Prisons and Prisoners MIDTERM

Corrections in colonial American followed English ideas and practices

True

The death penalty is the ultimate example of the punishment goal referred to as incapacitation

True

Deterrence assumes that people think rationally before they act

True

Indeterminate sentences require a minimum and maximum amount of time for offenders to serve in prison

True

Felony Courts hear about 90% of all criminal cases

False

Before the 1200s in Europe, a crime was determined to be a private affair with vengeance to be carried out by the victim or the victim’s family on the offender. This principle of punishment was centered on the idea of lex talionis, which means:

The law of retaliation

Which of the following is NOT a principle that underlies the reforms that Beccaria advocated?

Correct:

The basis of all social action must be the utilitarian concept of the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Crime must be considered an injury to society, and the only rational measure of crime is the extent of injury.

The accused have a right to speedy trials and to humane treatment before trial, as well as every right to bring forward evidence on their behalf.

INCORRECT:

Imprisonment should be more widely employed, with worse quarters to deter offenders.

Which of the following is NOT one of the four commonly accepted goals of criminal sanctions in the United States?

Incarceration

A new goal of punishment that has emerged over the last decade is called ________ justice. This process advocates a type of punishment that is designed to repair losses to the victim and the community while attempting to keep the offender connected to society

Restorative

Fines, forfeiture of illegally gained assets, and restitution to victims are all examples of what form of punishment?

Intermediate sanctions

A(n) _______ sentence is a fixed period of incarceration and is often associated with the concept of retribution.

Determinate

According to the text, which of the following is NOT an “invisible punishment”?

Correct:

restricting access to public libraries

denying felons the right to vote

restricting access to certain occupations

Incorrect:

Restricting access to public libraries

The _______ report is a summary prepared by a probation officer who investigates the background of a convicted offender in order to help the judge select an appropriate punishment

Presentence

The presentence report is prepared by a _________.

Probation Officer

When an innocent person is found guilty by plea or verdict it is known as a _________.

Wrongful conviction

Four major goals of punishment:

• Retribution

  • Revenge (eye for an eye…)

  • “just desserts”

  • Lex talionis

• Detterance

  • General detterance

  • Specific detterance

  • Assumes rationality of actor

• Incapatation

  • Eliminate offender’s ability to commit further
    crimes

    • Imprisonment

    • Execution

  • Selective incapacitation

    • Chemical castaration —> sex offenders

  • “Lock ‘em up and throw away the key”

• Rehab

  • Goal of restoring the convicted offender to society

  • Vocational/educational therapy

  • Focus on the offender

  • Inconsistent relationship between crime and
    sentence

  • Judge should not set a fixed sentence

• Resotoration (new)

  • Punishment designed to repair the
    damage done to the victim and community by an
    offender’s criminal act

  • Restoring to status quo ante

  • Monetary payment, service work, written apology, etc.
    
    

Probation is the most frequently used form of correctional punishment in the United States.

TRUE

During the past few years the prison population has continued to increase.

FALSE

Until the early 1800s in the United States, correctional officials followed the European practice of corporal punishment to reprimand criminal behavior.

TRUE

The New York system of corrections, implemented first in the Auburn State Prison, was founded upon the idea of complete solitary confinement of inmates.

FALSE

Evidence-based corrections is a movement to ensure that correctional programs and policies are based on research evidence about “what works.”

TRUE

From the earliest accounts of humankind, punishment has been used as a means of, forcing people to comply with rules, norms, and laws. The word for this is called:

Social Control

Corrections can be viewed as a series of processes that are ________ , meaning that each process affects another part of the criminal justice system in some way

Interconnected

Nearly one-fifth of all offenders are under the correctional control of four states (i.e., the Big Four of corrections). Which of the following is NOT one of these states?

Oklahoma

A ________ is a correctional facility used to house pretrial detainees and those sentenced for minor offenses.

Jail

In 1790, the first recognized penitentiary was created in which U.S. city?

Philadelphia

The system where inmates were held in isolation at night but worked together during the day is known as the ________.

Congregate system (Auburn)

Which of the following events was instrumental in the move toward the community corrections movement in the United States?

The inmate riot that occurred in September 1971 at the Attica State Prison in New York

Parole

A form of supervision of those who have been released from confinement, sometimes including the option of early release from confinement before the expiration of their sentence.

Probation vs. Parole

Both are supervised, and if any rules are violated, the individual may find themselves into another, more severe form of incarceration.

Parole —> Individuals have been in some sort of confinement

Probation —> individuals are charged for an offense, but due to mitigating factors (the mildness of the crime, age of the person, first-time offense, etc) they are not put into confinement

Intermediate Sanctions methods

• Low level:

  • Fines

  • Restitution 

  • Community service 

  • Drug, alcohol treatment 

  • Probation 

  • Home confinement 

• High Level:

  •  Intensive probation supervision 

  • Boot camp 

  • Shock incarceration

  • Jail 

Defenses for probation (4 points)

Four factors that support community corrections:

• Many offenders’ criminal records and current offenses are not serious 

  • Ex: carjacking v. murder 

• Community supervision is cheaper than corrections 

  • Avg: $120 per DAY, per person 

• Recidivism rates are no higher than those who go to prison 

  • Why not the cheaper route, then? 

• Ex-in-mates require both support and supervision when remaking lives in the community

Jail

A facility authorized to hold pretrial detainees and sentenced misdemeanants for periods longer than 48 hours (but less than a year)

Jails are the entryway to corrections

TRUE

According to many scholars, a great percentage of defendants are considered indigent and cannot afford to post bail

TRUE

Defendants who are regarded as dangerous or likely to commit crimes while awaiting trial are kept in jail for society's protection under preventive detention.

TRUE

According to federal and state laws, jail employees can never be held liable for their actions.

FALSE

Local jail officers are some of the best trained, educated, and paid employees in the entire U.S. correctional system.

BAHAHAHA FALSEEEEE

Operated as facilities to detain accused people awaiting trial, jails have customarily been run by ________.

County sheriffs

The ________ system is a system in which jail operations are funded by a set amount paid per day for each inmate held.

Fee

Which facility is operated under a joint agreement between two or more government units, with a jail board drawn from representatives of the participating jurisdictions and having varying authority over policy, budget, operations, and personnel?

Regional Jail

Which of the following is NOT considered to be one of the most significant problems jail inmates face today?

CORRECT:

Mental health issues

Substance dependency

Legal concerns

INCORRECT:

Nutrition

Pretrial detainees:

Have NOT been convicted of the crimes they are being held on

Pretrial diversion

Basically probation but for low-risk, low-level offenders:

• Usually includes fines + community service + supervision

Which of the following is NOT one of the three mains reasons used to support pretrial diversion programs?

Correct:

• Diversion is cheaper than criminal justice processing

• There is a stigma attached to being labeled a criminal

• Many offenders’ crimes are caused by special problems (e.g., addiction).

Incorrect:

These programs help prevent the accused from committing further crimes.

By far the most successful pretrial release program has been ________.

Release on Recognizance (ROR)

Release on Recognizance (ROR) (5 points)

• A release on recognizance (ROR) is a court's decision to release a defendant from jail without bail. The defendant must promise to appear in court for future proceedings. 

  Eligibility 

  • People with no criminal record or a minor criminal history

  • People with strong community ties

  • People with regular employment

  • People charged with minor offenses like shoplifting

• Higher appearance rates
   Lower rearrest rates
   Higher probation sentences
   Day reporting centers
   Electronic monitoring

Defendants who do not appear for a court hearing are called _________.

Absconders

Explain under what circumstances jail administrators can be held legally liable for the treatment of people who are incarcerated there. Provide an example.

The law enforcement role of probation emphasizes surveillance of the offender and close controls on behavior.

TRUE

One common problem with intermediate sanctions programs is that many in the field believe these programs lead to increasing the number of offenders who are unnecessarily controlled by the government (net widening)

TRUE

When both the requirements of supervision and the surveillance of offenders increase, more violations are detected and more probationers face revocation of probation.

TRUE

Today in the United States, nongovernment agencies can also be used to administer community corrections programs.

TRUE (private prisons)

__________, a Boston boot-maker, was the first recorded probation officer in the United States, dating back to 1841.

John Augustus

The goal of __________ is to minimize the probability that an offender will commit a new offense, especially by applying tight controls over the probationer’s activities and maintaining careful surveillance.

risk management

More than 2/3 of people under correctional authority are:

Under community supervision

Probationers in the United States are more likely to be __________ than are offenders confined to jail or prison.

White and female

Judicial reprieve in the US was

Declared unconstitutional in 1916

Government seizure of property and other assets derived from or used in criminal activity is called __________.

forfeiture

Intermediate sanctions have two general goals, first, to provide more effective alternatives to probation and, second, to serve as a_______.

Less costly alternative to prison

According to the text, boot camps are designed for what type of offender?

Young

If an offender falls behind on paying compensation for financial, physical, or emotional loss, they may be sent to a:

Restitution center

When prison alternatives are correctly applied to nonprison cases, they cannot __________.

Save money

Explain some of the problems associated with intermediate sanctions. (4)

Selecting agencies—have staff and experience to
design programs
 Selecting offenders—crime and criminal
considered
 Net widening—social control
 Wider nets, stronger nets, different nets

PSIs do not allow victims to make impact statements describing their emotional and financial losses due to the offender’s action.

FALSE

Private investigative firms have recently begun to provide judges with PSIs.

TRUE

One main purpose of the probation officer’s supervision is to enforce compliance with conditions.

TRUE

Probation may be revoked if the probationer fails to attend a mandatory therapy session.

TRUE

The PSI process typically begins with an interview with the __________.

Offender

Probation officers traditionally perform two basic functions: __________ and supervision

Investigation

Supervision begins once an offender is sentenced to probation, and it involves three steps. Which of the following is NOT one of these steps?

Correct:

• Establishing a relationship with the offender

• Setting supervision goals to help the offender comply with conditions established by the court

• Deciding how to terminate probation on the basis of the offender’s response to supervision

Incorrect: Preparation of a presentence investigation (PSI)

Probation officers prefer to rely more heavily on their __________ rather than on power.

Authority

______________ involves a variety of interpersonal techniques that increase the effectiveness of correctional treatment, by having the probation officer interact with the client in ways that promote the client’s stake in the change process.

Motivational interviewing

The return of a former correctional client to criminal behavior is known as __________.

Recidivism

Authority

Is the ability to influence someone to do the right thing, such as providing the correctional client incentives such as housing, job fairs, and schooling to help them transition into a better life. This form is the most effective in probation because it frees some of the burdens that prevent someone from living a proper life (ex: being homeless can prevent someone from keeping a stable job) and relieve some of the distrust of authoritative figures such as probation officers.

Power

Is the ability to force someone to do something, usually with forced coercion or threats, causing friction between the correctional client and the supervisor

The most frequent type of offense of federal prisoners is drug related.

TRUE

The Federal Bureau of Prisons confinement facilities are classified using four security levels, ranging from “minimum” to “supermax” security.

TRUE

Departments of Corrections are usually unable to control the flow of offenders sent to them by the courts

TRUE

_________, the oldest operating prison in America, was built in 1798 and still houses inmates today.

Trenton State Prison (NJ)

The major focus of corrections today seems to have shifted to a _________ model of corrections, a model that emphasizes the importance of incarceration.

Crime control

Which of the following prison designs is most often used today for maximum-security prisons in the United States?

Telephone-pole

The majority of adult prisons in the United States are located in _________ areas

Rural

Who is responsible for the operation of state prisons?

Commissioner of corrections

Operation of local prisons

County sheriff

Prisons house convicted offenders who have been sentenced to terms of _________.

More than one year

Mandatory sentencing laws greatly limit the discretion of judges with regard to the ________.

Length of sentences for certain offenders

List and explain the two of the five major reasons why U.S. prison populations have increased over the past 20 years.

1. Tough on crime tatics centered putting as many prisoners/offenders in the correctional system as much as possible

2. Mandatory sentencing requirements gave judges little discretion the length of years a certain type of offender is allowed to have

3. Prison constructions: Incentives judges to send people into prison by assuming there are more room for them

4. War on Drugs: Tough-on-crimes tactic centered on drug usage/abuse, including marijuana

5.  State and local politics: It looks good for a politicians to keep crime at an all-time low, which causes the number of incarcerations to skyrocket.