NCJ Number
103281
Date Published
1984
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This paper outlines the Prison Reform Trust's objections to the Home Office proposal of using intermittent custody -- day release, day imprisonment, or weekend imprisonment -- to relieve overcrowding in short-term prisons and reduce excessive use of custody.
Abstract
According to the Home Office, intermittent custody would be a version of custody which would rank above community service, probation, and attendance center orders. The Trust's comments address the relationship between intermittent custody and suspended sentences, incentives for offenders to comply, the experiences of Holland and Belgium with similar programs, the impact on young offenders, selection criteria, and costs. The paper concludes that intermittent custody would divert very few offenders from full-time prison and could actually increase the burden on local prisons with offenders who breached the terms of intermittent custody. The Trust also believes that intermittent custody would devalue existing sanctions; lower the custody threshold; and discriminate against the homeless, women, and the unemployed. Finally, this option would be very costly and not deter crimes for which prison is too harsh a penalty.