Demographic Description of Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) of Department of Corrections (DOC) Inmates

• NCJ Number: 137246
• Author(s): M A White
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 30 pages
• Corporate Author: Massachusetts Dept of Correction
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Massachusetts law allows crime victims, family members of homicide victims, and witnesses to request notification when an offender receives a temporary, provisional, or final release from custody or when an offender escapes from custody.

Abstract

As a result, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of petitions for Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) and the Massachusetts Department of Corrections will be forced to examine more closely the CORI notification program. This study provides a demographic description of CORI petitioners and of the inmates whose records are being petitioned. The number of new CORI petitions rose from 78 in 1984 to 1,190 in 1988. The CORI petitioners are 70 percent female, 25 percent male, and 5 percent households. While 34 percent of all CORI petitioners are crime victims, 24 percent are family members of homicide victims; 71 percent of petitioners were referred to the program by the local district attorney. Ninety-six of the subjects of CORI petitions were male and, at the time of petition, 80 percent were in secure facilities. Fifty-five percent of the subjects had been convicted of person offenses, and 33 percent convicted of sex offenses; 27 percent of the subjects were serving life sentences. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 2 appendixes