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Corrections

Resource Guide

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Jarret Hann

The overcrowding and mismanagement facing the corrections systems in the U.S. today have lead to inhumane treatment of prisoners and lawsuits against correctional facilities that has created a high volume of civil-rights violation cases within our judicial system. Not only do courts have to develop a way of examining the validity and efficiency of the information used in gathering and presenting these claims, but likewise create programs that allow victim and community involvement within the criminal justice system.

Links to related online resources are listed below. Non-digitized publications may be borrowed from the NCSC Library; call numbers are provided.

Featured Resource

Wolf, Robert. Reentry Courts: Looking Ahead. (2011). Center for Court Innovation.

In June 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance sponsored a focus group of policymakers, court practitioners, parole and probation administrators, and researchers to take stock of reentry courts. This report summarizes the discussion.

Female Prisoners

Nancy G. La Vigne, Lisa E. Brooks, Tracey L. Shollenberger Women on the Outside: Understanding the Experiences of Female Prisoners Returning to Houston, Texas. (May 2009).

This report describes the challenges women face in obtaining housing, reuniting with family, and avoiding drug use and criminal behavior after their return to the community. Recommendations for improvements in policies and practices specific to increasing the successful reintegration of women are also presented.
Hard Hit: The Growth in the Imprisonment of Women, 1977-2004. (2004). Institute on Women in Criminal Justice A new report commissioned by the Institute on Women & Criminal Justice finds that female imprisonment in the U.S. has skyrocketed 757 percent since 1977. Women are the fastest-growing segment of the prison population, surpassing male prison population growth in all 50 states. These trends have profound consequences for communities, families and the women themselves. This report finds that the rise in the female prison population has been punctuated by growth spikes that reached higher, lasted longer and often began earlier than those affecting men.

Interstate Compact

Mountjoy, John J. A New Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision. (Summer 2002). Spectrum 75, no. 3: 26 Article looks into the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, including information on the previous Interstate Compact for the Supervision of Parolees and Probationers,  a new solution,  compact specifics, concerns from the field, and modern interstate compacts.
Interstate Commission on Adult Offender Supervision. Training resources for handling adult offenders. See especially their web-based training.
Interstate Compacts. Council of State Governments This Web site provides a host of information on interstate compact for both adults and juveniles.  For an up-to-date status of juvenile interstate compact, click here.
Public Policy Issue: Interstate Compact of Probation and Parole. National Center for Victims of Crime Resources for helping victims of crime cope.

Organizations

American Correctional Association. The American Correctional Association is the oldest, and largest international correctional association in the world. ACA serves all disciplines within the corrections profession and is dedicated to the excellence in every aspect of the field.
American Probation and Parole Association. The American Probation and Parole Association is an international association composed of individuals from the United States, its US territories, and Canada; actively involved with probation, parole, and community-based correction, in both adult and juvenile sectors including all levels of government, local, state/provincial and federal agencies.
Correctional Education Association. The Correctional Education Association (CEA), founded in 1946, is a non-profit, professional association serving educators and administrators who provide services to students in correctional settings.
Federal Bureau of Prisons. Provides information on federal prisons, weekly prison population updates, and inmate issues. Includes job opportunities within the Bureau as well as an online inmate locator.
Federal Probation: A Journal of Correctional Philosophy and Practice. The Federal Judiciary This site provides links to the quarterly publication dating back to June 1998.
National Center on Institutions and Alternatives. The National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (NCIA) was founded in 1977 by Dr. Jerome G. Miller and Herbert J. Hoelter. Since that time, they have been on the leading edge of new concepts in criminal and juvenile justice, providing professional research, training and technical assistance for developing and supporting community-based programs.
Office of Correctional Education. The Office of Correctional Education (OCE), part of the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, provides technical assistance to states, local schools, and correctional institutions and shares information on correctional education.
The ACLU National Prison Project. A national litigation program on behalf of prisoners.
The National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA). NAPSA is the national professional association for the pretrial release and pretrial diversion fields and consists primarily of pretrial practitioners; however, others interested in pretrial issues, such as judges, lawyers, researchers, and prosecutors, are part of its 500-plus membership from 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center. The NLECTC regional centers and specialty offices work directly with Federal, State, and local government agencies; community leaders; and scientists to foster technological innovations that result in new products, services, systems, and strategies for the Nation’s criminal justice professionals.
The Osborne Association. The Osborne Association operates a broad range of treatment, educational, and vocational services for people involved in the adult criminal and juvenile justice systems, including prisoners and former prisoners, their children, and other family members
The Pretrial Services Resource Center. The Pretrial Services Resource Center, an independent, non-profit clearinghouse for information on pretrial issues, provides technical assistance to pretrial practitioners, criminal justice officials, academicians, and community leaders nationwide.

Prison and Corrections Management

Increasing Public Safety in New Mexico, Before and After Incarceration: New Directions for Reform in New Mexico Corrections. (June 2008). This report is contains the recommendations of Governor Richardson's Task Force on Prison Reform.
Fischer, Daryl R. Security Threat Group Program Evaluation, Final Report. (October 2002). Arizona Department of Corrections Report presents the final conclusions from the Arizona Department of Corrections study on prison security threats, including information on evaluation parameters, disciplinary violation rates, incapacitation analysis, time series analysis, desistance analysis, correlation of prison violence and disruptiveness, background and demographic information, mission and goals of the STG program, inmate and staff safety, and conditions in prison units.

Prison Population Statistics

Federal Bureau of Prisons. Provides information on federal prisons, weekly prison population updates, and inmate issues.
Harrison, Page, and Allen Beck. Prisoners In 2001. (July 2002). Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin Click here for a list of all reports by the Bureau of Justice Statistics on Prisoners.  Report provides statistical data on prisoners in United States jails in 2001, including information on the total number of prisoners in that nation's prison facilities, prison population increase, growth affected by transfer of sentenced felons from the District of Columbia, incarceration rates continue to rise, privately operated prisons, local facilities, prison capacity measures vary, growth linked to increasing number of inmates in state prison for violent and drug offenses, and changing federal prison population related to drugs, weapons, and immigration violations.
Langan, Patrick, and David Levin. Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994. (June 2002). Bureau of Justice Statistics: Special Report Report presents recidivism information on prisoners released in 1994, including discussion of four measures of recidivism, characteristics of the released prisoners,  crimes committed by released prisoners, number of violent arrests, recidivism rate by demographic characteristics, specialists, number of prior arrests, and methodology of the study.

Prison Privatization

Austin, James, and Garry Coventry. Emerging Issues on Privatized Prisons. (2001). Washington, DC: National Council On Crime and Delinquency From the introduction: This monograph examines the historical factors that gave rise to the higher incarceration rates, fueling the privatization movement, and the role played by the private sector in the prison system. It outlines arguments both in support of and opposed to privatized prisons, reviews current literature on the subject, and examines issues that will have an effect on future privatizations. An appendix provides practical guidelines for policy makers considering privatization.

Prisoner Litigation

Cheesman, Fred, Brian Ostrom, and Roger Hanson. A Tale of Two Laws Revisted: Investigating the Impact of Prisoner Litigation Reform Act and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty. (January 2004). 103 pages.

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact of the PLRA and the AEDPA. The goal was to determine the extent to which AEDPA and the PLRA have affected the number of habeas corpus petitions and prisoner lawsuits filed, respectively.
The ACLU National Prison Project. A national litigation program on behalf of prisoners. 
The Osborne Association. The Osborne Association operates a broad range of treatment, educational, and vocational services for people involved in the adult criminal and juvenile justice systems, including prisoners and former prisoners, their children, and other family members

Probation and Parole

American Correctional Association. The American Correctional Association is the oldest, and largest international correctional association in the world. ACA serves all disciplines within the corrections profession and is dedicated to the excellence in every aspect of the field.
American Probation and Parole Association. The American Probation and Parole Association is an international association composed of individuals from the United States, its US territories, and Canada; actively involved with probation, parole, and community-based correction, in both adult and juvenile sectors including all levels of government, local, state/provincial and federal agencies.

Rehabilitation Reentry

Leitenburger, David S. Richland County Model Re-Entry Court. (2005). National Center for State Courts, Future Trends in State Courts 2005.

Discusses the origin and implementation of a Re-Entry Court Program in Richland County, Ohio.
Ellen C. Lemley and Gregory D. Russell. Implementing Restorative Justice by "Groping Along": A Case Study in Program Evolutionary Implementation. (2002). Justice System Journal vol. 23, no. 2.

This article discusses restorative justice implementation efforts.

Technology and Corrections

Global Positioning Satellite Monitoring. (2006). Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services, State of South Carolina This article discusses the use of GPS units as a result of the passing of Jessie's Law in 2006. 
GPS Tracking of Sexual Offenders. (June 2006). National Conference of State Legislatures This document provides state-by-state information on legislation authorizing GPS tracking to monitor offenders in the community.
Andrew Molloy. Community-Based Corrections: Seeking Court Support for a Growing Need. (2003). National Center for State Courts, Future Trends in State Courts 2003.

This document explains the importance of community corrections to the cost-effective sanctioning and treatment of criminal offenders and indicates that greater cooperation between the courts and community corrections programs is needed.