Chapter 7 Jails and Prisons

Introduction Jails in the United States are one of the most maligned and forgotten components of the criminal justice system Typically, jails are city or county funded and operated facilities designed to confine offenders serving short sentences or those awaiting trial Prisons, are intended as long term custodial facilities for more serious offenders Today, however, with prison overcrowding, smaller jails are housing inmate overflow from prisons

Jails and Jail Characteristics Jail is derived from the old English term gaol which originated in 1166 A.D. In 2006, there were 16 million admissions to and 14.9 million releases from U.S. jails Average daily population in the U.S. was around 739, 000 There are jail population increases and serious overcrowding problems in most city or county jails This overcrowding has been directly or indirectly linked to numerous inmate deaths and extensive violence

Jails and Jail Characteristics History Gaols in England were locally administered and operated, and housed many of society’s misfits Since the church of England was powerful and influential, many religious dissidents were also housed in gaols Local administration of jails by shire-reeves was continued by American colonists in later years (Later term is the Sheriff) Today they are locally controlled and thus suffer from much political influence In fact, changing jail conditions from year to year are often linked to local political shifts

Jails and Jail Characteristics Workhouses Workhouses were established largely in response to mercantile demands for cheap labor The Bridewell workhouse was established in 1557 and housed many of the city’s vagrants and general riffraff Jail and workhouse sheriffs and administrators capitalized on the cheap labor these facilities generated It became commonplace for sheriffs and other officials to “hire out” their inmates to various merchants

Jails and Jail Characteristics The Walnut Street Jail The Pennsylvania legislature authorized in 1790 the renovation of a facility originally constructed on Walnut Street; this served as both a workhouse and a jail The Walnut Street Jail was innovative for several reasons: It separated the most serious prisoners from others It separated other prisoners according to offense seriousness It separated prisoners according to gender

Jails and Jail Characteristics Subsequent jail developments Information about the early growth of jails in the United States is sketchy There were a different array of facilities and the number of jails depended on who was doing the counting Another reason for inadequate statistics is that there was little interest in jail populations Also records of inmates were rarely maintained

Jails and Jail Characteristics The number of jails in the United States No one knows the exact number of jails in the United States at any given time One reason is that observers disagree about how jails ought to be defined Some persons only count locally operated and funded, short term incarceration facilities while others include state operated jails The American Jail Association suggests that to qualify as a jail, the facility must hold inmates for 72 hours or longer

Jails and Jail Characteristics Functions of jails Jails hold indigents, vagrant, and the mentally ill Jails hold pretrial detainees Jails house witnesses in protective custody Jails house convicted offenders awaiting sentencing Jails house persons serving short term sentences Jails house some juvenile offenders

Jails and Jail Characteristics Functions of jails (continued) Jails hold prisoners wanted by other states on detainer warrants Jails hold probation and parole violators Jails hold contract prisoners from other jurisdictions Jails operate community-based programs and jail boot camps Jails hold mentally ill patients pending their removal to mental health facilities

A Profile of Jail Inmates According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 2006 Approximately 90 percent of all jail inmates were male, while 43 percent were white, non-Hispanic The number of female arrestees has climbed slowly since 1990 from 9.2 percent to 14.1 percent in 2006 Some observers believe that selective law enforcement and racial profiling have contributed to the disproportionate number of jail inmates that are African American who number about 46 percent Over half of all jail inmates were not convicted of any crime At midyear about 94 percent of all jail space in the U.S. was occupied

A Profile of Jail Inmates Many sorts of persons are processed through jails every day Drunks, vagrants, and juveniles Pretrial detainees and petty offenders Shock probationers and prison inmate overflow Work releasees and the mentally ill Probationers and parolees

Prisons, Prison History, and Prison Characteristics Prisons defined State and federally funded and operated institutions to house convicted offenders under continuous custody on a long term basis Compared with jails, prisons are completely self-contained and self-sufficient In 2005, there were over 2.4 million inmates in state and federal penitentiaries Prisons were operating at 108 percent of their capacity The Federal bureau of Prisons was operating at 132 percent of capacity

Prisons, Prison History, and Prison Characteristics The development and growth of U.S. prisons Early English and Scottish penal methods were very influential on the subsequent growth and development of U.S. prisons John Howard, an influential English prison reformer criticized the manner and circumstances under which prisons were run, and he succeeded in convincing British authorities that reforms were needed In 1779, the Penitentiary Act was passed where prisoners could work productively

Prisons, Prison History, and Prison Characteristics State prisons The first state prison was established in Simsbury, Connecticut in 1773 It was actually an underground copper mine converted into a facility for felons Prisoners were shackled, worked long hours, and received harsh punishments for minor offenses Walnut Street Jail was the first true American prison that attempted to correct offenders The Walnut Street Jail, and the Pennsylvania System became a model used by many other jurisdictions

Prisons, Prison History, and Prison Characteristics Auburn State Penitentiary New York correctional authorities developed a new type of prison in 1816, the Auburn State Penitentiary It was designed according to tiers where inmates were housed on different levels, this tier system became a subsequent feature of U.S. prison construction Penitentiary actually refers to a system that segregates prisoners both from society and from each other At Auburn prisoners were held in solitary cells at night but allowed to work together during the day, this was called the congregate system

Prisons, Prison History, and Prison Characteristics The American Correctional Association In 1870, the American Correctional Association was established and Rutherford B. Hayes was selected to head that organization The goals of the ACA were to establish a correctional philosophy, to develop sound correctional policies and standards, to offer expertise in design and operation of facilities, and to assist in training correctional officers

Prisons, Prison History, and Prison Characteristics The Elmira Reformatory Elmira Reformatory experimented with new rehabilitative philosophies Its first superintendent Zebulon Brockway envisioned better and more effective treatment for prisoners Elmira was truly a reformatory and used the military model similar to boot camps Prisoners did labor and participated in educational and vocational activities

The Functions of Prisons Prisons provide societal protection Prisons punish offenders Prisons rehabilitate offenders Prisons reintegrate offenders

Inmate Classification Systems Religious movements are credited with early prisoner classification In 1790, the Walnut Street Jail attempted to classify prisoners according to age, gender, and offense seriousness No single scheme for classifying offenders is foolproof There are several risk instruments designed to predict inmate behavior How inmates are classified and housed will directly affect their parole chances

Inmate Classification Systems Minimum-security classification These facilities are designed to house lo-risk, nonviolent first-offenders Also established to accommodate offenders serving short-term sentences Often of a dormitory-like quality, with grounds and physical features resembling university campuses Administrators place greater trust in inmates in minimum-security institutions

Inmate Classification Systems Medium-security classification Sixty percent of state and federal facilities are medium- and minimum-security Forty percent are maximum-security, which house the most dangerous offenders Visitation privileges are minimal Most often, no effort made to rehabilitate offenders

Inmate Classification Systems Maxi-maxi, admin max, and super max prisons Prisoners with the highest levels of security and inmate supervision are maxi-maxi Admin max facilities house inmates with extensive criminal histories Sometimes referred to as super max

A Profile of U.S. Prisoners Considerable diversity exists among prisoners in state and federal institutions These include the nature and seriousness of offenses, age, and psychological or medical problems In 2005, seven percent of prison inmates were female Between 1995 and 2005, the female inmate population increased by 45 percent

Some Jail and Prison Contrasts Jails are in poorer conditions with many under court order to improve conditions Jails do not have programs associated with long term incarceration Jails have greater diversity of inmates Jail inmate culture is less pronounced and persistent Quality of jail personnel is lower Jails are usually not divided into minimum-, medium-, or maximum-security

Some Jail and Prison Contrasts Jails are in poorer conditions with many under court order to improve conditions Jails do not have programs associated with long term incarceration Jails have greater diversity of inmates Jail inmate culture is less pronounced and persistent Quality of jail personnel is lower Jails are usually not divided into minimum-, medium-, or maximum-security

Selected Jail and Prison Issues Jail and prison overcrowding Violence and inmate discipline Jail and prison design and control Vocational/technical and educational programs in jails and prisons Jail and prison privatization Gangs… formation and perpetuation