Corrections Intro'

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Corrections Intro.

• Dr. Matt Robinson
• CJ 3532
• Injustice in America
• Appalachian State University

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Corrections

• The end result of the criminal justice network
• Includes all forms of punishment
• Probation, intermediate sanctions (community
  corrections)
• incarceration, death penalty (institutional
  corrections)

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Corrections

• As noted before, more 7.3 million people under
  criminal justice supervision in US (2005)
• 1.6 million inmates 1.4 under state
  jurisdiction and 199,000 under federal
  jurisdiction
• 780,00 in local jails
• 4.3 million on probation and 824,000 on parole
• Roughly 3,300 on death row

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Corrections

• US has highest rate of incarceration in the
  world!
• Our incarcerated population would be fourth
  largest city in USA!
• Largely due to massive increases in incarceration
  over past 35 years

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Largest Cities in the USA
New York, NY 8.1 million Los Angeles, CA 3.8
million Chicago, IL 2.8 million American
inmates 2.2 million Houston, TX 2.0
million Philadelphia, PA 1.5 million Phoenix,
AZ 1.5 million San Antonio, TX 1.3 million San
Diego, CA 1.3 million Dallas, TX 1.2 million
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The stability of punishment
????
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Why the massive increases?

• Not due to increases in crime, so why?
• 1) General get tough ideology of criminal
  justice (crime control model)
• 2) Longer sentences
• 3) Truth in Sentencing laws / Three Strikes
  laws
• 4) Abolition of parole
• 5) War on drugs

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Key Events During Imprisonment Increases
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Why the massive increases?

• War on drugs led to
• 300 increase in state sentences for drug
  offenses (1980 to 1993)
• 200 increase in federal sentences for drug
  offenses (1980 to 1993)
• 478 increase in drug offenders sentenced to
  state prisons (1985-1996)
• 545 increase in drug offenders sentenced to
  federal prisons (1985-1996)
• 20 of total growth in imprisonment (1990-2000)

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Incarceration Trends by Crime Type
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Federal Drug Inmates
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Did massive increases reduce crime?

• Yes!

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Did massive increases reduce crime?

• BUT
• Drop in crime not as dramatic as increase in
  imprisonment
• Declines in crime in states with higher
  incarceration increases no different than states
  with lower incarceration increases

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Did massive increases reduce crime?

• AND
• Only 25 of decreases in street crime due to
  incarceration increases
• Which means 75 is due to something else!
• Most declines in street crime due to non-criminal
  justice factors
• Such as???

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Crime declines

• Other likely factors that reduced crime
• Economic improvements
• Aging population
• Stabilization of crack markets
• Legalized abortion
• Other increases in criminal justice?

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Crime declines

• Crime declines due to criminal justice should be
  viewed as TEMPORARY!
• 90-95 of inmates will be released
• Which means what happens inside prisons and jails
  should be of concern to us
• We dont want them to get bigger and meaner
  RIGHT?