Prisoners by Day - A Proposal to Sentence Non-violent Offenders to Non-Residential Work Facilities

• NCJ Number: 72958
• Journal: Judicature Volume: 64 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1980) Pages: 154-164
• Author(s): S Balkin
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article proposes that a nonresidential State-run work facility (NRWF) be provided as a sentencing alternative for nonviolent offenders; system description and advantages to offender and community are emphasized.

Abstract

The search for intermediate sentences, sentences between traditional probation and incarceration, has led to the development of alternative dispositions such as day fines, work release, and halfway houses. These alternatives have not been widely implemented, however, because they require substantial organizational work on the part of the courts and correctional departments with regard to implementation and monitoring and because they require support from local communities. The latter factor can provide an inherent failure component: for example, restitution or fines cannot be paid if the offender does not have a job. The NRWF would be a feasible alternative to existing programs. It would, in essence, be the opposite of work release. Offenders would be sentenced to months or years at an NRWF, but they could live anywhere they want and with anyone they choose. The State would provide an industrial site, organized as a profitmaking firm, where it would supervise offenders' work. Offenders would be paid the prevailing wage, but a portion would be withheld for restitution payments to the victim. Conventional industrial work rules would be strictly enforced, and counseling and job training would be available. If an offender committed new crimes during the sentence or violated work rules the offender could, following an appropriate due process hearing, serve the remainder of the sentence in a regular prison or lose 'good time' for less serious work rule violations. An NRWF program offers an equitable, cost effective alternative intermediate sentence which offers obvious benefits with respect to rehabilitation and retribution considerations. Footnotes are included.