More than a decade ago, policymakers around the country seeking to protect public safety, improve accountability, and save taxpayer dollars initiated a wave of bipartisan reforms that has reduced the number of people behind bars in many states. Because of their high costs and visibility, prisons garnered substantial public attention on criminal justice, while relatively little was paid to the largest…
Category: Research
Offenders on Federal Supervised Release Hits All-Time High
Number of Offenders on Federal Supervised Release Hits All-Time High Average inmate faces nearly four years of community monitoring after incarceration With nearly 190,000 inmates, the federal prison system is the largest in the nation, far exceeding those of California, Texas, and other states.1 But the reach of federal corrections extends well beyond prison walls. In 2015, approximately 115,000 offenders…
THE COMPLICATED STATE OF FEDERAL SENTENCING
Over the past 15 years, the United States Supreme Court has decided a series of cases that dramatically changed the constitutional landscape of sentencing in the United States. In the first of these cases, Apprendi v. New Jersey, 5 the Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of a statutory sentencing enhancement. That enhancement provided for an increase in the maximum sentence…
Is It Time to Revisit Sex Offender Supervision for Life?
With lifetime supervision, the sex offender caseload continues to grow with no relief in sight. In New Jersey, the State Parole Board’s supervision caseload is becoming dominated by the community supervision for life (CSL) cases. In 2011, there were 5,067 CSL cases, representing 32.3% of the total supervision caseload. By 2014, the CSL cases number 7,031 or 46% of the…
IMPACTS ON THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
LIFETIME SUPERVISION OF SEX OFFENDERS AND THE IMPACTS ON THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY — DIVISION OF PAROLE & PROBATION BACKGROUND: Lifetime Supervision (LS) is a special sentence which is required to be included for specific sex crimes per NRS 176.0931. This sentence begins following any term of probation, parole or release from custody. Special conditions for LS …