NCJ Number
108466
Date Published
1987
Length
73 pages
Annotation
This booklet provides an overview of home confinement as an alternative to incarceration that can reduce prison overcrowding and cut correctional costs.
Abstract
Distinctions among types of home confinement are examined for options that include curfew, home detention, and home incarceration. The status of Federal and State programs also is reviewed. Five decision points during the processing of offenders, during which home confinement may be imposed, are examined, together with the pros and cons of each. These include judicially imposed conditions of pretrial release or probation, administratively imposed conditions of probation supervision, and conditions of postincarceration release or imprisonment. Selection criteria are discussed with reference to public safety, offender needs, and punishment; the need for explicit criteria is noted. Selection methods used by New Jersey, Florida, the Federal Curfew Parole program, and the Federal District of Nebraska are described. Possible variations in hours and duration of home confinement and types of monitoring (including electronic) and enforcement are discussed. The use of this option to meet sentencing goals of punishment and deterrence, treatment and training, and public protection is considered, and evaluative research on home confinement is reviewed. The impact of the Sentencing Reform Act and sentencing guidelines also is discussed. Appendixes provide descriptions of curfew parolees and a sentencing table.