Jails

Sentenced to less than a year

Prisons

Sentenced to more than a year

Probation

Supervision instead of incarceration

Parole

Supervision after early release and sentenced to 4 years, after two years... released and assigned a parole officer.

The Code of Hammurabi

- One of the earliest written legal codes - Based on lex talionis or "an eye for an eye" - If someone cuts your hand, their punishment is also to have their hand cut now. - Emphasized retribution and proportional punishment

Beccaria's Main Ideas

- Human beings' rationality and free will; Crime is the result of free will - Crime can be prevented through deterrence: Offenders should be punished - Punishment should be proportionate to the harm done, should be identical for same crimes, and should be applied without reference to the social status of either offender or victim

Certainty of Punishment

- The likelihood that people will be caught and punished if they commit a crime - Most effective deterrent according to Beccaria

Swiftness of Punishment

- How quickly the punishment follows the crime - The faster a person is punished, more deterred in the future - Punishment should not be delayed

Severity of Punishment

- How harsh or painful the punishment is - If punishment is severe enough, people will be discouraged from committing the crime

Positivism School of Criminology

- Crime is caused by factors beyond a person's control - Humans are not free agents who alone are responsible for their actions - Rehabilitation over punishment

Classical School

- Human beings are rational decision-makers who are responsible for their own actions - People engage in criminal activities to increase their pleasure and reduce pain - Offenders should be punished - Punishment should fit crime

Positivism School

- Human beings are not rational decision-makers - Crimes and deviance are caused by individual factors and social factors - Offenders should not be punished but treated

Retribution

- Just desert's philosophy - Punishment is justified because the offender deserves it for breaking the law - Criminal punishment must match degree of harm

Deterrence

- Prevention of future crimes by the threat of punishment - Types of deterrence: -- General -- Specific

General Deterrence

- Aims to discourage others in society from committing crimes by making an example of the offender - Punishing one offender sends a message to society: "if you commit this crime, you'll face the same punishment"

Specific Deterrence

"John, who serves jail time for burglary, may think twice about breaking into another house because he doesn't want to go back to jail."

Incapacitation

- Punishment removes offenders' ability to commit further crimes against society by restricting their freedom

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

Fixed minimum sentences for specific offenses

Truth in Sentencing Law

Require offenders to serve 85% of their prison sentence before being released on parole

Three-Strikes-and-you're-out Law

- First implemented in Washington State, 1993 - Life imprisonment for offenders with third-felony convictions

Rehabilitation

- Process that helps offenders change their behavior, so that they can return to society as law-abiding citizens - Crime is caused by problems (addiction, lack of skills, trauma) that can be treated - Focus is on treatment and education

Reintegration

- Prepare criminals to reenter society after serving their sentence - Concrete programming for successful reentry into society

General Deterrence

Punishment discourages other from committing crimes

Specific Deterrence

Punishment discourages the SAME OFFENDER from reoffending

The First Jails

- Jamestown, Virginia in 1606 - Boston, Massachusetts in 1635 - Maryland, 1662 Purpose: - Detention before trial - Detention before punishment

The First Jails or Goals

- Short term detention, not long-term punishment - Mixed population - men, women, and juveniles housed together - No emphasis on rehabilitation - Fee system

Pillory

Wooden frames with holes to secure the head and hands, set up in a public place.

Stock

A seated version of the pillory with wooden frames with holes for the person's hands and feet

Branding

Marking a criminal's body with a hot iron on his or her forehead with a letter denoting the offense to publicly identify him or her as an offender

Capital Punishment

Burning, hanging, or buried alive

William Penn (1644-1718)

- Pennsylvania colony governor - Not a fan of harsh punishments for minor offenses - Creation of the Great Law in 1682: penal code that emphasized rehabilitation over retribution - Great Law Characterizes: -- Limitation of the death penalty or capital punishment -- Emphasis on imprisonment and labor

John Howard (1726-1790)

- Published a book: "The statute of prisons in England and Wales." - Recommendations: -- Cleanliness and sanitation of jails -- Segregation of inmates -- Abolition of the fee system

Jeremy Bentham

- A circular building with individual cells arranged around the perimeter and a central watchtower from which guards could observe all inmates - Windows in the tower were designed with blinds or screens to inmates could not tell if they were being watched - Individual cells

Enlightenment Period

- Punishments before Enlightenment Period - Enlightenment period reformers - Advocated for more humane and structures approaches to crime and punishment

The Walnut Street Jail

- Originally constructed in 1773 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Remodeled in 1790 into the first penitentiary; a wing of the jail was designed as an official penitentiary.