Justice Process

During the past 30 years the prison population has changed. 1. There has been a major Increase in the number of African American and Hispanic American Inmates. 2. More Inmates come from urban areas. 3. More inmates have been convicted of drug-related and violent offenses. 4. Former street gangs regroup inside prisons and have raised levels of violence in many institutions. 5. The rise of public employee unions have improved working conditions, safety procedures, and training. E. Current focus of corrections has shifted to crime control, which emphasizes the Importance of Incarceration.II. The Goals of Incarceration A. Three models of incarceration have been prominent since the early 1 sass: 1. The custodial model – based on the assumption that prisoners have been incarcerated for the protection of society and emphasizes security, discipline, and order subordinating the prisoner to the authority of the warden.. This model was prevalent in corrections before World War II and dom inates most maximum-security Institutions today. 2. The rehabilitation model – developed In the asses, It emphasizes treatment programs to reform the offender. 3.The reintegration model – inked to the structures and goals of community corrections, it emphasizes maintaining offender ties to family and community. B. Correctional institutions that conform to each of these models can be found, but most prisons are mainly custodial. Ill. Organization for Incarceration A. Statistics 1. Prisons are operated by all 50 states and the federal government. 2. There are 1,208 confinement facilities; 85 % are run by the states. 3. 84 % of the facilities are for men only. 4. 8% are for women only. B. Federal Bureau of Prisons 1.Jurisdiction of federal criminal law is restricted to crimes involving interstate amerce, certain serious felonies such as bank robbery, violation of other federal laws and crimes committed on federal property. 2. Since the â€Å"war on drugs† in the as ses, drug offenders in federal prisons make up about 56% of the inmate population. 3. Federal prisoners are often a more sophisticated breed of criminal, from a higher socioeconomic class, than the typical state prisoner. 4. Federal sentencing guidelines have increased the probability of imprisonment substantially. 5.The bureau of prison is highly centralized with a staff of over 33,000 who supervise more than 150,000 prisoners. . The bureau operates 104 confinement facilities (see figure 10. 1). C. State Prison Systems -94% of offenders are held in confinement facilities operated by the state; administration of prisons is a function of the executive branch. 1 . The total capacity of a state's prisons reflects the size of the state's population. 2. States vary considerably in the number, size, type, and location of correctional facilities. 3. Over 435,000 people work in state institutions. V. The Design and Classification of Prisons A. Form follows function: the design of a structur e should serve its purpose. 1. During the penitentiary era, institutions were to promote penance. 2. When prison industry became the focus, a different design enhanced the efficiency of workshops. 3. When punishment held sway, emphasis was on the fortress-like edifice that ensures security. 4. During the rehabilitation era, new prisons were built in styles thought to promote treatment goals. B. Today's design – There are four basic models found in America's prisons. 1.Radial Design: Eastern, Auburn, Leavenworth, Roadway, and Trenton. 2. Telephone-pole Design: most commonly used for maximum security prisons: Exaggerator, Marion, Somers, Jackson. 3. Courtyard Style: mom of the newer facilities are the courtyard style. 4. Campus Style: long used for juvenile or women's facilities 5. Today prison construction is greatly influenced by cost. C. Location of Prisons: As in the past, most are located in rural areas. 1. Even though most prison inmates come from cities and reintegration has been the prime correctional goal, new institutions are still being built in the countryside. . Rural whites are hired to guard urban blacks. 3. Many citizens believe that serious offenders should be incarceration, but not in their community (NIMBI syndrome). 4. Some economically depressed areas have elected prisons to bring in Jobs and revivalist the local economy D. Classification of Prisons: 1. Maximum Security Prison – closed custody prisons hold 35% of inmates); usually an awesome edifice with high stone walls studded with guard towers; designed to prevent escapes and to deter prisoners from harming each other. 2.Medium Security Prison: hold 47% of inmates; externally they resemble the maximum security prison, but organized on a different basis and atmosphere is less rigid and tense. 3. Minimum Security Prison: holds 18% of prisoners, the least violent offenders; lacks tower guards and walls. E. Private prisons entrant with private companies to furnish food and medic al services, educational and vocational training and other services. 3. Now, governments hire corporations to house prisoner in privately owned facilities. 4. By midyear 2003, a total of 94,361 inmates were being held in private facilities. . The private prison business is dominated by the Corrections Corporation of America and Hackett Corrections Corporation. 6. Problems with private facilities a. Differences in programming b. Costs c. Accountability d. Legal issues 7. Corrections is a multimillion dollar government-funded enterprise that purchases applies, materials, and services from the private sector. 8. Private entrepreneurs argue that they can build and run prisons at least as effectively, safely, and humanely as any level of government can, at a profit and a lower cost to taxpayers. 9.Private prison corporations need to fill their cells in order to be profitable. 10. Liability of Guards?the U. S. Supreme Court said that private prison guards did not have legal protection und er Section 1983 and are fully liable for their actions when they violate a protected right. 1 1 . There are fears that the private corporations will press to maintain high occupancy and will be interested in skimming off the best inmates, leaving the troublesome ones to the public correctional system. V. Who is in Prison A. Data on the characteristics of prisoners is limited (figure 10. ). 1. A majority of prisoners are men aged of 25-44 2. Members of minority groups 3. Approximately 40 percent have not completed high school. 4. 44 percent of prisoners are rearrested with the first year of release. 5. Within 3 years, approximately 25 percent of all released inmates will return to prison. B. Elderly prisoners – An increasing number of prison inmates are older than 55 and eve housing, medical, program, and release service needs that differ from the In the general population, special housing accommodations average inmate. 1. Should be made. 2.The elderly are more likely to devel op chronic illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer. 3. Prison work assignments must be tailored to fit their physical and mental abilities. 4. Preparation for release to community supervision or to hospice services require time and special efforts. 5. As people get older they become less dangerous. C. Prisoners with HIVE/AIDS: In the coming years, AIDS in expected to be the leading cause of death among males aged 35 and younger; with 57% of the inmates population under 35, correctional officials must cope with the problem of HIVE. . In 2001, there were more than 24,000 HIVE-positive inmates (3. 2 percent of the prison population). 2. The high rate of infection among inmates can be explained by the prisoners' â€Å"high risk† behaviors. 3. Only 18 states test all new inmates for HIVE. D. Mentally Ill Prisoners: Mass closings of public hospitals for the mentally ill began in the asses; new antispasmodic drugs made treating patients in the community seem retirement o nly works if the drugs are taken and clinics and halfway houses exist to assist the mentally ill. . Homelessness is the most public sign of the lack of programs for the mentally ill. 3. With the expansion of prisons and greater emphasis on public order offenses, arrest and incarceration have become the price many pay for their illness. E. Long Term Inmates – more prisoners serve long sentences in the US than in any other Western nation. 1. Harsh sentencing policies of the last 30 years?three-strikes, mandatory minimums, truth-in-sentencing?the amount of time revered is increasing. 2.An estimated 11-15% of all prisoners (well over 100,000) will serve more than 7 years in prison. 3. Long-term prisoners generally are not seen as control problems. 4. Administrators must find ways of making long-term prison life livable. 5. 310,000 prisoners are currently serving at least 20 year sentences. 6. Each life sentence costs taxpayers an estimated $1 million. 7. Severe depression, feelin gs of hopelessness, and other health problems are common among long teeters. 8. Long term inmates are charged with less disciplinary infractions that short term inmates.