NCJ Number
87123
Journal
Bewaehrungshilfe Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: (1982) Pages: 113-126
Date Published
1982
Length
14 pages
Annotation
West German programs in Hamburg, Berlin, and the State of Hessen have instituted a community service alternative for offenders unable to pay the fines given them. Formerly, such persons could only choose incarceration in lieu of payment.
Abstract
About 4.1 percent of all persons sentenced with fines in Germany wind up serving prison sentences because of inability to pay. Instead of contributing to prison overcrowding by a group the courts did not intend to incarcerate, the community service alternative enables these offenders to serve their sentences in a socially useful form. In addition, the offenders are spared all the negative personal consequences of imprisonment. Initial efforts in Berlin and Hamburg have not diverted the hoped-for number from serving prison terms. The Hessen project began in September 1981. It is to be piloted for 1 year in two jurisdictions and later extended throughout the State. Unlike Berlin and Hamburg, the Hessen project is not limited to work with government agencies and has a more flexible formula for calculating the value of manhours expended in community service. A total of 15 footnotes is provided.