NCJ Number
138784
Date Published
1991
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The New York State Legislature is considering a proposal to amend the penal law to provide judges the option of considering alternatives to incarceration for second-felony offenders convicted of a class D or E nonviolent crime, who must now be committed to State prison.
Abstract
This report profiles second-felony offenders in this category; information on commitment offense, prior felony offense, minimum sentence, age, ethnic group, sex, and region of commitment is included. Of the 4,891 new court commitments of second-felony offenders convicted of nonviolent offenses, 64 percent were convicted of drug offenses, 29 percent of property offenses, and 7 percent of offenses that had some element of coercion. For these offenders, the prior felony crime was a drug offense in 57 percent of the cases, a property offense in 32 percent of the cases, and an offense involving coercion in 11 percent of the cases. The median minimum sentence was 24 months; 76 percent of the offenders received the lowest legally permitted sentence. Of these offenders, 89 percent were male, 10 percent white, 49 percent black, 40 percent Hispanic, and 1 percent Asian or Native American. 9 tables