Garnes Decree in Reality - Determining Parole Eligibility for District of Columbia Women (From Implementing Criminal Justice Policies, P 25-32, 1982, Merry Morash, ed. - See NCJ-88296)

• NCJ Number: 88297
• Author(s): L Y Steinitz
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 8 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A lack of communication between agencies caused the failure of the implementation of the Garnes decree, which aimed to allow female prisoners from the District of Columbia to serve part of their sentences in the District of Columbia rather than in distant Federal prisons.

Abstract

The decree resulted from a civil action suit brought in 1972 by an inmate housed in a Federal facility as a result of the lack of prison space for females in the District of Columbia. The 1976 decree set 9 months from parole eligibility as the cutoff point determining most inmates' housing in jail in the District of Columbia or in a Federal prison in West Virginia or another State. In direct contradiction to the intent of the decree, the implementing agencies -- the United States Parole Commission and the District of Columbia Department of Corrections -- instituted procedures that resulted in more lengthy sentences for women and more time served outside the District of Columbia. A lack of specificity in the decree standards, together with the communication failure, were the main contributors to the failure of the implementation. After the publication of these findings, the two agencies wrote a memorandum of understanding designed to correct the implementation problems. It remains to be seen whether this step will overcome obstacles to implementation. Notes and a list of five references are provided.