Incarceration: Prison and Inmates

INTRODUCTION
Law enforcement officers are authorized by federal, state, and local lawmakers to arrest and confine persons suspected of crimes. The judicial system is authorized to confine persons convicted of crimes. This confinement, whether before or after a criminal conviction, is called incarceration. Incarceration is one of the main forms of punishment for the commission of illegal offenses. Juveniles and adults alike are subject to incarceration. Incarceration is the detention of a person in a jail or prison. The federal, state, and local governments have facilities to confine people. Individuals awaiting trial, being held pending citations for non-custodial offenses, and those convicted of misdemeanors (crimes which carry a sentence of less than one year), are generally held in jails. These less serious offenses may receive a short term sentence to be served in a local jail or to alternative forms of sanctions, such as community corrections (halfway house or house arrest). There are other facilities for housing offenders. Facilities for holding convicted felons (offenders who commit crimes where the sentence is more than one year) are known as prisons. Prisons operate at different levels of security, ranging from minimum-security prisons (mainly house non-violent offenders) - to Supermax facilities (that house the more dangerous criminals). The motives for incarceration has received much debate as to its effectiveness and fairness. This can be because the police can arrest and temporarily incarcerate a person charged with a minor offense that is punishable by a fine and no incarceration. The procedures leading to incarceration in jail, prison, or community sanctions may vary.
History
According to Peter Spierenburg, a Dutch justice historian, a form of punishment that emerged around the year 1500 was penal bondage, which included all forms of incarceration. Spierenburg defined bondage as “any punishment that puts severe restrictions on the condemned

References: Applebaum, A. (2004). Gulag: A History. www.amazon.com/prisonhistory Augustus, J Barajas, E., Jr. (1993). Defining the Role of Community Corrections. Corrections Today, 55, 28 32. www.communitycorrections.com Bayens, G Binder, A., Geis, G., & Bruce, D. D. (1997). Juvenile delinquency: Historical, cultural and legal perspectives. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing, Co. Byrne, J. M. (1990) “The Future of Intensive Probation Supervision and the New Intermediate Sanctions.” Crime and Delinquency, 36 (1): 6-34 www.ncjr.org Clear, Todd R Geerken, M. R. (1993) “Probation and Parole: Public Risk and the Future of Incarceration Alternatives.” Criminology, 31 (4): 550-561 www.probationandparole.com Glaze, L. E. (2002). Population and Parole in the United States, 2001. Washington, DC: Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002. Hess, K. M. and Drowns, R. W. (2004). Juvenile Justice. 4th ed. Chapter 1: Separate Justice: Philosophical and Historical Roots of the Juvenile Justice System. Human Right Watch (2005). Inhumane Prison Conditions http://www.hru.org/inhumane_prison_conditions.htm Huskey, B Jones, P. R. (1991). The Risk of Recidivism: Evaluating the Public Safety Implications of a Community Corrections Program. Journal of Crime and Justice, 19, 49-66. Langan, P. A. and Levin, D. J. (2002). Recidivisms of Prisoners Released in 1994. Washington, D.C.: Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/recidivism Larivee, J. J. (1993). Community Programs–A Risky Business. Corrections Today, 55: 20-26. www.ncjr.org Lawrence, R Lucken, K. (1997). “Rehabilitating” treatment in Community Corrections. Crime and Delinquency, 43: 243-259. Newsday (2007) "Parole system in transition assailed as unfair". www.newsday.com Nurse A Petersilia, J. and S. Turner. (1990) “Comparing Intensive and Regular Supervision for High-Risk Probationers: Early Results from an Experiment in California.” Crime & Delinquency, 36 (1): 87-110 www.ncjr.org Petersilia, J., S Petersilia, J. (1995). A Crime Control Rationale for Reinvesting in Community Corrections. Spectrum, 68, 16- 26. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/communitycorrections Petersilia, J Sullivan, L. (2010). Inmates Who Can’t Make Bail www.bing.com/bail Ross, J Vick, K. (2007). "Isolating the Menace In a Sterile Supermax". Washington Post. pp. A03. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/29/AR2007092900928_pf.html. “The UCONN Poll: Prison Crowding”, University of Connecticut, Center for Survey Research and Analysis, March 8, 2004 “Glossary of Terms Commonly Used in Court.” The Office of the Executive Society of the Supreme Court of Virginia 2003-12-16 “Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2005”. Bureau of Justice Statistics http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pjim05.htm James, Doris J., Profile of Jail Inmates, 2002 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2002). “Prisons”. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1913 http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_1913/Prisons Gates v Levinson, David. (2002). Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment: Volumes I-IV. SAGE Publications. p. 859. Spohn, Cassia. (2008). How Do Judges Decide?: The Search for Fairness and Justice in Punishment. SAGE Publications Inc. p. 52. Levinson, David Henslin, James. “Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach.” (2008).