Prisons Final Terms

Discretionary Parole

part of the rehabilitative model, conditional early release based on decision made by parole board weighing factors like behavior, rehab, risk- allows community supervision, now rare

Mandatory parole

automatic release based on a determinate sentence, no discretion involved/no option to be released early

Expiration of sentence

full sentence served, no parole requirements, harsh transition into society

Pardon

act of forgiveness for a crime, releasing the person from punishment/legal consequences, can be granted during/after a sentence

commutation

executive act of clemency where a sentence/punishment is reduced without erasing conviction, usually for good behavior/age/evidence

Recidivism

the tendency of a person to go back to jail after release- often misconstrued to mean for a new crime but often for technical violations

Juvenile LWOP

US is unique, Supreme court limits it with Graham v. Florida, Miller v. Alabama, Montgomery v. Louisiana

Felony murder

any death that occurs in the commission of and/or the attempted commission of a felony is murder- US and Australia have it, UK banned in 1958 (ex. Ryan Holle lending car)

Accomplice liability

part of felony murder, you can be convicted of murder even if you weren’t at the scene of the crime (ex. Ryan Holle)

Bail bond

legal agreement where 3rd party company agrees to pay full bail for a fee, puts defendants at the mercy of private companies, creates bail for profit (US unique), connects to prison industrial system

Punitive damages

extra monetary awards in lawsuits beyond compensating the victim, intended to punish a defendant for behavior/deter future behavior, US is unique, economic greed (ex. MS $400m against Canada 1995)

Judicial elections

US has elections for judges, unique, allows people to advertise hard on crime, makes courts partisan and clientelism

Exclusionary rule

in the US any police misconduct automatically results in suppression of physical evidence taken during police involvement in case: unique, can be good for D or bad if exonerating evidence is found

Partisan expert witness

America allows D/P to present expert witnesses who are chosen and paid- not impartial- creates conflict of interest, economic incentives, biased witnesses - (ex. Dr. Death)

American Exceptionalism

the nature of America’s legal and criminal justice systems to be very different from those of comparable developed western democracies.

Capital punishment

legally authorized killing of someone as punishment

Leo Frank

Jewish man in Georgia lynched after being accused of murdering a young girl, convicted, sentenced to death but then to life

Rubin Stacy

black man lynched in Florida in 1935 after being accused of assault by a white woman, arrested and taken in police custody but kidnapped from the car an lynched- demonstrates police compliance/indifference

Rainey Bethea

1936, last public execution in the US

Emmett Till

black 14 year old who was lynched in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman

Indifference rules

to challenge abusive/bad conditions, prisoner must demonstrate officials had knowledge of deliberate deprivation/acted and responded with deliberate indifference, makes it difficult to file claims

Reid technique

police interrogation technique from Chicago 1950s, creates high stress environment followed by sympathy, elicits false confessions

Roper vs. Simmons

2005, after 17yo was sentenced to death and appealed many times, got a stay of execution and went to supreme court: abolishes death penalty for juveniles

Graham v. Florida

2010, 16yo Terrance Graham involved in armed robbery, sentenced to LWOP —> supreme courts abolishes JLWOP for non-homicide cases

Miller v. Alabama*

2012, after 14yo Evan Miller helped kill someone, was sentenced to LWOP- abolished mandatory JLWOP sentences for homicide, requiring individualized sentences

Montgomery v. Louisiana

2016, made Miller v. Alabama retroactive and applied to prior cases of mandatory JLWOP

Jones v. Mississippi

2021, 15yo boy stabs grandfather, got a mandatory LWOP, appealed, found that you can give JLWOP sentence without finding of permanent incorrigibility

Furman v. Georgia

1972, man committing burglary accidentally killed 2 people, recieved death sentence, supreme court rules that death penalty is handed down too arbitrarily and puts a moratorium on death sentences until states rewrite laws

Attica prison riot

1971 Attica NY, prisoners rioted against horrible conditions like overcrowding, food, healthcare, parked major reform efforts and highlighting bad reality of prison- symbol of resistance- but were killed/ beaten down by guards- however actually took away lots of rights bc guards can claim “security” to justify measures

Martinson report

1974, study about effective rehab for prisoners, found that rehabilitation doesn’t work and caused a movement back towards punishment and strong sentencing

reformatory

historically a penal institution for women centered on rehabilitation, often no fixed sentence, mostly white middle class women for public order offenses

Prison industrial complex

overlapping interests of the government and private corporations to use mass incarceration as a solution to social issues and for economic profit through cheap labor and jobs- 850-1000% increase in prison spending over 30 years, Joseph Hallinan - incentive for harsh sentences

Privatization of prisons

increasing number of prisons run and owned by private corporations, CCA/CoreCivic and GEO group make profits, bad conditions, lobbying public sector

Decline in discretionary parole

caused by changing sentencing laws, abolition of parole boards, increased time between parole apps, politics, life sentences- only in America

Internal barriers to re-entry

mental health, substance abuse, education levels, employment record

External barriers to re-entry

citizenship & voting rights, employment opportunities, housing - Europe has solutions to these

Purposes of capital punishment

retribution, penitence, and deterrence

Capital punishment origins

from England, varied by state, eventually replaced by prisons, lynching as a form of vigilante justice to punish perceived criminals, often racially guided for racial control

Lynching

the practice of vigilante capital punishment, often as a public event for torture, mutilation, sadism, demonstrating power

4 explanations of American exceptionalism

Race, religion, politics, business

Greg Bowyer

guest lecturer, was convicted of 2nd degree murder- talked about re-entry difficulties, not the same as reintegration, importance of community and social support, politics of prosecution

FCI Dublin

correctional facility in CA for women at the center of sex abuse scandal, guards were convicted of rape and harassment of inmates, demonstrated the vulnerability of incarcerated women

Incarceration of women stats

rate grown 2x rate of men’s over 20 years, 25% women behind bars are pre-trial, mostly nonviolent, higher mortality rate in jail, often very poor (“throwaway moms”)

Incarcerated mothers

80% of women in prison are mothers, 70% kids under 18, shackling is common during childbirth, horrible conditions

Lynchings stats

75% black people, 90% in the south, similar pattern between lynchings and death penalty rates

Rickey Ray Rector

man in Arkansas who killed 2 men, one a cop, then tried to kill himself but ended up brain damaged and on death row, 1993 his case was up for debate but Clinton allowed execution to appear tough on crime, shows ethics of mentally disabled people on death row

James Grigson

Dr. Death, forensic psychiatrist from Texas who is an expert witness in capital murder cases and helps sentence people to death- despite controversial methods/conclusions

Samuel Gross

wrote convicting the innocent about innocent people on death row, found 1.5% exonerated but number of innocent is probably much higher

Dan Slepian

journalist/author of Sing Sing files, talks about 6 innocent men, including JJ Velasquez, the process to exoneration, highlights police racial bias, flawed system

Tony Apanovitch

guest speaker, was sentenced to death for rape and murder based on shady prosecution and spent 38 years on death row, then exonerated with DNA evidence in 2015. But then in 2018 he was sent back to prison because of how the DNA was obtained, highlights the injustice and technicalities as well as cruel and unusual punishment

Prison Litigation Reform Act

1996, limited prisoners’ access to courts/lawsuits

Brown v. Plata

2011, limited overcrowding in CA prisons to 137.5% max capacity

Michael Evans

17yo accused of murdering a little girl, tried 2x and convicted to life- later exonerated when prosecutor highlighted holes in case- illustrates pressure of public cases, high profile cases, moral/shocking cases for prosecutors to convict

Gendreau & Ross

disagreed with Martinson, established 4 core principles that distinguish what rehabs work: target known predictors of crime, treatment shld be behavioral, target high risk offenders, range of other conditions

History of parole

from England, first US model in 1876 with indeterminate sentencing ad parole supervision, lasted until 1970s when hard on crime movement grew, 1987 federal parole abolished (compare to France)

one strike rule

felons in public housing, housing has the right to ban someone due to criminal record, felons banned for 5 years following release from public housing

Glover v. Johnson

1979- states must provide same opportunities for education, rehabilitation, job training in prison for women as for men

Todaro vs. Ward

1977- failure to provide healthcare in womens’ prisons violates 8th amendment

Gender responsive programming

Stacy Mallicoat, 6 principles- gender, environment, relationships, services & supervision, socioeconomic status, community

Tyrone Walker

sentenced to life for a crime he committed at 17, emphasizes importance of education in prison as second chance, released after 25 years— talks about PTSD, loneliness, uncertainty, lack of support in re-entry

Daniel Parker

1955 accused of murdering wife, Reid technique was used— false confession, illustrates Reid technique

psychological torture in prison

solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, food deprivation, confinement, no natural light/clocks — destroys psyche and ability to acclimate to real world

Booking

process of incarcerating people, involves humiliating strip search and public

black sites

refers to NY’s solitary confinement practices, not talked about but really horrible

Custodial institution

other historic women’s institution, more like mens’ prisons, no programming, usually for felonies, mostly black/poor women, practiced convict leasing and had bad conditions

Turner vs. Safley

1987 case that determined even if prison conditions/regulations infringe on prisoner rights, the prison officials can make a case and courts will defer to their discretion

Nanon Williams

has spent 33 years in prison, was actually born in prison- solitary confinement conditions horrible

Solitary Confinement doc

Colorado state penitentiary administrative segregation, warden seems open to admitting faults of solitary but continues to use it, suicide rate is 14x higher than other CO prisons

Women in prison differences

internalized guilt/self-blame, less likely to take a deal because of this, Jazz & Jessica talking about not wanting to make family visit them

Unger v. State

2012- Maryland ruled that pre-1981 jury instructions were unconstitutional bc told jurors to defer to judges on the law— many people convicted pre-1981 became eligible for release

14 days in may

Follows Edward Earl Jones on death row in Parchman, maintains innocence, lawyer trying to appeal unsuccessfully, shows intimate moments with family, religion, guards,

Booth v. Maryland

1987- rules that victim impact statements are inflammatory and unnecessary in capital murder cases

First Step Act

2018- effort to reform federal prisons and sentencing

Determinate sentencing

system without discretionary parole release for offenders- offender must serve statutorily demanded sentence imposed by judge

structured sentencing

states implement recommended prison terms for specific offenses: trying to reduce disparities

mandatory sentencing

takes away case-specific sentencing discretion and implements harsher blanket sentences

Whitney v. Albers

1986- establishes that prison official’s actions judged by whether use of force was to maintain peace/discipline or to maliciously/sadistically cause harm

Fair sentencing act

under obama, reduced crack cocaine/powder cocaine sentencing disparity from 100:1 to 18:1 and eliminated 5 year mandatory minimum

Farmer v. Brennan

establishes deliberate indifference in prisons

Parole vs. Probation

probation is a court ordered sentence that that lets someone stay in community under supervision instead of prison, whereas parole is is supervised release into community after prison

protective custody

When an inmate’s status prevents them from being in gen. pop. due to safety concerns, they are placed in solitary confinement