U.S. CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM / IS REHABILITATION A MYTH?

[HairOfTheDog]

Is it just the retroactive application of the new sentencing guidelines that you object to, Adub, or do you object to reduced sentences for non-violent criminals in general?

All that is good, it is just that in reality it is probation and parole that keeps these released individuals down. It is annoying as all fuck. It is like being a juvenile all over again. Most do not vop for adult crimes, but for stupid ass things like curfew, being in the presence of another felon, not having a permanent address, being a passenger in a vehicle with expired tags, and having marijuana in there random piss test. Stupid shit that would not be a crime, if it wasn't for being on parole/probation. Does very little to help build up, it simply tears down.

Thanks for explaining Adub. I see your point now.

I don't know if the violation of parole/probation criteria has been revised along with sentencing guidelines, but I suspect not (didn't find anything to that effect).

Hopefully, a good majority of those released early will be grateful and keep their noses clean. My understanding is that the rate of recidivism is about the same for those who serve their full sentences vs. those who are released on parole. Now, I'm wondering if the reoffending/recidivism rate includes parole violations as well as criminal offenses. Will have to check that out.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, it seems recidivism rates are calculated differently by different states and municipalities.

Snip:
When the federal government calculates a state’s recidivism rate, it uses sample prisoner populations to tally three separate categories: rearrests, reconvictions, and returns to prison, all over a one- to five-year period from the date of release (HOTD: which I assume would include any former inmate who wound up back in jail for technical parole violations only.)

As the chart below demonstrates, using federal recidivism data for inmates who left state prisons in 1994, parole violations accounted for the entirety of the gap between California’s recidivism rate and the recidivism rates of other large states.



In other words: Because of the differences in how states and localities enforce parole, recidivism rates tell us little about the reoccurrence of the types of crimes with which the public is most concerned: crimes that have a victim.

Source: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/...recidivism

(HOTD edit 11/4/15: resized graph)

[Adub]

When one gets out of prison, they often have nowhere to go but back home. Home is where the criminal behavior began. Home is where LE knows your name. Your fucked before you even have a chance to take a breath of freedom. And that is when the State starts monitoring your every move. They have you on their radar. And you become a target. Say you do get a job, then bam! Your house gets raided on a random probation sweep, you violate for whatever minor offense, get taken to jail, sit there on vop for a month or more? Get out, have no job. You fucking have to start all over again. And it goes on and on until one often says fuck this shit. And goes back to whatever landed them in prison in the first place.

[Maggot]

I believe what Comey says. It makes more sense.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think Comey makes sense too. ( Comey's speech: https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/law-en...nd-justice )

He supports criminal justice and sentencing reform and wants to make sure, I think, that it's not looked at from a distorted POV that all criminals with non-violent convictions were somehow wronged or sentenced too harshly.

He is concerned and hearing from LEOs across the country that they're afraid to do their jobs for fear of viral videos and backlash, while also acknowledging that there are some serious policing issues which can and should be addressed as a result of increased public exposure.

He has a lot of experience and LE input behind some of his questions and theories; he wishes there was reliable and national crime data to help identify patterns and problems (which would help in the development of effective solutions). He's pushing for such a data collection and management system; I hope he gets it.

Adub's observations make sense to me too; I have no problem believing that in some locales a higher number of arrests and inmates has been viewed as a higher degree of police and prosecutor success (and targeting parolees was probably like picking low hanging fruit). That mindset is changing, which I think is good. Locking up all the people who sell drugs to other people or possess drugs for decades isn't the way to keep society safer over the long haul. Vilifying police isn't either.

Anyway, I think it's encouraging that the U.S. is looking more at, among other things, early rehabilitation attempts vs. mandatory incarceration, how ease of access to guns may factor into mass incarceration, investing in more training and body cams for police, etc...