13-5 Jails
Jails
Jails are dominant penal institutions in the United States, despite public discourse focusing more on prisons.
Distinction Between Jails and Prisons (Learning Objective 8 Answered)
Prisons:
Designed to house people convicted of felonies for lengthy periods.
Operated by federal and state governments.
Hold inmates who may have lived far away before arrest.
House only those convicted of a crime.
Generally hold inmates found guilty of serious crimes with sentences longer than one year.
Often offer rehabilitation and educational programs.
Jails:
Authorized to hold pretrial detainees and offenders who have committed misdemeanors.
Operated by county and city governments.
Hold mostly inmates from the local community.
House those awaiting trial or recently arrested, in addition to convicts.
Generally hold inmates found guilty of minor crimes serving sentences less than a year.
Focus on necessities like safety, food, and clothing due to smaller budgets.
Importance of Jails in the American Corrections System (Learning Objective 8 Answered)
On any given day, about 740,000 inmates are in jail in the U.S.
Jails admit approximately 10.7 million persons over
The Jail Population
Jails predominantly house young male adults.
Approximately 50% are White, 33% are African American, and 15% are Latino.
Jail inmates are more likely to be convicted of nonviolent crimes compared to state prison inmates, underscoring the function of jails to house less serious offenders for shorter periods.
Pretrial Detainees
A significant portion of jail inmates (about 490,000 on any given day) are pretrial detainees, who have been arrested but are unable to post bail.
These detainees are considered innocent until proven guilty under the U.S. Constitution but are still subjected to incarceration.
In Bell v. Wolfish (1979), the Supreme Court ruled that pretrial detainees do not have greater legal protections than sentenced jail inmates, recognizing the impracticality of treating them differently.
Sentenced Jail Inmates
Approximately 34% of jail inmates have been convicted of their charges, usually misdemeanors, with typical terms lasting between 30 and 90 days, and rarely exceeding one year.
Judges often credit time served toward the total sentence due to:
The limited potential for rehabilitation in jails with short terms and limited facilities.
Chronic overcrowding, necessitating the clearing of space for new offenders.
Other Jail Inmates
Besides pretrial detainees and those convicted of misdemeanors, jails also house:
Probation and parole violators
Mentally ill inmates
Juveniles awaiting transfer
Immigration law violators
Overflow from overcrowded state prisons
The Sociology of Jail
Sociologist John Irwin suggests that the unofficial purpose of jail is to manage society’s “rabble,” who are not well-integrated into conventional society.
According to Irwin, jails are reserved for offensive rabble who fail to conform to behavioral norms, while violent rabble are sent to prison.
Critics argue this explains the disproportionate number of low-income and minority offenders in jails.
Jail Administration
Approximately 3,100 jails operate in the United States.
Predominantly managed at the county level by an elected sheriff.
Some are controlled by the federal government, local municipalities, or six state governments (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont).
Jail capacities vary widely; Los Angeles County Jail houses about 22,000 inmates daily.
Most jails house fewer than 500 inmates.
Fee System
Many jails operate on a fee system where a government agency reimburses the sheriff’s department for the daily cost of housing and feeding each inmate.
Sheriffs can divert funds to other areas, causing potential issues.
Some sheriffs' departments charge inmates "pay-to-stay" fees for food, clothing, medical, and dental care.
The “Burden” of Jail Administration
Public opinion of jails is often negative or indifferent, leading to neglect in jail management.
Sheriffs may focus on high-visibility issues rather than jail duties.
Jails usually only receive publicity after negative events such as escapes or inmate abuse.
Learning Objective 9: Conditions Making Jail Management Difficult
Jails are often more difficult to manage than prisons due to complex and diverse populations.
Jails hold people who have never been incarcerated before with a range of behaviors.
Common conditions among jail inmates:
Mental Illness: About two-thirds of jail inmates have a history of mental illness, including schizophrenia, depression, hallucinations, and suicidal tendencies.
Physical Health Problems and Disabilities: Over one-third report having a current medical problem, and about 40% have disabilities in areas such as hearing, vision, and cognition.
Substance Abuse and Dependency: About two-thirds are dependent on alcohol or other drugs, and half of all convicted jail inmates were under the influence at the time of their arrest.
Resources and Challenges
Most jails lack the resources and facilities to properly deal with inmate problems.
Management disproportionately falls on untrained prison staff.
Some cities like Chicago, Miami, New York, and Los Angeles have taken steps to improve living conditions for at-need inmate populations.
Miami-Dade County’s Criminal Mental Health Project
The Miami-Dade County Jail houses about 1,200 inmates with serious mental illnesses (SMI).
Strategies to divert nonviolent offenders with SMI from the jail:
Pre-Booking Diversion:
Local police officers receive Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training to recognize SMI symptoms and de-escalate crises.
Offenders suffering from SMI are taken to a psychiatric treatment center rather than being arrested.
Post-Booking Diversion:
All defendants booked into jail are screened for SMI symptoms and referred to psychiatric staff.
Defendants meeting criteria (nonviolent, misdemeanor, SMI diagnosis) are transferred to a community-based crisis stabilization facility.
Community-based treatment and housing assistance are provided.
Challenges and Requirements
Jails often struggle to operate as self-contained communities providing all necessary goods in a safe, secure, and controlled manner, as required by the American Correctional Association.
Many jails need expensive upgrades to add bed space and provide better health and psychiatric care.
The new Muskegon (Michigan) County Jail has increased bed space and a medical triage center.
Overcrowding
Overcrowding exacerbates jail management difficulties.
Cells intended for one or two people hold up to six inmates.
Inmates sleep in hallways, and treatment facilities are overwhelmed.
Stressful situations lead to violent behavior.
Rural jails have seen increased inmate populations due to opioid addiction.
Solutions to Overcrowding
Given concerns about jails housing more low-level offenders, administrators need to find creative ways to alleviate overcrowding.
Possible solutions involving pretrial procedures:
Increasing options for pretrial release; New Jersey’s jail population decreased by 20% after bail system reforms.
Speeding up trials to reduce time spent waiting in jail.
Community corrections can also reduce jail inmate populations; in 2018, about 58,000 offenders sentenced to jail terms were supervised in the community.
New-Generation Jails
Evolved from traditional, linear designs that limited supervision.
Focus on improved conditions for both staff and inmates.
Traditional Jail Design (Linear Design)
Jail cells are located along a corridor.
Custodial officers walk the corridor to supervise inmates.
Limited supervision makes it easier for inmates to break rules.
Podular Design (New-Generation Jail)
Originated in the 1970s by the Bureau of Federal Prisons.
Basic structure involves a podular design, where living units are in pods.
Living units are often situated in a triangle to provide visual access for staff.
Daily activities (eating, showering) occur in the pod.
Treatment facilities are located in the pod for greater access.
Inmates spend the day in the open and return to cells with permission.
Some facilities, like Van Cise-Simoney Detention Center, have courtrooms.
Direct Supervision Approach
Podular design enables direct supervision.
Jail officers are stationed in the living area of the pod for constant interaction with prisoners.
A desk in the center of the living area replaces the traditional control booth.
Constant contact helps stem misconduct, recognize danger signs, and stop outbursts.
Ethics Challenge: Strip Searches
Jails routinely strip-search new inmates to:
Detect lice and contagious diseases.
Look for evidence of gang membership (tattoos).
Prevent smuggling of drugs and weapons.
These searches are invasive, involving examination of genitals and rectum.
Ethical issue: Conducting such searches on jail entrants not convicted of a crime.
Policy Matters: The Right to Vote
How Things Stand:
In summer 2020, Iowa restored the right to vote for felons who served their sentences.
Previously, 2.2% of voting-age Iowans and nearly 10% of adult African Americans were disenfranchised.
As a Result…
Between 1997 and 2020, twenty-six states revised laws to restore voting rights to felons.
States have varying rules; some allow probationers and parolees to vote, others require government action.
Minority groups are disproportionately impacted by disenfranchisement laws.
One in thirteen African American adults is disenfranchised due to a criminal record.
Some historians believe early laws barring felons from voting were designed to exclude African Americans.
Up for Debate
Roger Clegg: "If you won’t follow the law yourself, then you can’t make the law for everyone else…when you vote."
Janai S. Nelson: "Felon disenfranchisement laws are an anti-democratic tool with a sordid history of discrimination."
What’s Your Take?
Maine and Vermont allow those behind bars to vote, even for serious felonies.
Some states base disenfranchisement on the seriousness of the conviction.
The Balancing Act
In 2018, Florida voters passed a measure restoring voting rights to 1.4 million residents with felony records.
Florida legislature passed a law requiring former felons to pay all fines, court costs, and restitution to qualify for voting.
Opponents criticized the law as unconstitutionally discriminating against those who cannot afford payments.
Actions disproportionately impact African Americans and Latinos in lower income brackets.