Transcript Chapter11

Chapter 11
The History of Parole: From
Its Origin to the Present
Introduction
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Of the hundreds of thousands of prisoners who
reenter the community every year, one out of
five is an unconditional release, that is, they
receive no supervision whatsoever after they
leave prison because they have served their full
sentence behind bars.
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Introduction, Con’t.
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Parole is the conditional release of a convicted
offender from a correctional institution, under the
continued custody of the state, to serve the remainder
of his or her sentence in the community under
supervision.
Historically, parole referred only to discretionary
release. But as laws and release methods changed,
“parolees” became a more general concept that has
incorporated mandatory supervision.
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Release Types
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A mandatory release enters the community
automatically at the expiration of the maximum term
minus credited time off for good behavior.
Mandatory release is decided by legislative statute or
good-time laws.
A discretionary release is determined by members
of a parole board who decide that a prisoner has
earned the privilege of release while remaining under
supervision in the community.
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The Origins of Parole
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Parole is derived from the French parole
d’honneur, meaning “word of honor.”
Parole originated almost simultaneously in
Europe with:
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Manuel Montesinos, a Spaniard, in 1835
Georg Michael Obermaier, a German, in 1842
Alexander Maconochie, an Englishman, in 1837
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Transportation
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A 1597 English law provided for the
transportation of English prisoners to America.
The king granted reprieves and stays of
execution-pardons-to convicted felons who
could be put to work in the colonies.
Upon arrival in the colonies, the services of the
prisoner were sold to the highest bidder,
resulting in indentured servitude.
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Marks System
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The Revolutionary War ended the transportation of criminals
to America and resulted in same practice to Australia in 1788.
In 1811, the ticket of leave was adopted to shorten the
sentence.
The Marks System was proposed by Alexander Maconochie
in 1837.
The Norfolk Island penal colony was transformed by
Maconochie using the Marks System as superintendent in
1840.
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The Irish System
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The Irish System was modeled after Norfolk Island
by Sir Walter Crofton in 1854, based on:
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Strict imprisonment
Indeterminate sentence
Ticket-of-leave
Prisoners released under the Irish System were
supervised by police in rural areas and an inspector
in Dublin.
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Development of Parole in the U.S.
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Parole was first tried in the U.S. at the New
York Elmira Reformatory in 1876.
Four concepts justified parole in the U.S.:
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Reduction in the length of incarceration as a reward
for good conduct
Supervision of the parolee
Imposition of the indeterminate sentence
Reduction in the rising cost of incarceration
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Medical Model
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Medical Model, based on
rehabilitation, was the primary
philosophy from 1930-1960.
 A philosophical change occurred in the
1970s as individualism, rehabilitation,
sentence indeterminacy and parole all
fell from favor.
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Justice Model
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The medical model and indeterminate
sentencing were replaced by the justice model
and determinate sentencing because of:
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Steadily increasing crime rates
The perceived failure of rehabilitation programs
The perception that parole boards were incapable of
making predictive judgments about offenders’ future
behavior
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Just Desserts
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In contrast to the rehabilitative idea, the just desserts
or justice model changed the focus from the offender
to the offense.
Embraced determinate sentencing and the abolition
of parole
The indeterminate sentence was too vague and
without due process protections to limit discretion.
The just deserts approach was perceived as providing
fair punishment.
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From Discretionary Parole to
Mandatory Release
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In 1977, nearly 90% of prisoners were released by a parole
board.
As of 2001, 15 states had abolished parole and another 5
abolished discretionary release for violent offenses.
Because of the trend toward determinate sentencing and
abolishing discretionary release, only about 24 to 39% of
prisoners are released via discretionary release, whereas
mandatory release numbers have increased.
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Functions of Parole
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Parole is tasked primarily with protecting the public
from released offenders. This goal is accomplished in
3 general objectives:
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Enforcing restrictions and controls on parolees in the
community
Providing services that help parolees integrate into a
noncriminal lifestyle
Increasing the public’s level of confidence in the
effectiveness and responsiveness of parole services
through the first 2 activities
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Parole Today/Characteristics
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In 2007, 825,300 were on parole – number paroled in almost
every state was higher than in 2004.
Generally, the Southern region had the highest incarceration
rates, yet the lowest parole rates. The northeast region had the
opposite situation—a higher rate of parole and a lower rate of
incarceration per 100,000 residents.
Parole success rates have remained unchanged, with less than ½
of all parolees able to successfully complete their parole.
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Population & Medical Issues
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Parole boards have functioned in some states as the
“back door” of America’s prisons.
Medical parole, or compassionate release, is the
conditional release of prisoners with a terminal
illness.
The optimal solution regarding the indeterminacy of
sentencing and the proper role of parole has not yet
appeared, and as the economy varies, so will the
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