In chapter 4 of Corrections in America, the text explains the role of prosecutorial plea bargaining and how it creates the correctional funnel. This chapter examines issues that deal with sentencing criminal offenders and certain processes that are used in order to punish them. The objective of this chapter is to explain and give alternatives to criminal courts and the criminal trial process. Its objective is not only to explain and give alternatives, it is also to explain what a correctional filter is and how it functions. The correctional filter is the concept that is now being used in order to represent the various sentencing options that may confuse observers. The correctional filter functions to categorize, sort, and divert offenders into alternatives instead of incarceration. This is where criminal offenses are divided into one of two types, which are misdemeanor and felony. A misdemeanor is a less serious offense and it is punishable by fine or up to one year of incarceration. A felony is a more serious offense that can be punished by imprisonment …show more content…
The sale of five grains of crack cocaine results in a minimum of five years in prison. Throughout the years, the number of imprisoned federal prisoners has dropped. Within the correctional filter, the most important participant is the prosecutor’s office. This is where prosecutors implement their discretionary power to dismiss charges or reduce them to where the defendant is more than likely to plead guilty. This is known as plea bargaining. The reason on why they allow this is because of high caseloads and very limited resources, forcing prosecutors to get over their caseloads as quickly as possible to avoid overwhelming their duties. However, there are very important factors that have an influence on the dismissal of the
Ever since the first prison opened in the United States in 1790, incarceration has been the center of the nations criminal justice system. Over this 200 year period many creative alternatives to incarceration have been tried, and many at a much lower cost than imprisonment. It wasn’t until the late 1980’s when our criminal justice systems across the country began experiencing a problem with overcrowding of facilities. This problem forced lawmakers to develop new options for sentencing criminal offenders.
This paper discusses three critical issues in the criminal justice system. It touches on the general issues of punishment philosophies, sentence decision making, and prison overcrowding and focused more specifically on the negative effects of each. Highlighted in this informational paper is the interrelated nature of the issues; each issue affects and is affected by the others. Data and information has been gathered from the FBI Uniform Crime Report, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Amnesty International, the NAACP Legal Defense
Corrections have existed throughout society for many years and continued to change and evolve in the United States reflecting society’s values and ideals throughout the centuries. In the criminal justice system, corrections exist in more than one form. Not only do corrections refer to jails and prison systems but they also pertain to community-based programs, such as probation, parole, halfway houses, and treatment facilities. Past, present, and future trends in regard to the development and operation of institutional and community-based corrections vary between states but corrections have grown immensely since the early 1800s and have continued to expand
In chapter 10 of Corrections in America, the author explains the history of jails. The author also describes the purpose, function, and operations of today’s jails, the various types of jail inmates, and the characteristics of jail inmates. In this chapter, the design and supervisory options in jails and the issues in jails are briefly summarized. Overall, this chapter provides an overview of one of the most used sanctions in the correctional system, the local jail.
Mass incarceration has been an issue in the United States since the start of the War on Drugs, because of the political agenda attached to the “tough on crime” regimen thousands of people have suffered as a consequence. The solution to this is one that can only be possibly solved by approaching through several angles. The ten steps presented by Michael Tonry, are an innovative and have merit to some extent. However, mass incarceration results from more than unjust sentencing laws, which is his main focus. If ever we are to resolve the issue, society and the criminal justice system must come together to completely reevaluate what we consider to be “tough on crime” and redefine the purpose of prisons, strictly punishment or rehabilitation. The focus has to shift from harsh sentencing, stigma, racial discrimination to a basic form of rehabilitation and reduction of the prison system in general. The criminal justice system has to do what they are actually meant to do and focus on rehabilitation measures, and when possible completely stop interaction with the prison system all together.
The United States’ prison population is currently number one in the world. As a nation that proclaims freedom for citizens, the United States houses more than one million more persons than Russian and almost one million more persons than China. Currently, the United States makes up five percent of the world’s population and imprisons twenty-five percent of the world’s inmate population. Drug offenders who committed no act of violence make up a large portion of the inmates in the United States. County, State, and Federal prisons are so over populated that the private sector has opened up corporate facilities to house convicted persons. The cost each year to hold a person rises, placing larger financial demands on the judicial system. The Judicial System of the United States should reevaluate the sentencing guidelines for non-violent drug offenders to alleviate the high number of people in the prison system.
The federal prison system has become an increasingly populated place. With an approximate 91% conviction rate in the federal criminal system,1 with 97% of all cases entering a plea of guilty prior to trial,2 and over 90% of those convictions resulting in a sentence of incarceration,3 imprisonments are a nearly unavoidable part of a criminal defendant ‘s experience in the federal system. According to statistics by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the law enforcement agency responsible
A plea bargain (“offer”) is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecuting agency may offer the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a proposal of a lighter than the maximum sentence. This opportunity allows defendants to avoid the risk of a conviction at trial on a more serious charge. This also allows all involved parties to keep the court’s calendars light without exhausting resources of a court, potential public defenders, and prosecutors who are all salaried for by the expense of tax payers. If every case in the criminal justice system went to trial, the courts would be so overloaded that they would effectively be shut down.
Mandatory sentencing has been a big driver in the large population of incarcerated individuals in the United States. District attorneys are more aggressive in how they file charges against the arrestee. While the country has seen a decline in crime, new
The U.S. corrections system, a subdivision of the criminal justice system, continues to undergo change. From its beginnings as laws written in stone, the corrections system has sought to punish offenders. The origin of the corrections system dates back several thousand years and has witnessed various perspectives and goals. The best method of administering punishment to these prisoners has remained an issue of dispute for many years. Events through history, such
We can date the United States criminal justice policies all the way back to the 17th Century. Although it is nothing compared to what we have today, there have been improvements along the way. One of the major reform needed in our corrections system are the war on drugs and overcrowded prison. The history of corrections in the U.S. has been seen through four major eras known as the Penitentiary, Reformatory, Reintegration, and Retributive Era. Each era has tried to explore the best way to deal with people who have broken the law. Based on the ideas of each era, we’ll explore which reform needs to be implemented.
By using Sanborns paper as a reference, it shows us that the concept of plea bargaining we use today has only been around for about 50 years. In these past 50 years, although still relatively new, plea bargaining has become such an incremental part in the court system. Within the last few years ir has especially picked up momentum. According to the Bureau of Justice statistics in 2003, scholars have drawn the conclusion that 90-95% of all trials were fixed by the process of plea bargaining (Devers, 2011). At that rate, it is not hard to imagine that eventually almost all of our court procedures will be carried out through this process. To put it into perspective, this means that 5% of all court cases actually go onto trial. Typically, plea bargaining is a relatively private process, but as always this is ever changing. Victims’ rights groups are starting to become recognized more and more, which leads to more input being given in the plea bargain process. How this affects the plea process is simple, more input means less flexible sentencing which can usually stall the negotiating process, prolonging an agreement between the two parties. The theory of plea bargaining is constantly shifting, with many viewers constantly trying to decrease the use of it.
In the United States of America, federal and state government have implemented new guidance in an attempt to reduce crime, correctional overcrowding, and achieve a greater fairness for adults criminal sentencing. Intermediate sanctions in corrections are forced by the criminal justice system. It is used as an alternate punishments, however, the offender are less likely to serve in prison or jail due to the overcrowding as well as the different crimes committed. For example, Lindsay Lohan was charged for driving under the influence in 2007, she was given remedial counseling and an electronic bracelet to monitor her activities, however, the child celebrity chose to violate her probation with an alcohol level of 0.03 percent, which led her serving a 90 days jail sentence (Duke, 2010).
In prisons today, rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution are all elements that provide a justice to society. Prisons effectively do their part in seeing that one if not more of these elements are met and successfully done. If it were not for these elements, than what would a prison be good for? It is highly debated upon whether or not these elements are done properly. It is a fact that these are and a fact that throughout the remainder of time these will be a successful part of prison life.
The field of corrections is something that is always evolving, changing, correcting itself and making it better. Its history is filled with various reforms that have created what makes corrections what it is today. But, one has to wonder, what does its future hold? Will corrections continue to evolve and change, or remain the same?