NCJ Number
148661
Date Published
1994
Length
134 pages
Annotation
This report, prepared by the General Accounting Office (GAO) in response to a request by the House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and Judicial Administration, covers available criminal sanctions, eligibility for sanctions, sanctions imposed on convicted offenders in fiscal year 1991, agencies responsible for sanction administration, monthly operating and expansion costs of illustrative sentences, and legal limitations to the increased availability and use of sanctions other than imprisonment.
Abstract
The GAO found that three intermediate sanctions are currently available in the Federal system: probation with a confinement condition, split sentence (short prison sentence followed by supervised release with a confinement condition), and shock incarceration. Eligibility for sanctions is primarily determined by the U.S. Code and guidelines of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Of all offenders sentenced in Federal district courts in fiscal year 1991, about 73 percent received a sentence of imprisonment; 14 percent received probation, and 11 percent received an intermediate sanction. Because most sentences were comprised of more than one sanction, jurisdiction was often split between the probation and prison systems. Costs varied widely according to sentence length and composition, and comparative cost generalizations were difficult to make. The GAO determined that the U.S. Code, Federal sentencing guidelines, and Bureau of Prison regulations limit the availability and use of intermediate sanctions. Appendixes provide supplemental information on the scope and methodology of the GAO study, sanctions, and sentencing costs. Footnotes, tables, and figures