3.  There are currently about 1.6 million people either in jail or prison, or on probation or parole.  There is also about 780,000 correctional employees in the U.S., with the majority being state employees in our prisons and the rest in the local jails.  Costs nearly $50 billion per year for correctional activities in the U.S. This can be compared to $65 billion for the police functions and about 32 billion for the courts.  Corrections are big business in the U.S.

4.  The American war on drugs has resulted in many individuals being sent to jail or prison simply for having a drug addiction.  Truth in sentencing laws, passed by many states after first being tried in 1984 in Washington State, has prisoners spending more time in jail than in the past  Research was completed by Robert Martinson that indicated that almost nothing works in correctional treatment programs

5.  Correctional organizations generally have to subsystems within which to work, with one being considered just managing the correctional system employees and the other concerned with delivering services to the inmate population.  Two basic philosophies that exist as to what a correctional organization would be.  Custodial organization, which emphasizes the caretaker functions of controlling and observing inmates.  Second is a treatment organization, which emphasizes rehabilitation of inmates.

6.  The typical correctional facility has a central office that oversees the vast prison system. Some of the people found in this office would be the director, media affairs people, legislative liaisons, legal advisors, legal division, and internal affairs representatives.  The primary job of the central office is budget development and new prison construction. The central office will also have a division that oversees the operation of correctional programs, such as security, education, religious services, mental health, and unit management.

7.  The central office is a division that oversees the operation of correctional programs such as security, education, religious services, mental health, and unit management.  One of the primary problems today comes from those who are in prison or our county jails with a drug addiction issue.

8.  One of the more complicated and expensive divisions in the correctional environment is the health care system set up to manage and care for the inmates.  Another challenging job is with the human resources division, responsible for hiring, training, evaluations, and retirement.  It is often just a challenge to find qualified people willing to work for them, as typically the correctional facilities pay very low.

9.  The correctional security department is normally the largest department in a prison, with 50 to 70 percent of all staff.  The purpose of unit management is twofold: to decentralize the administration of the prison and to enhance communication among staff and between staff and inmates.  The education department operates the academic teaching, vocational training, library services, and sometimes recreation programs for inmates.  Prison industries are legislatively chartered as separate government corporations and report directly to the warden

10.  There are currently 31 Supermax prisons in the United States.  The issue of whether the conditions in Supermax prisons constitute cruel and unusual punishment has been tested in three cases.

11.  In the Cooper v. Pate decision the Supreme Court made the decision that inmates could bring lawsuits against prison authorities under Title 42, Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act.  In 1974 in Wolff v. McDonnell the courts gave inmates facing severe discipline due process protections.  Bell v. Wolfish the court decided 6-3 that jail management should be left to corrections personnel.

12.  The volume of inmate litigation increased significantly following the cooper vs. pate decision in 1964.  Prisoner’s usually sued because they were either unwilling to accept their conviction or wish to harass their keepers.  Due to the excessive number of frivolous lawsuits filed by inmates the news media began to make public some of the frivolous lawsuits, causing a public outcry to occur.  As a result in April of 1996 the prison litigation reform act was passed in order to discourage frivolous an abusive prison lawsuits.

13.  Across the United States, approximate 2850 local jails are administered, which together will house about 785,000 inmates per year.  The majority of the administrators here are sheriffs.  In response to the many lawsuits that emerged over the years many of these facilities have had to improve conditions, and in many new facilities were built.

14.  Four Recommended Goals: ◦ Purposeful intake and assessment on all new admissions ◦ A sound inmate classification system and follow-up housing unit assignment ◦ Meaningful jail treatment programs ◦ The jail environment

15.  Juvenile  Municipal  County  State  State Combined  Federal

16.  Two Basic Models: ◦ 1. The independent model. A parole board is responsible for making release (parole) determinations as well as supervising persons released on parole (or good time). It is independent of any other state agency and reports directly to the governor. ◦ 2. The consolidated model. The parole board is a semiautonomous agency within a large department that also administers correctional institutions. Supervision of persons released on parole (or good time) is under the direction of the commissioner of corrections, not the parole board.

17.  Relieve overcrowding  Save taxpayer money  Relieve county of liability  Boost local economy-ad new jobs  Provide better care for inmates  Provide better classification and evaluation  Provide better rehabilitation

18.  Private companies should not have control of inmates.  Cost will be too expensive for the county.  Inmates will be abused.  Security risks may occur.  Governmental agencies are more efficient and effective.  Private companies are only interested in making money.  Danger exists of company declaring bankruptcy.