What should Casey’s response be to the reporter ( other than hanging up or telling him to call back ) concerning the agency’s recommendations?
A country’s correction program consists of several components. Such components include several programs as well as policies in several organizations that have the mandate to provide services to persons who have been convicted of crimes. Several options are available for correctional purposes. These options are wide and varied. These options include:
Incarceration
This requires the person convicted of a crime to be housed in a facility that is secure and constantly monitored for a specified period and during such a period there are set restrictions on activities one can engage in as well as one’s movement concerning the restrictions imposed ( Caputo, 2004, p.7). Two types of incarceration are prison and jail.
Jail is incarceration for a relatively short period especially during the trial or for persons who fail to raise bail. This is for persons whose proceedings in court are still in session and the person has not yet been convicted for the crime they are charged with. Persons who are held in jail for two major reasons, one, is that the person convicted of an offense cannot afford to raise bail as the court decision or, two, the person is considered as a danger to the rest of society and there is a possibility that the person can jump bail and flee the court’s jurisdiction while the trial against them is still ongoing ( Capato, 2004, p.8).
Prisons provide confinement for a longer period compared to jails. A prison provides confinement to persons convicted of felonies as well as persons who have violated their parole requirements. Unless the jails are overcrowded only then can those serving a sentence of less than a year can be sent to serve their sentences in prisons.
Probation and parole
Community corrections probation and parole are measures of punishment for convicted offenders. Probation is the granting of a right to a convicted offender to serve the sentence imposed with sanctions imposed by a court of law. This allows the offender to serve the already set sentence while living within the community ( Capato, 2004, p.8). This is commonly used and requires close supervision by authorities by allocating each offender to a probation officer within the offender’s local area. A probation period is accompanied by close monitoring of the offender as well as the performance of set tasks as well as abiding by the probation conditions. In case the probation conditions are violated the offender risks.
Parole is the release of a convicted offender after the successful completion of a prison sentence ( Capato, 2004, p.9). It is administered by a parole board charged with the mandate of determining whether or not an offender is fit and ready to be released back to society to serve the sentences. There are usually two types of parole, discretionary and mandatory parole ( Capato, 2004, p.9). In discretionary parole release is administered by a parole board if the board deems fit and after the offender has served his sentence successfully. The offender needs to show that he has made a tremendous effort to improve and has reformed substantively. The mandatory release is provided by statute whereby after a set period of serving one’s sentence an offender is eligible for parole. The offender has to show great effort in reforming or else such a right can be waived depending on the conduct of the offender.
Intermediate Sanction
This refers to several choices ranging from incarceration to parole ( Capato, 2004, 7). Sometimes referred to as intermediate punishments or penalties depending on the jurisdiction. These include measures such as monetary penalties, intense supervised programs, community service sentences as well as established reporting centers.
Boot Camps
This type of intermediate sanctioned is designed to cater for young offends who have no history of violent behavior and also those who have no past criminal record. This well-structured program includes military-like activities, engaging in hard labor whereas the focus is on discipline. In modern-day boot camps, the participants are also involved in anger management classes, alcohol and other substance abuse seminars, vocational training and so much more.
Intensive supervised programs
This is designed to provide intense surveillance as well as closely monitoring the criminal offenders. The supervision is usually conducted by a probation officer. This is a more restrictive form of intermediate sanction the offender is categorized as high risk to the society.
Day Reporting Centres
This program requires the offender to report to a specified center regularly, usually once per day where structured activities are set to be completed. In this, places support services such as counseling and anger management support groups are availed.
House Arrest
Here the offender receives a sentence of detention that they serve in the confines of their home the compliance of this sentence is closely monitored by electronic devices. The offender is required to stay within the confines of the offender’s home for several days a week. Exceptions may be allowed to allow the offender to visit specific places such as a place of worship or employment or even to attend school.
Community service
This is compulsory and free labor by the offender to the community especially in communal places as a sentence for their criminal offense.
Shock probation
This involves a combination of a brief stint to incarceration followed by a conditional release. This model is designed to give the offender a glimpse into life behind bars and then released shortly after to give the offender a chance to reform. Usually, once the offender is realized they are released into the custody of a guardian who ensures the offender complies with the conditions of the release.
Fines and Restitutions
These penalties are financial. A fine is a penalty imposed by a court of law requiring the offender to make a specified amount of money to the court. This payment is usually based on the degree of seriousness of the committed offense ( New South Wales, 2006, 23).
Restitution refers to the compensation of physical as well as emotional loss incurred by the victim as a direct consequence of the crime.
If Casey elects to discuss her office’s recommendations for some form of intermediate sanction how can she justify such sanctions in general and in this specifically?
Intermediate sanctions are intended to achieve punitive as well as restorative justice. Most of the objectives of the prison administration system can be met in a more effective manner (Criminal Justice Handbook Series, 2007, 7). The majority of prisoners who eventually return to their respective communities in most instances do so without the skills required to help them integrate back into the communities and be law-abiding citizens. The process set in place for sentencing an individual who has broken the law raises the question that is it really necessary.
About the issue of releasing offenders early ensures that prisons are decongested as well as ensuring that such facilities are optimally utilized ( Criminal justice Handbook series, 2007, 47). In some special cases, the offenders as above are the victims and prisons are not well equipped to deal with the magnitude of different persons sent to them. This category includes persons with special needs such as persons with mental illnesses, children, and so on. This different and special category of persons needs special attention to deal with them and not the measures put in place to punish them ( Criminal Justice Handbook Series, 2007, 56).
In the above scenario, there are several options such as a boot camp instance. The offender is young and also has no previous record of violence. The offender has also been categorized as of low recidivism risk, therefore, making this being the viable option.
The other option is to place the offender in community service. In this program, the offender is perceived by the public as serving his sentence for the crimes committed as well as slowly being integrated back into the community. The offender pays for the offense committed by giving back to the community.
Do you feel that the probation officer’s recommendation based on these facts is correct?
There is a need for support from the public for the efforts put in place by state organs ( Latessa, 2011, 3). This is a need for increased public support for such efforts as well as being accommodative and emphatic to offenders who are released back to the community. There is a need for increased public awareness for members of the public about rehabilitation programs that have been laid in place.
Once released back into societies many offenders have to deal with an identity crisis, an employment crisis as well as the challenge of re-establishing family ties and the society in general. Sometimes such transition is not a smooth one and it is frustrations that emanate from such frustrations that lead such individuals back to a life of crime( Vishter, 2003, 16). The public, in general, is receptive to the offender that the public feels has been reformed but the public also needs to be assured or guaranteed in any way possible that the offender has served his time and has reformed. The programs in place need to be intensive for high-risk offenders who continually face the risk of recidivism. An individual is likely to fall back into a life crime if the society around is not receptive and accommodative enough to the changed offender ( Visher, 2003, 16).
There are several benefits of an intermediate sanction over other options of incarceration. A cheaper alternative to incarceration. Since correctional facilities are run on taxpayers’ money states are set to benefit from a reduction in maintenance costs by allowing intermediate sanctions to run concurrently. Not only are penal institutions costly but it has also been proven to be ineffective as well as injurious to some individuals. Besides all these persons have done very little to prove that they help to reduce criminality in communities as statics have shown that the very same inmates repeat the very same crimes that got them in prison in the first place.
Intermediate sanctions help reduce overcrowding in prisons, therefore, helping prisons to be run efficiently and within their capacities.
Intermediate sanctions help to increase control as their programs are designed to closely monitor offenders to prevent cases of recidivism from occurring. Intermediate sanctions play a major role in reducing the risk of offenders falling back into their criminal activities. There is increased control over what activities an offender can engage in and which are prohibited.
Intermediate sanctions play a major role in ensuring fairness in communities. It helps to meet a community’s need to provide services that are fair and proportionate. Take for instance the crime committed by an offender like a shoplifter deserves a different kind of punishment from, say a pedophile or persons who have committed other serious crimes.
Intermediate sanctions help to save the resources of a state that would otherwise be channeled to build and maintain prison facilities. Offenders placed on intermediate punishment help to generate income for the state as well as pay taxes and compensation for victims of crimes, these offenders undertake activities that the public is set to benefit from as well as provide other cost-saving services to the communities around them. This sanction has helped save costs as the need to construct more prisons has been drastically reduced as not all offenders will not be required to go to jail to serve a sentence.
Which form of intermediate sanction would appear to hold the most promise for the offender in this case?
In the above case scenario, there are several intermediate options available to address the issue. Out of the above-outlined avenues, several intermediate sanctions would be appropriate.
In the above scenario, there are several options such as a boot camp instance. The offender is young and also has no previous record of violence. The offender has also been categorized as of low recidivism risk, therefore, making this being the viable option. The offender is relatively young, twenty-three to be precise, and is a first-time offender and is also considered by the probation officials to be of low recidivism.
At the boot camp, the offender is set to benefit from the various programs put in place in these boot camps. Such programs such as counseling can help the offender get over the abuse he has gone through and find help to put all the past events to rest.
The other available option is to place the offender in community service. In this program, the offender is perceived by the public as serving his sentence for the crimes committed as well as slowly being integrated back into the community. This program of the offender serving in the community where he committed the crime helps to wean back the offender into the community. The offender pays for the offense committed by giving back to the community. The offender can be conspicuously seen by members of the public as serving his time and paying for the offend committed ( Freiberg, 1995, 44).
The other option available is to ensure that the offender reports daily to a reporting center. This provides a mechanism for closely monitoring the offender as well as supervising the activities the offender engages in. Another advantage of this is that the offender can have random drug tests conducted in search centers. The day reporting centers can be strategically placed to ensure that they are as near the offender as possible to prevent the offender from moving from one jurisdiction to another.
The offender can be placed on house arrest where their movement can be restricted. The offender’s movement is closely monitored by an electronic transmitter that is conveniently placed on the offender’s wrist or ankle so that the movements are regulated as well as monitored. The movement can be strictly monitored except movements to special places such as schools to places of worship or the offender’s place of employment. With this in place the community the offender lives in can feel relatively safe knowing the movements of the offender are monitored.
The offender can be placed on shock probation where the offender is placed for a short period behind bars and subsequently released back to society. The shock that is administered to the offender about how life is behind bars is sought to help the offender reform. The court places the surety in the care of a person the courts deem fit to ensure that the offender abides by the conditions of the parole.
References
Capato, A. Gail, (2004). Intermediate Sanctions in Corrections. University of North Texas Press. Denton: Texas. Web.
Freiberg, A. (1995). Sentencing Reforms in Victoria: A Case Study. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Freiberg, A. (2002). Specialized Courts & Sentencing. Probation and Community Corrections: Making the Community Safer Conference. Australian Institute of Criminology. Web.
Latessa, J. E. (2011). What works and what doesn’t in Reducing Recidivis: Apply the Princple of Effective Intervention to Offender Re-entry. Centre for Criminal Justice Research Division of Criminal Justice. University of Cincinnati. Web.
New South Wales Sentencing Council. (2006). The Effectiveness of fines as a sentencing option: Court Imposed Fines & Penalties notices: Interim Report. Web.
Visher, C.A. ( 2003).Transitions from Prison to Community: Understanding Individual Pathways’’. The urban Institute, Justice Policy Centre, District of Columbia Washington.