NCJ Number
97713
Journal
Detroit College of Law Review Volume: 1983 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1983) Pages: 1247-1254
Date Published
1983
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Legislatures should go beyond appropriations for new construction and operating funds for prisons to provide basic laws governing corrections administration. Such a code is as important to community protection and offender reintegration into the community as the criminal code and its sanctions.
Abstract
The correctional code should address the transition from sentencing to incarceration if probation is not ordered. In noncapital cases, sentencing courts should order diagnostic commitments for all serious felony offenders at a State prison reception and classification center. Secondly, legislative classifications of institutions and treatment categories, should be instituted, and thirdly a general confirmation of minimum standards on institutional maintenance and confinement conditions should be established. Furthermore, statutory confirmation of the claim by all prisoners to adequate physical, dental, and mental health diagnosis and treatment by qualified medical professionals should be created. A revised correctional code should establish basic principles of prisoner protection to guide prison administrators and forestall a need for Federal judicial intervention. States should also pass legislation supporting up-to-date prison industrial programs. Other areas warranting legislative attention include external contacts between prisoners and the courts, counsel, correspondents, the media, and family members, adquate grievance procedures for inmates, and prisoner discipline. A final concern should be to limit or even eliminate civil disabilities flowing from criminal convictions. The article includes 39 footnotes.