Introduction The United States uses incarceration as the punishment for the majority of serious and violent offenders Incarceration, while ancient in origins, is more of a modern punishment Copyright © 2019 Carolina Academic Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

Jails The original purpose of jails was to hold people until their trial and if necessary, so that they could receive their punishment In Colonial America, there was little need for correctional facilities By 1760, only seven “cities” had a population of more than 3,000 people New York City had barely more than 23,000 people (for comparison – London had 900,000) Copyright © 2019 Carolina Academic Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

Most people at this time received swift punishment, usually through fines or corporal punishment Holding people in jails until their trials was largely unnecessary, courts were not backlogged Cases proceeded quickly and trials were informal, often without attorneys or formal rules of evidence People needed to be put to work, having people sit idle in correctional facilities was counterproductive In one study of New York (from 1691 to 1776) only 19 cases were found in which incarceration was used as a primary punishment Copyright © 2019 Carolina Academic Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

American jails are based on English gaols, which were established in medieval England These facilities were administered by a shire reeve (later known as a sheriff) In the United States, jails are usually administered at the county level (parish in Louisiana) Copyright © 2019 Carolina Academic Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

In England, in 1166, King Henry II mandated that all counties needed a jail Feudalism had been breaking down and there were many people wandering around, some looking for work, others looking for trouble England had a system of bail, but many people could not afford to pay bail and would disappear before trial, thus the rapid expansion of jails began Copyright © 2019 Carolina Academic Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

Jails in Early America The first American jail was built in Jamestown, in 1608 Early jails lacked any signature style of architecture Jails were usually built around or near the center of town, generally close to wherever punishments were carried out Inmates were usually crowded in large rooms and did not have individualized or double-bunked cells Conditions were deplorable Inmates were charged for food and anything else they might need If inmates did not have friends or family, they might simply starve Copyright © 2019 Carolina Academic Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

Modern Jails Modern jails have a typical design and are more secure In 2017, roughly 630,000 were serving time in a jail on any given day, approximately 443,00 were awaiting trial The rest of jail inmates have been convicted of a crime and are either serving a short jail sentence as punishment or are awaiting transfer to a prison In 2017, 11 million people were processed in jails When people are arrested, they must have a first appearance within 48 hours Copyright © 2019 Carolina Academic Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

Some people who go to a jail are never charged with a crime Many people in jails are part of what John Irwin called “the rabble” More than 90% of people will receive bail or some form of release from jail People charged with minor crimes are often released on unsecured bonds or on their own recognizance (ROR) People who are required to pay bonds will either put the money up themselves or might pay a bail bonding company (usually 10% of the fee, which is non-refundable) Copyright © 2019 Carolina Academic Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Carolina Academic Press, LLC. All rights reserved. The full set of 195 slides is available upon adoption of this book. If you are a professor using this book for a class, please contact Beth at bhall@cap-press.com to request your slides.