NCJ Number
102202
Date Published
1986
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Corrections policy should focus on reducing prison overcrowding and improving prison programs through prison construction and prison industries; additional Federal foci are control of the number of inmate lawsuits coming before Federal courts and the development of more uniform sentencing.
Abstract
Since 95 percent of prison inmates are recidivists or violent offenders, public protection requires that they be confined. Current prison overcrowding dictates the building of more prisons and jails. Five Federal correctional institutions currently under construction or design will add 3,200 beds, and the new facilities will have innovative design features to make them functional, safe, and humane. At the State level, the number of prison beds has increased by 165,000 since 1978. The National Institute of Justice is developing new guidelines for jail and prison construction. The Federal Government is committed to improving prison industries programs, involving 28 percent of Federal inmates in prison industries in 1985. To reduce the number of frivolous inmate habeas corpus petitions coming before Federal courts, the Reagan administration supports legislation that imposes a time limit for filing most suits, bars claims in Federal court not raised in State proceedings, and defers to the 'full and fair' adjudication of claims in State courts. The Federal Sentencing Commission continues its effort to bring predictability and uniformity in sentencing.