Community Sentences: Probation, Intermediate Sanctions and Restorative Justice

1. Chapter 12 Community Sentences: Probation, Intermediate Sanctions and Restorative Justice

2. Community Sentencing • Community sentences are popular because: • Less costly • Help the offender maintain family and community ties • Can be structured to maximize security and maintain public safety • Scaled in severity to correspond to the seriousness of the crime • Can feature restoration and reintegration • Can act as a “second chance”

3. Probation • Probation • A sentence entailing the conditional release of a convicted offender into the community under the supervision of the court, subject to certain conditions for a specified time

4. Probation • The common law practice of judicial reprieve • Allowed judges to suspend punishment so that convicted offenders could seek a pardon, gather new evidence, or demonstrate that they had reformed their behavior • The practice of recognizance • Enabled convicted offenders to remain free if they agreed to enter into a debt obligation with the state

5. Probation • Currently about 4 million people are on probation • More than 2 million people are being placed on probation annually – a slightly larger number than exit their probation sentence • Probation rules are a set of conditions or restrictions mandated by the court that must be obeyed by a probationer

6. Probation • Revocation • Probation may be revoked if a probationer fails to comply with rules and disobeys reasonable requests to meet their treatment obligations • Some states have a statewide probation service, but each court jurisdiction controls its local department • Other states maintain a strong statewide authority with centralized control and administration

7. Thinking Point • Probation authorities have worked with social networking sites to identify and remove registered sex offenders using the service. Often as a result, sex offenders are banned from any and all “non-employment related” internet use. • Is this akin to barring individuals from all telephone use because they used the telephone to commit fraud? • Is this a fair condition of probation in your opinion? Why or why not?

8. Probation • Probation officers usually have five tasks: • Investigation • Presentence investigation serves as the basis for sentencing • Intake • Diagnosis • Used to select appropriate treatment modes • Treatment supervision • Risk classification • Assessment of the risk level probationers pose to the community and themselves

9. Probation • The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that probationers have a unique status and they are entitled to fewer constitutional protections than other citizens • Minnesota v. Murphy • Griffin v. Wisconsin • United States v. Knights

10. Probation • Because placing a person on probation implies that probation will continue unless the probationer commits a major violation, the defendant has been given certain procedural due process rights at this stage of the criminal process • Mempa v. Rhay • Morrissey v. Brewer • Gagnon v. Scarpelli • Beardon v. Georgia • United States v. Granderson

11. Probation • Probation is cost effective • Annual cost of incarceration: • Approximately $25,000 • Annual cost of probation: • Approximately $2,000 • National research suggests: • 60% of probationers successfully complete their probationary sentence • 40% are arrested, violate probationary rules, or abscond

12. Probation • Even the most serious criminals who receive probation are less likely to recidivate than those who are sent to prison for committing similar crimes • Young males who are unemployed or who have a very low income, a prior criminal record, and a history of instability are most likely to be rearrested

13. Probation • Current initiatives that may shape the future of probation • Making probationers pay • Hot spot probation • Area needs • Specialized probation • Privatization • Swift and sure punishment

14. Intermediate Sanctions • Intermediate sanctions include programs that are usually administered by probation departments • Group of punishments falling between probation and prison • House arrest • Intensive supervision • Serve as alternatives to incarceration

15. Thinking Point • Intermediate Sanctions • What types of crimes would you advocate for intermediate sanctions? • Does it depend if it is a first or second offense? • Do you think these types of sanctions are effective?

16. Intermediate Sanctions • Advantages of Intermediate Sanctions • Cost benefits • Equitable community sentences • Increased control • Reduced overcrowding • Use with different classes of offenders

17. Punishment Ladder

18. Intermediate Sanctions • Fine • Money owed by offenders to compensate society for their misdeeds • A day fine • Geared to the average daily income of the convicted offender in an effort to bring equity to the sentencing process • Many judges continue to incarcerate offenders for noncompliance with financial orders, despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling • Tate v. Short (1971)

19. Intermediate Sanctions • Forfeiture • The seizure of personal property by the state as a civil or criminal penalty • More than 100 federal statutes use forfeiture of property as a punishment

20. Intermediate Sanctions • Restitution • A condition of probation in which the offender repays society or the victim of the crime for the trouble the offender inflicted • May be monetary or in the form of community service restitution

21. Intermediate Sanctions • Shock probation and split sentences • Alternative sanctions designed to allow judges to grant offenders community release only after they have sampled prison life • A split sentence • Requires convicted criminals to spend a portion of their sentence behind bars and the remainder in the community • Shock probation • Puts offenders in prison for a short term before they begin probation, to impress them with the pains of imprisonment

22. Intermediate Sanctions • Intensive probation supervision • Involves small probation caseloads and strict monitoring on a daily or weekly basis • Goals are typically: • Decarceration • Control • Reintegration

23. Intermediate Sanctions • The house arrest concept • Requires convicted offenders to spend extended periods of time in their own home as an alternative to an incarceration sentence • Electronic monitoring frequently accompanies house arrest to ensure compliance

24. Intermediate Sanctions • Residential community corrections facility sentence • This is a nonsecure facility that houses probationers who need a more secure environment • Day reporting centers • Nonresidential community based treatment programs

25. Restorative Justice • Advocates suggest a policy based on restoring the damage caused by crime and creating a system of justice that includes all the parties harmed by the criminal act: • The victim, the offender, the community, and society • The Concept of Restoration • All crimes bring harm to the community • What is needed is repair • Accountability • Healing

26. Restorative Justice • According to the restorative view • The traditional justice system has done little to involve the community in the justice process • Restoration Programs • Offender recognition of harm • Offender commitment to reparation • Community support for victim and offender

27. Restorative Justice • There are many challenges of restorative justice: • Evaluation of these programs has been questionable thus far • Balancing the needs of offenders with those of victims can be challenging • Do these programs reach out to all members of the community, including minorities and those of cultural and social differences?

28. Thinking Point • Restorative Justice • Are there crimes that restorative justice programs would be ideal for? • Are there crimes that restorative justice programs may be less than ideal for? • Research online Circles of Support and Accountability. • Does it surprise you that restorative programs are used in this type of situation? Why or why not?