juveniles (GE 10Yr) 108,931
• 
  Total
  2,172,025

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• On Probation 3,931,731
• On Parole 766,269
• Women 97,491 (4.5)
• Under Corrections Supervision 6,732,400

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D. Inmate Demographics / Profiles

• 1. 1 37 Americans is under
  governmental control
• 2. Who are the inmates?
  US Pop
• Males 1,291,326 95.5 48
• Whites 436,800 33.8 65
• Af Ams 586,700 45.4 12
• (12.6 of all Af Am
  Males between ages of 25-29 are in prison
• 3.6
  Hispanic males, and 1.7 white males)
• Hispanic 235,000 18.2 20
• gt median age range 16-30
  years
• 
  (38.1 25-34)
• gt years education 39.2
  less than high school
• gt employed 66.5 at least
  part-time

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• gt lived w/ both parents 43.7
• gt have 1 children 65.6
• gt under influence at arrest 66.4
• powder cocaine 6.1
• crack cocaine 6.8
• heroin 4.5
• marijuana 12.2
• alcohol 30.0
• 3. 91 of all drug-related convictions
  are African
• American or Latino/Hispanic males
• 4. in New York, 86 of all inmates are
  either African
• American of Latino/Hispanic

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• 5. from 2000 US Census, more African
  American
• males between the ages of 18-30
  are currently
• under criminal justice control
  (n610K), than are
• enrolled in colleges/universities
  (434K)
• a. 11 of all African American
  males between 25-
• 29 are incarcerated
• b. 2.4 all
  Latino/Hispanic
• c. 1.2 all White dudes
• 6. nationally, probation/parole
  revocation is up 510
• since 1980

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• 7. in California (as of midnight 24
  April 2006)
• (change)
• Total under CDC Control 306,549 (2.6)
• Staff 55,050
• Total Incarcerated 163,324 (5.1)
• Males 157,866 (4.9)
• Females 11,288 (8.0)
• Total on Parole 114,494 (-0.1)
• Budget 7.4B (cost per
  inmate 34,150
• 
  per parolee 4,067)

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E. Economics

• 1. U.S. average 20,111 per inmate
• California 37,000
• 2. U.S. Total Budget (2002) 133B
• 3. an example New York spends 440M more
  annually
• on Corrections than it does on Education
• 4. new cell construction 16K - 85K
  per cell

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F. Current Issues

• 1. Women and Children first
• a. evolving social issues concern
  both
• b. historical sine qua non
• c. as society has become more
  retributive more
• concern has been focused on
  these two groups
• 2. Women
• a. since Womens Suffrage, the
  Liberation
• Movement, and emancipation,
  come the
• responsibilities of equity
• b. from 1982-2002, female
  incarceration rose 368
• c. Since 1976 11 have been executed

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• c. the feminine profile
• 1) most are minorities
• 2) unmarried
• 3) 25-29 years of age
• 4) have 1-3 children
• 5) history of sexual and
  physical abuse
• 6) history of drug/alcohol
  abuse
• 7) multiple juvenile arrests
• 8) LE 11th grade formal
  education
• 9) on welfare
• 10) few no marketable (job)
  skills
• 11) most have primary child
  care responsibilities

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• 3. juveniles
• a. legacy of parens patriae
• b. juvenile incarceration rate has
  been relatively
• steady
• 1) currently (2001) 108,931
  incarcerated
• 2) CYA (2002) 5,531
• c. since 1876 22 executions
• d. juvenile profile
• gt minority urban dweller,
  10-14 years old, 8
• years formal education,
  living with mother/
• female adult, little adult
  male contact,
• drug/misdemeanor activity

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• 4. both these classes have more medical
  and
• psychiatric needs than do typical
  male inmates
• gt e.g., juvenile suicide rate is
  5Xs greater than non-
• incarcerated juvenile
  rates
• 5. confinement concerns
• a. should they be treated
  differently?
• b. Should concern be given to
  potential predatory
• inmates or staff?
• 6. privatization
• a. a 1980s-1990s phenomenon

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• b. rise of the prison company
• gt Corrections Corporation of
  America and
• Wackenhut control over 75
  of all private
• prisons 9 of all
  inmates
• c. out-sourcing / contracting of
  health care,
• counseling, vocational
  training, education,
• institutional maintenance,
  food service
• d. institutional business
• e. an artifact of the burgeoning
  prison population
• 1) based on American
  Correctional Association,
• by 1998

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• a) 12 states were below
  approved bed-
• capacity
• gt of these 6 were
  operating at 97-99
• b) 10 jurisdictions
  were at least 150 over
• capacity
• c) national average
  22 over capacity
• 2) review highlighted
  national deteriorating
• institutions, increase
  in inmate violence,
• aggressive court
  intervention to improve these
• conditions

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• 3) concern for institutional
  safety, security, order,
• care, activity, conditions,
  and personnel
• management
• f. summary / conclusion
• 1) privatization movement has
  stabilized
• 
  
• 2) staff qualifications
• 3) liability
• 4) increase of staff-on-inmate
  violence

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• 7. Truth in Sentencing Reform
• a. first introduced in 1984
• gt no legislative teeth, no action
• b. by 1996, average prisoner served 44
  of
• his/her sentence
• gt public pressure for longer
  sentences and
• uniform punishments
• c. Violent Crime Control and Law
  Enforcement Act
• (1994)
• 1) led to incentive grants
• 2) parole eligibility and
  good-time credit
• eliminated

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• 3) required states to
  impose at least an 85 of
• sentence
• 4) violent offenders to
  serve at least 88 months
• (7 years)
  incarcerated based on average
• sentences for
  offense in 1996
• 5) 14 states abolished
  parole
• gt nationally,
  over 35 of all inmates are
• parole
  violators
• 8. Prison Litigation Reform Act
  (1994)
• a. reduced nuisance
  petitions
• b. eliminated provision for
  habeas corpus
• petition release

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• 9. Three-Strikes Movement
• a. response to the career
  criminal
• b. a frustration that
  corrections does not correct and
• that many inmates, as
  witness to the recidivism
• rate, do not learn their
  prosocial lessons
• c. punishing the criminal, not
  necessarily the crime
• d. because of current
  controversy, states are
• amending their 3rd strike
  provision to insuring that
• it is a violent felony

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• 10. release (DOJ Bulletin, 2003)
• a. on parole
  774,588
• gt California
  110,338
• gt Texas
  102,271
• gt Pennsylvania 102,244
• b. for 1st time parolees,
  average stay of
• incarceration is 22 months
• c. for new arrests (not
  probation/parole
• violations), over 85 are
  property, drug-
• related, or disorderly
  conduct violations
• gt few new crimes of
  violence
• d. obstacles to reintegration
  

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• 1) social stigma
• 2) lack of training /
  education leading to
• difficult in securing
  gainful employment
• 3) housing
• 4) supervision
• 5) making it
• a) random / chance
• b) presence of
  family or effective social
• service
  personnel
• c) Drift

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• d) trends
• 1) intensive
  supervision
• 2) electronic
  monitoring
• 3) restorative
  justice

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G. What to Do

• 1. at current costs, projected cost of
  prison construction,
• nationally is 41B annually
• a. plus 9B for maintenance / upkeep
• b. funds will be made available by
  depleting health
• and human services, and education
  funding
• 2. reduce incarceration time
• a. long-term incarceration is
  unjustified or needed for
• most inmates
• b. needs-based justice to satisfy
  entire community is
• needed

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• 3. insure inmate/staff security
• 4. provide responsible / adequate health
  care
• 5. acknowledge that return to prison is
  likely in spite of
• best efforts
• gt institutionalization, some like
  prison
• gt corrections homily Criminals go to prison
  AS punishment,
• not for
  punishment