NCJ Number
86155
Date Published
1982
Length
53 pages
Annotation
These recommendations from the New York State Executive Advisory Commission on the Administration of Justice focus on the needs for sentencing guidelines and the use of alternatives to incarceration to relieve the overcrowding in the State's prisons.
Abstract
New York's prison system is currently filled to 115 percent of its operational capacity. Prison admissions regularly exceed releases by more than 60 per week. Thus, prison overcrowding has reached crisis proportions in the State. The State needs safe and secure prisons with adequate inmate programs and effective parole and probation services. The construction of new prisons is not the solution to overcrowding, because it is too costly. The State's fragmented sentencing and release policies need to be changed to achieve clarity, rationality, and stability in sentencing. The State should adopt a determinate sentencing plan with sentencing guidelines. Until that plan is adopted, the current, indeterminate sentencing system should be modified to achieve some of the same effects. The continued development of such alternatives to incarceration as intensive community supervision and community service sentences is also recommended. These sanctions should be encouraged not only for less serious offenders who might otherwise receive prison terms but also for those who currently receive no punishment because incarceration is perceived as being too harsh. Even with all these changes, a certain amount of new prison construction will be required. The new facilities should be located in or near New York City and other urban population centers, since most inmates come from those areas. The State should also enact a standby release plan for use during periods of unacceptable overcrowding in the prisons. An appendix lists commission members.