PRELIMINARY REPORT TO THE COMMISSION: STAFF WORKING GROUP ON ALTERNATIVES

• NCJ Number: 146248
• Author(s): P Martin; J Beck; M Cephas; M Courlander; D Debold; M Dwyer; S Henegan; C Johnson; C McDanal; M Mcdowell; C Ricca; A Wilson
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 45 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report focuses on alternatives to institutionalization and analyzes previous reports by the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Alternatives to Imprisonment Project chaired by Commissioner Helen Corrothers, as well as additional comments from judges and practitioners.

Abstract

Sentencing guidelines currently permit alternatives to imprisonment for certain offenders. In 1990, 54 percent of the 8,074 offenders eligible for a sentence other than imprisonment received one of the alternatives, including straight probation, probation with confinement conditions, and a new split sentence. The Judicial Conference proposal to redefine the split sentence to require only 1 month of incarceration rather than half the minimum term would be desirable. The recommendation of the Corrothers report that intermittent confinement be retained as a sentencing option at the current day for day equivalency. Other useful recommendations in the reports relate to community confinement, home detention, residential incarceration, day reporting centers, exclusionary criteria, and methods of increasing the number of offenders eligible for alternatives to institutionalization. Appended tables and memorandum regarding first offenders