1. 4
Parole and the Indeterminate Sentence

2. Transportation of Laborers to America
Early seventeenth century, shortage of labor in colonial America led to the transporting of indentured poor, delinquents, and criminals
Contractor was given “property in service” over prisoners
Upon arrival in America, contracts sold to highest bidder
Felons became indentured servants

3. Maconochie & Norfolk Island
Parole, from the French parol, referring to “word of honor”
Alexander Maconochie (1840)
Superintendent of British penal colony in Australia
Had a philosophy based on reforming the criminal

4. Maconochie & Norfolk Island
Punished for the past and trained for the future
Advocated sentences that were open ended or indeterminate
Established a system of marks to be earned by the inmate based on good behavior
Inmates passed through three stages on the way to release

5. Crofton and the Irish System
Maconochie
Criticized for being too lenient with offenders
Influenced Walter Crofton

6. Crofton and the Irish System
The Irish System consisted of four stages
First stage involved solitary confinement for 9 months
Second stage places the convict in a special prison to work with other inmates and earn marks to qualify for a transfer to the third stage

7. Crofton and the Irish System
The Irish System consisted of four stages
Stage three involved transportation to an open institution where the convict could earn release by showing signs of reformation
Stage four allowed ticket-of-leave men to be conditionally released to supervision in community

8. Crofton and the Irish System
The work of Maconochie and Crofton influenced the establishment of parole in the United States

9. Elmira Reformatory Elmira Reformatory (1876)
Zebulon Brockway – superintendent
Goal was to reform the inmate
The inmate would enter Elmira in the second grade
After six months of good behavior, the inmate would be placed in first grade

10. Elmira Reformatory
Continued good behavior would mean a release - America’s first parole system
Misbehavior could result in falling back to third grade
The Elmira system included military-style uniforms, marching, and discipline

11. Early Use of Indeterminate Sentence and Parole
By 1944, all 48 states had enacted parole legislation
The Great Depression caused the expanded use of parole
Economic conditions led to the popularity of parole

12. Auburn System Opened in 1819 Inmates divided into three classes
Most difficult inmates were placed in solitary
Less dangerous inmates spent part of the day in solitude and worked in groups the rest of the time
Least guilty worked together during the day and separated only at night

13. Auburn System
Believed that complete isolation was inhumane, unnatural, and cruel
State provided all food, clothing, supplies, and materials to the prisoners
Auburn became the prototype for American prisons
This system successfully exploited inmate labor

14. Auburn System
Made prisons self-supporting institutions and profitable enterprises
Contract system
Convict labor was sold to private entrepreneurs who provided necessary equipment and, in some cases, supervisory staff

15. Auburn System
Contract system remained widespread until the Great Depression
Hawes-Cooper Act (1929)
Ashurst-Sumners Act (1935)
Whitfield v Ohio (1936) - upheld the constitutionality of the Acts

16. Auburn System Curtailing of convict labor had two long-range effects:
It increased the cost of imprisonment and encouraged the development of parole
Forced prison officials to find other ways to deal with prisoner idleness by initiating programs to train and educate inmates

17. Positivism Positivism reemerges
California reorganized its prison system toward the end of WW II
System was organized not for punishment but around rehabilitation
Used behavioral sciences to correct criminal behavior
Not a prison but a correctional institution

18. Medical Model of Corrections
Views criminals as sick and in need of rehabilitation
The post-conviction process:
Examination = PSI
Diagnosis = Classification
Treatment = Correctional program

19. Medical Model of Corrections
Effects of a treatment program reviewed by the parole board
Determine whether offender is sufficiently rehabilitated to be discharged from the correctional institution

20. Medical Model of Corrections
Medical Model based on two assumptions
Criminals are “sick” and can benefit from treatment
The behavioral sciences can provide the treatment

21. Medical Model of Corrections
New superintendents with extensive education in the behavioral sciences
Problems encountered by the corrections approach were compounded by differences between corrections officers and the treaters
The rhetoric did not match the reality

22. Attica Prison Uprising
Racial makeup of prisons changed dramatically during the 1960s
Radical political movements on the outside began top impact correctional institutions
The inmate uprising at Attica in 1971 led to a concerted attack on the corrections model and the indeterminate sentence

23. Alternative Models Justice model
Recommends a return to flat time and determinate sentences
Limits sentencing discretion
Eliminates parole boards

24. Alternative Models Just Deserts
Indeterminacy and parole would be replaced
Punishment should fit the crime
Specific penalty for a specific offense

25. Alternative Models Presumptive sentencing
First offenders receive presumptive sentence
Succeeding convictions means an increase in presumptive sentence
These proposals aimed at limiting judicial discretion, eliminating indeterminate sentencing, abolishing parole boards

26. Alternative Models Political left Political right
Concern over discretion
Excessive disparity
Political right
Concern about leniency
Parole boards too eager to release inmates

27. Alternative Models Truth-in-sentencing
Requires people convicted of violent crimes to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences
Eliminates release discretion
Eliminates “good time”
Uses threat of additional punishment as incentive to behave

28. Indeterminate Versus Determinate Sentencing
Indeterminate sentencing
Offers a minimum and maximum length
Parole board determines the actual release
Good time
Persons convicted of similar crimes could receive different sentences
Argued that this created gross sentencing disparity

29. Indeterminate Versus Determinate Sentencing
Determinate sentence
Definite sentence/no discretion
Specific sentence for each offense
Definite sentence/wide discretion
Range of sentences but is definite
Presumptive/narrow discretion
Takes into account aggravating and mitigating circumstances

30. Indeterminate Versus Determinate Sentencing
Determinate sentence
Presumptive/wide discretion
Judge may change the sentence by significantly fixed amounts

31. Indeterminate Versus Determinate Sentencing
Cunningham v. California (2007)
SC found presumptive sentence used in California unconstitutional
Fact finding process used for sentencing decision should be duty of jury not judge

32. Determinate Sentences, Prosecutorial Discretion and Disparate Justice
Determinate Sentencing
Usually include provision for good time, ranging from 15 to 50% off sentence
Split sentencing used in place of parole in several states
Prosecutorial discretion increases the ability to engage in plea bargaining

33. The “Why?” of Parole
Used as a mechanism for maintaining discipline and reducing prison overcrowding
Before parole boards, governors used pardons to reduce overcrowding

34. The “Why?” of Parole
When prisons exceeded capacity, parole boards lowered the threshold of eligible inmates
Parole is understood as risk management

35. Key Terms Auburn/New York system Indentured servant Irish System
Ticket of leave
Reformatory
Indeterminate sentence
Determinate sentence
Presumptive sentence

36. Key Terms Plea bargain Total institution Pennsylvania system
Justice model
Just deserts
Medical model
Contract system
Truth in sentencing

37. Key Terms Inmate labor Parole board Positivism Courtroom workgroup
Split sentencing