Quiz 5 Flashcards
Hands-Off Policy
- Shaped most of our correctional history.
- Prisons/prisoners isolated from society.
- Prison wardens ran prisons as they saw fit.
End of Hands-Off
1960s - Civil Rights
Courts intervening and protecting prisoner’s rights
•Cooper v. Pate – 1st Amendment issue
•Civil Rights Act of 1871 (42 U.S.C. 1983)
Cooper v. Pate
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion other than mainstream christianity. Cooper extended the civil rights act of 1871 to prisoners and allowed for prisoners to have protections under the act
Foundation of Prisoner’s Rights
• Legal basis of rights
Constitution (fed)
Statutes (state)
Case law (courts)
RegulationsPrison administrators can restrict rights of prisoners in order to maintain, rights may be abridged:
•Administrator must show need in best interests of:
Order
Security
Rehabilitation
Constitutional Rights: Limitations on the rights of prisoners were justified by:
- Least restrictive methods
- Compelling state interests
- Clear and present danger
Turner v. Safley (1987)
Rational Basis Test
In order for prison administrators to restrict prison behavior:
•Rational connection between regulation and legitimate interest put forward to justify it.
•Must be alternative means of exercising rights.
•Must be minimal impact of regulation on staff and other prisoners.
•No less restrictive alternative is available.
Restricts letters between institution based on rational basis test.
Thornburn v. Abott
Freedom of Speech
Prison wanted to restrict some materials coming in, some publications could be detrimental.
Supreme court agreed, saying restricting some publications was covered under the rational basis test
O’Lone v. Estate of Shabazz (1987)
Freedom of Religion
Restriction of freedom of religious experiences for prisoners - concerns safety and control of prisoners. Influenced by rational basis test
Rational Basis Test
In order for prison administrators to restrict prison behavior:
•Rational connection between regulation and legitimate interest put forward to justify it.
•Must be alternative means of exercising rights.
•Must be minimal impact of regulation on staff and other prisoners.
•No less restrictive alternative is available
Bell v. Wolfish (1979)
Fourth Amendment
Pretrail detainees
Not yet convicted but treated like prisoners
People’s rights to privacy in terms of strip searches
In the interest of the institution, if it is reasonable for the institution to suspect contraband was passed, then it is reasonable for a strip search. Courts upheld the right of jails to strip search detainees.
Lee v. Downs (1981)
Fourth Amendment
Expectations of privacy in prison
Staff off opposite sex
Correctional officers of opposite sex, in areas where prisoners can be fully or partially disrobed, prisoners are only to be in contact with those of the same sex.
US v. Hitchcock (1972)
Fourth Amendment
Estelle v. Gamble (1976)
Eighth Amendment
If prison administrators act with deliberate indifference, meaning they do not treat or respond to an inmate’s medical injury or emergency, then health care is an issue. Without deliberate indifference, there is no problem.
Only basic health care is covered.
Holt v. Sarver (1970) (Arkansas)
8th amendment
Person came in to prison undercover as a prisoner, living and taking note of the horrible conditions. Entire institution was substandard that the totality of conditions were unconstitutional
Court took over prison to remedy conditions
Pugh v. Locke (1976) (Alabama)
8th Amendment
Prison was considered to be unhealthy. Deprivation, substandard of food.
Court took over prison to remedy
Wolff v. McDonnell 1974
Established due process to those who have been accused of crimes which occurred in prison. Prisoners have the write to written notifications to any charges against them. Must be a hearing to which the prisoner can hear the accusations and can issue a rebuttal.
Current Legal Issues
- Restrained hands and diminished access
- Issue of frivolous lawsuits
- Reduced prisoner access to the courts
We dont want to hear about frivolous cases, we want to hear about the real issues.
Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996
a court “shall not grant or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right, and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right.
Alternatives to incarceration - Community based corrections
•Wide variety:
Diversionary programs
Probation
Intermediate sanctions
Reentry programs
ParolePretrial Diversion Programs
(1) uniform eligibility criteria;
(first contact, non violent)
(2) structured delivery of services and supervision;
(3) dismissal—or its equivalent—of pending criminal charges upon successful completion of the required term and conditions of diversion.
Jail Diversion
- Individuals may be “diverted” either at arrest or at various points during criminal justice processing.
- Identifies and moves defendants to alternative programming throughout the arrest, adjudication, and judgment processes
Post-plea diversion
Courts hold guilty pleas or convictions in abeyance pending a defendant’s completion of community-based supervision and/or treatment or service programs.
Pleas and convictions are vacated following successful program completion.
Probation
A form of punishment that permits a convicted offender to remain in the community, under supervision of a probation officer and subject to certain conditions set by the court.
People on probation
78% men. 54% white, 31% black
Violent offenses on probation
18-19%
Rate of community supervision and probation rate over last 12 years has ____
Declined
Over_____ of people on probation from 2008-2012 had completed their probation
2/3rds
Kalamazoo Community Corrections
- Drug testing
- Electronic monitoring
- Intensive supervision
- Jail screening
- Life skill training classes
- Mental health assessments
- Pretrial supervision
- Probation residential services
- Substance abuse assessments
Intermediate Sanctions
- Punishments involving sanctions existing somewhere between incarceration and probation on a continuum of criminal penalties. Greater surveillance and control compared to probation.
- Tether
- House arrest
- Day reporting centers
- Halfway house
KPEP stands for
Kalamazoo probation enhancement program
KPEP is
- KPEP began in the fall of 1980 to provide a live-in residence for those individuals who need more structure than regular probation provides, but where extended jail time is not judged necessary.
- The goal of KPEP is to show the residents that they can become independent, contributing members of the community.
- For people who need more contact time and structure and to give them a greater chance to succeed.
KPEP in 2013
55,000 community service hours
72.9% success rate
628 jobs obtained
Parole
- Prerelease from prison short of serving a full sentence.
* Conditional release.
Is parole a prison sentence?
No
Michigan Reentry
- Begins at prison intake with assessment of risk and need. (Day 1 in prison)
- Individualized programming is required throughout incarceration.
- Prior to release prisoners are transferred to reentry facility.
- Transition plan created to address employment, housing, transportation, mentoring, counseling and other necessary treatment for mental illness and/or addictions.
- Community corrections officers monitor closely.
MDOC by the numbers
- Since 2007
- Parole revocations at a 23 year low.
- In 1999, 344 revocations per 1,000 parolees
- In 2009, 195 revocations per 1,000 parolees
MPRI - Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative
- From the inception of Michigan Prisoner Reentry in 2005, through December 2011, nearly 33,000 prisoners were paroled from standard Reentry in-reach facilities.
- 38% fewer returns to prison for parole violations or new crime compared to baseline expectations, controlling for time at risk and history of prior parole failure.
- Translates into an absolute reduction of 5,193 fewer returns to prison so far through December 2011 compared to what would otherwise have been anticipated under the baseline rates.
Restorative Justice
• More holistic view of injury done by crime.
• Look at restoring balance to victim, society, and offender.
• Critics suggest that coercive prosocialization may result in a more punitive system for offenders.
Accountability
Widening The Net
• Expanding the number of people under the control of the criminal justice system.
This expansion may be the result of legislative changes, law enforcement practices, decisions of the prosecuting attorney, or sentencing decisions by judges.
Reduction of incarceration can drop…
by 25% and not have an adverse effect on public safety
Crime rates and incarceration rates
are not necessarily causally related
Michigan received an honorable mention for
double-digit reduction in prison population
