1. Chapter 10 Community Sentences: Probation, Intermediate Sanctions, and Restorative Justice

2. Learning Objectives Be familiar with concept of community sentencing
Know the history of community sentences
Recognize the different types of probation sentences
Be familiar with the rules of probation
Know about the organization and administration of probation services

3. Learning objectives
List and discuss the elements of a probation department’s duties
Be familiar with the legal rights of probationers
Debate the effectiveness of probation
Know what is meant by intermediate sanctions
Define restorative justice and discuss its merits

4. The History of Probation Community Sentencing
Traced to the Middle Ages
Judicial reprieve
Recognizance
Sureties
John Augustus and the Creation of Probation:
Boston (1841) – is credited with originating community sentencing in the U.S.
Augustus supervised more than 2000 convicted offenders
In 1878, Massachusetts legislators authorized the appointment of a paid probation officer

5. Probation Today Probation Defined:
Criminal sentence that suspends or delays a correctional term in a prison or jail
Subject to rules and conditions
Be supervised by a probation officer
Most widely used correctional mechanism in the U.S.

6. Probation Today 2,000 adult probation agencies in the U.S.
2 million offenders placed on probation annually
(2009) more than 4 million offenders on probation in the U.S.

7. Probation Today Awarding Probation: Probation Eligibility:
Subject to a set of rules or conditions mandated by the court
Violation of these conditions may result in revocation of probation requiring the original sentence to be served
Technical violations are the major cause of revocations
Probation Eligibility:
Original purpose was to provide a second chance for young offenders
Contemporary purpose is to ease jail and prison overcrowding

8. Who is being sentenced to probation?
30% first time felons
15% repeat felons
20% of all violent felons receive probation

9. Probation Today Conditions of Probation:
Certain conditions or rules of behavior that the probationer is bound to obey
Sentencing judges have broad discretion
Standard conditions
Specific conditions
Cannot be capricious or cruel

10. Probation Today Administration of Probation Services:
Independent, statewide, local, or a combination
Juvenile and adult services can be separated or combined
Probation officers use discretion in monitoring and treating offenders
Social worker style
Law enforcer style

11. Probation Today Elements of Probation: Pre-sentence investigation
Intake
Diagnosis/Risk Classification
Treatment
Supervision

12. Probation Today Legal Rights of Probationers: Civil Rights
Fewer constitutional protections
Some rules on self-incrimination do not apply
Rules on search and seizure are not always the same
Revocation Rights-
Due process rights apply during revocation hearings

13. Probation Today How Successful is Probation?
Most commonly used alternative sentence
Less expensive than incarceration
About 40 percent fail on probation – most for technical violations of rules
Recidivism rate is less than those sent to prison

14. Probation Today How successful is Felony Probation? RAND study:
Few distinguishable crime differences between felons sent to prison vs. felons sentenced to community supervision
Most felons sentenced to community supervision failed probation
Study findings still support community corrections for eligible offenders
Recidivism for felony probationers was less likely

15. Probation Today Who Fails on Probation and Who Succeeds?
20% of probationers have mental illness or history of instability
Probationers with criminal history, prior probation, and previous incarceration are mostly likely to fail
Probationers who are married with children, educated, stable, and employed are most likely to succeed

16. Probation Today The Future of Probation:
Shift from diagnosis and treatment to an emphasis on risk assessment and control
Initiatives:
Day fees
Rewarding effective probation agencies
Hotspot probation
Area needs
Specialized probation
Private probation
Swift and sure punishment

17. Intermediate Sanctions
Between probation and prison
Less costly
Helps offender maintain family and community ties
Structured to maximize security and maintain public security
Scaled in severity to seriousness of crime
Increased control over probationers
Can be used as halfway-back strategies for those who violate conditions of their community release

18. Punishment Ladder

19. Intermediate Sanctions
Fines:
Used more often in lesser offenses or when financial profits were high
May discriminate against the poor who cannot pay
Many go uncollected
Day fines
Make the fine fit the offender’s income

20. Intermediate Sanctions
Forfeiture:
Used in civil and criminal cases
Civil forfeiture can be done without probable cause or any proof of a crime
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO)
Zero tolerance
Restitution:
Monetary restitution or community service restitution
Benefits the victim, the offender, and the community
Most restitution clients successfully complete and do not recidivate

21. Intermediate Sanctions
Shock Probation and Split Sentencing:
Shock probation
Offenders serve a short prison term before they begin probation
Split sentence
10 % of probationers are now spending a portion of their sentence behind bars and the remainder in the community
Shock Incarceration
Boot Camps

22. Intermediate Sanctions
Intensive Probation Supervision:
Involve small caseloads - (15-40 )
Clients closely monitored
Goals:
Decarceration
Control
Reintegration
Effectiveness varies – failure rates appear to be high, but it works better for some clients than others
More successful for employed probationers than the underemployed or unemployed
More effective if combined with treatment modalities

23. Intermediate Sanctions
House Arrest:
Offender required to spend extended periods of time at home as an alternative to incarceration
Little standardization throughout U.S.
No definitive date indicating effectiveness

24. Intermediate Sanctions
Electronic Monitoring:
Electronic transmission devices used to ensure compliance with house arrest
Newer devices utilize GPS technology for tracking purposes
Lower costs, higher security
Overcrowding is reduced

25. Intermediate Sanctions
Residential Community Corrections:
Usually non-secure buildings
Residents work and/or attend school during the day, return to the center at night
Used as pre-release center
Provide a structured environment for treatment

26. Intermediate Sanctions
Day Reporting Centers:
Facilities that provide a single location for client reporting for supervision and treatment
Used as a ‘step up’ for higher risk probationers and a ‘step down’ for jail or prison inmates
Evaluations show success in reducing recidivism

27. Restorative Justice Programs
Restoring the damage caused by crime
Creating a system of justice which includes all parties harmed by the criminal act
All crimes bring harm to the community
Coercive punishment is inherently harmful to offenders

28. Restorative Justice Programs
Concept of Restoration:
Offenders must accept accountability for their actions and responsibility for the harm their actions caused
Justice policy needs to repair the harm caused by crime and involve all parties that have suffered including the victim, the community, and the offender

29. Restorative Justice Programs
Restoration Programs:
Inclusion of all parties involved in a criminal act
Intended result of the process is to repair injuries suffered by the victim, and the community, while ensuring reintegration of the offender
Methods:
Negotiation
Mediation
Consensus building
Peacekeeping

30. Restoration in Practice
Schools
Police programs
Pretrial programs
Court programs

31. The Challenge of Restorative Justice
Entry may favor whites over minorities
Cultural and social differences may dictate what is “restorative”
Lack of a common definition
Balancing the needs of offenders with victims
Programs focusing on offender may turn off victim
Some believe victim’s rights are threatened by features of restorative justice