Jails: Way Stations Along the Justice Highway

Chapter Objectives

1. Understand how jail populations are different from prison populations.

2. List the purposes of jails.

3. Trace briefly the development of jails in history.

4. Explain how first-, second-, and third-generation jails differ in design and in method of inmate management.

5. Outline the characteristics of jail inmates, facilities, and staff.

6. Outline the arguments for and against privatization.

7. Describe how jail vocational and educational programs affect reentry.

8. Discuss how faith-based organizations and a jail chaplain can influence jail inmates and help jail staff.

9. Discuss why jail standards, inspection, and accreditation are important.

10. Discuss what is known about using evidence-based practices to treat substance abuse in jail.

11. Explain California’s realignment act.

Chapter Outline

I. Bail and Pretrial Release in the United States

· Bail is a written obligation with or without collateral security, given to a court to guarantee appearance before the court.

· Bail is “excessive’” when it is set at a figure higher than an amount reasonably likely to ensure the defendant’s presence at the trial.

· A person may be released after their arrest in several ways as they await their court date.

· The release options that require money to get out of jail pretrial are:

o Cash bond

o Deposit bond

o Property bond

o Bail bond

· The release options that do not involve money up front to get out of jail pretrial are:

o Release on recognizance

o Conditional release

o Release to pretrial services

o Unsecured bond

A. Concerns over Money for Bail

· Until the 1990s, release on recognizance was the most common type of pretrial release.

o By 2006, however, its use had declined by one-third and the use of financial pretrial release through commercial bail bonding companies increased proportionally.

· The judicial system predominantly depends on monetary bail under the assumption that it protects public safety and ensures that the released individual returns to court.

o However, jurisdictions differ on how they determine what types of bail to set, how much monetary bail is set, and the methods of allowable payments to secure one’s release from jail.

· The practice of paying money for bail is under considerable scrutiny.

o Research shows that people held in jail pretrial end up with more restrictive sentencing outcomes than people who are free pending trial.

· Persons who are able to post monetary bail may deplete the funds of their family and friends that are needed for rent, food, and bills.

o If a person is unable to post monetary bail, she or he may lose her or his job, default on financial obligations, and lose property.

· Whether monetary bail increases community safety is also an issue.

o Some have said that there is no empirical evidence to support this idea.

· Commercial bail bonding companies wield considerable financial and political power.

o They have a strong interest in preserving the practice of monetary bail because it is the source of their income.

B. Effective Alternatives to Monetary Bail

· Researchers estimate that at least 25 percent of the 735,601 inmates confined in local jails could be released pretrial without increasing offenses or failure to appear if effective alternatives to monetary bail are put in place.

o Other research shows that the American public believes that effective alternatives are better than relying on incarceration for people convicted of low-level, nonviolent offenses.

· Pretrial service agencies typically assist judicial officers in making appropriate release decisions by formulating release recommendations and providing supervision and services to defendants awaiting trial whom the agency can reasonably assure their return to court and no engagement in criminal activity.

o The U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services System and about one-third of the counties in the United States provide pretrial service functions for their respective courts.

· The use of evidence-based risk assessment can provide insight into the need to detain persons who may pose a risk to public safety or not appear for court.

o These tools usually classify persons as low risk, moderate risk, or high risk based on a review of their criminal history, education, employment, substance abuse, social networks, cognitions (thinking patterns), housing, finances, and recreation.

· Another effective alternative to monetary bail is the increased use of citations instead of arrest and booking.

· Another option to monetary bail is the use of release on recognizance for low-risk defendants.

o Low-risk defendants generally appear in court and are not rearrested because they are generally responsible in other areas of their lives.

· Technology in the form of automated phone calls, text messages, and e-mails can remind individuals of court dates and reduce failure to appear rates, thereby decreasing reliance on monetary bail after individuals fail to appear in court.

· A final release option is to implement a deposit bond with the court and eliminate the need for commercial bail bonding.

II. Purpose of Jails

· Except for six states that run combined jail / prison systems (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont), jails are locally operated correctional facilities that confine people before or after conviction.

· Total admission is the total number of persons admitted to jail each year, which falls between 10 million and 13 million.

· The average daily population (ADP) is the sum of the number of inmates in a jail or prison each day for a year divided by the total number of days in the year.

o Jail ADP at midyear 2011 was 735,601.

· Many of the nation’s 3,283 locally operated jails are old, overcrowded, poorly funded, inadequately staffed by underpaid and poorly trained employees, and given low priority in local budgets.

o Yet a strong groundswell of support is rising for the nation’s jails.

o Tomorrow’s jail professionals have tremendous opportunities to continue that momentum.

III. Jails in History

· It is believed that King Henry II of England ordered the first jail built in 1166.

o The purpose of that jail was to detain offenders until they could be brought before a court, tried, and sentenced.

A. First Jail in the United States

· The first jail in the United States was the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia, built in 1773.

o The jail housed offenders with no regard to sex, age, or offense.

· In 1790 the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons and the General Assembly of Pennsylvania designated a wing of the Walnut Street Jail a penitentiary.

o Implementing Quaker beliefs, the penitentiary emphasized prisoner reform through reflection and penitence and rehabilitation through good conduct. Sixteen solitary cells were added to the facility and workshops were built.

· By the close of the 19th century, most cities across the United States had jails to hold persons awaiting trial and to punish convicted felons.

o The sheriff became the person in charge of the jail.

B. United States Jails in the 20th Century

· On any given day, America’s jails serve a variety of functions.

o They detain people awaiting arraignment or trial, 60 percent at midyear 2011.

o They confine offenders serving short sentences for less serious offenses.

o They also serve as surrogate mental hospitals.

o They frequently detain people with drug or alcohol dependency.

o They are the first stop on the social services highway for homeless, street people, and some with extremely poor physical health, especially those with HIV, AIDS, and tuberculosis (TB).

TIP: Discuss who is housed in your local or regional jail. Does the population change with the seasons (more arrests in the winter to get people off the street)?

C. Architecture and Inmate Management

First-Generation Jails

· In a typical first-generation jail, inmates live in multiple-occupancy cells or dormitories.

o The cells line corridors that are arranged like spokes.

· Inmate supervision is sporadic intermittent; staff must patrol the corridors to observe inmates in their cells.

Second-Generation Jails

· In a second-generation jail staff remain in a secure control booth overlooking inmate housing areas, called pods.

· Although visual surveillance increases in such jails, surveillance is remote, and verbal interaction with inmates is even less.

Third-Generation Jails

· Third-generation jails, also known as direct-supervision jail, emerged in 1974 when the Federal Bureau of Prisons opened three Metropolitan Correctional Centers (MCCs) in three cities: New York, Chicago, and San Diego.

o The housing unit design of such jails is podular.

· The supervising officer moves about the pod and interacts with the inmates to manage their behavior.

o Advocates of direct supervision tell that when correctional officers are in constant and direct contact with inmates, they get to know them and can recognize and respond to trouble before it escalates into violence.

· The pod contains sleeping areas, dayroom space, all necessary personal hygiene fixtures, and sufficient tables and seats to accommodate unit capacity.

o Officers are not separated from inmates by a physical barrier.

· Direct-supervision jails facilitate staff movement, interaction with inmates, and control and leadership over pods.

o By supervising inmate activities directly, the staff can help change inmate behavior patterns rather than simply react to them.

· Some researchers tell that pods and direct supervision provide a safer and more positive environment for inmates and staff than do first- and second-generation jails.

o But other researchers have found few differences between the perceptions of officers in new generation versus traditional facilities.

IV. Characteristics of Jail Inmates, Facilities, and Staff

A. Jail Inmates

· In June 2011, local jail authorities held or supervised 798,417 offenders.

o This was the third decline in the nation’s local jail population since the federal government began its annual survey of jails in 1982 when the jail population was 223,551.

· During the 12 months ending June 2011, the number of persons held in jail dropped by nearly 13,000 inmates from a year earlier.

· In 2011, 8.0 percent of the offenders (62,816) were supervised outside jail facilities.

· Jails are in a unique position to help persons leaving jail and resuming life in the community.

Gender and Jail Populations

· The number of women in jail has more than quintupled over the past 25 years, from 19,000 in 1985 to a peak of 100,520 in 2007.

o Since then the number has declined to 93,300 in 2011.

· Seventeen percent of women in jail are charged with violent offenses.

o Most are charged with property offenses (32 percent), drug offenses (29 percent), and public-order offenses (21 percent).

· Jails are not prepared to house and treat rapidly rising female populations.

o They have difficulty providing appropriate housing, bed space, programs, jobs, mental health care, and other services.

Ethnicity and Jail Populations

· Whites comprise nearly 70 percent of the U.S. population but only 44.8 percent of the jail population.

o In the general population, Hispanics make up almost 16 percent, and blacks make up 12.7 percent, but in jail, their populations are 15.5 percent and 37.6 percent, respectively.

· Explanations for the overrepresentation of minorities in jail abound.

o One explanation has to do with the function of jails as pretrial detention centers.

Mental Illness and Jail Populations

· When researchers investigated the prevalence of “serious” mental illnesses defined as major depressive disorders, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, and delusional disorders using structured clinical interviews with 20,000 adults entering five jails, they found that almost 15 percent of the men and 31 percent of the women had a serious mental illness.

· Persons living with mental illness are swept into the criminal justice system because of the failures of the public mental health system and the lack of adequate treatment in most poor communities.

B. Suicide, Homicide, Sexual Victimization, and Jail Populations

· Suicide is the leading cause of jail inmate deaths.

o Since 2000, an average of 300 jail inmates commit suicide each year.

o The situation for small jails is even worse.

· Homicide in jail is another concern of jail administrators, and here the news is not good.

o In 2000, 17 jail inmates were murdered.

o In 2006, the number increased to 36 and decreased to 20 in 2010.

o The majority of jail homicide victims are male, mostly between the ages of 18 and 54, and evenly split between white and black.

· In 2003, Congress passed and President Bush signed the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

o It requires the U.S. Department of Justice to report on the incidence of rape and other forms of sexual victimization in correctional facilities.

· The Justice Department defines sexual victimization as all types of sexual activity, for example, oral, anal, or vaginal penetration; handjobs; touching of the inmate’s buttocks, thighs, penis, breasts, or vagina in a sexual way; abusive sexual contacts (unwanted contacts with another inmate or any contacts with staff that involved touching of the inmate’s buttocks, thigh, penis, breasts, or vagina, in a sexual way); and both willing and unwilling sexual contact.

Juveniles and Jail Populatio

· Over the past 25 years, there has been a dramatic reversal in the theory and practice of punishing juveniles.

o In the mid-1970s, juvenile offenders were deemed to have special needs, so Congress passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974.

· By 1996, in the face of pressure to increase punishment for juvenile offenders, new legislation allowed cities and states to detain juvenile offenders for up to 12 hours in an adult jail before a court appearance and made it easier to house juveniles in separate wings of adult jails.

o That shift in philosophy and policy has kept the percentage of juveniles held as adults at about 80 percent for the past decade even though the number of juveniles in adult jails today is lower today than it was a decade ago (6,000 versus 7,218).

C. Jail Facilitie

Occupancy

· Rated capacity is the maximum number of beds allocated to each jail facility by a state or local rating official.

· The rated capacity for the nation’s jails was 877,302 beds at midyear 2011, an increase of 10,520 beds from midyear 2010.

Public versus Private

· Of the nation’s 3,283 jails, 37 are privately operating under contract to local governments.

· Across the country, 254 jails were under one or more court orders either to limit population or to provide specific conditions of confinement.

Size, Location, and Budge

· Of all jail jurisdictions holding inmates, the percentage holding 99 or fewer inmates is nearly 59 percent, about 20 percent hold 100 to 249, 10 percent hold 250 to 499, and 6 percent hold 500 to 999 inmates.

· Those housing 1,000 or more (referred to as megajails) inmates account for 5 percent.

Pay-to-Stay Jail

· Pay-to-stay jails are an alternative to serving time in a county jail and offer privileges to offenders (sometimes called clients) convicted of minor offenses such as DUI and non-drug-related offenses who pay $75 to $127 per day.

· Supporters of the self-pay model argue that pay-to-stay jails benefit everyone—paying inmates generate cash for the community; taxpayers pay less to house offenders in city rather than county jails; offenders can serve their time in a smaller, nonviolent facility; and paying inmates are generally easier to deal with.

D. Jail Staff and Workforce Developmen

· Women comprise one-third of all jail employees (one-fourth of all corrections officers).

· Minority employees are underrepresented relative to their proportion among inmates.

· Understaffing poses a threat to inmate and staff security and safety.

o Too often inadequate staffing leads to inmate lockdowns to prevent escape and ease the handling of prisoners

V. Jail Issues

A. Privatization

· Jails can be privatized in one of three ways—through private management, private sector development, or private services provision.

· With private sector development, the private sector develops, designs, and finances or arranges for the financing of jails.

· Private services provision is the most familiar privatization model and the least controversial.

B. Jail Reentry (Begins at Entry)

· One solution to jail crowding is jail reentry, the process of transition that offenders make from prison or jail to the community.

· Evidence suggests that improving inmate job skills, helping inmates find jobs upon release, and increasing inmate wage potential all have a significant impact on recidivism.

Targeting Frequent Service Users and Using Jail Data to Assess the Risk of Recidivism

· The Frequent Users Service Enhancement (FUSE) initiative uses cross-system data to provide housing services for chronic users of both jail and shelter systems.

· Another approach to targeting reentry services uses assessments to determine the risk of recidivism as a way to identify those who are repeatedly cycling through jails.

· An alternative to these assessments is the Vera Institute of Justice’s Service Priority Indicator (SPI).

o The SPI addresses the limited resources available to conduct lengthy risk assessment interviews by providing an instrument for recidivism risk that can be automatically generated for every person as part of the standard jail intake system.

APIC

· The APIC acronym summarizes the four essential stages of reentry service provision:

o Assessing risks and needs

o Planning for treatment based on the assessment

o Identifying appropriate providers in the jail and in the community to address the inmate’s needs

o Coordinating the transition back to the community and ensuring continuity of care

Building upon Family and Peer Networks

· Families are often the primary source of financial and emotional support when people return from jail or prison.

o In addition, family contacts can be instrumental in helping former inmates identify employment opportunities and find housing.

· Reentry strategies that support families are important for the children and partners of people who were formerly incarcerated.

· Services that build on peer and family support networks are particularly suited to jails where families often live close by and tend to have relatively easy access to their incarcerated relatives.

Educational, Vocational Programs, and Inmate Work Programs

· National studies show that more than 40 percent of all jail inmates have less than a ninth-grade education.

o They also have substance abuse problems and few job skills.

· Studies show that inmates who earn their GEDs while incarcerated are far less likely to return to crime.

· Educational and vocational programs help offenders help themselves, they boost self-esteem, and they encourage legitimate occupations upon release.

· On an average day, nearly 20 percent of all jail inmates work at least six hours a day.

o Some jails go further, creating opportunities for inmates to learn work habits and skills that are in demand in the community, earn wages that apply to their fines, court costs, and family obligations, provide quality goods to consumers, and reduce inmate idleness.

C. Jail Ministry

· Getting into trouble and turning to religion is supported by the “coping” literature, which links major life events to a greater tendency to turn to spirituality or religion.

· Researchers have found that inmates most actively involved in Bible studies were less likely than inmates who attended fewer classes to commit institutional infractions or, if they did, more classes over the course of one year) were less likely than inmates who attended fewer classes (or none) to commit institutional infractions or, if they did, the infractions were not as serious as the infractions of those who attended fewer classes (or none); and inmates most actively involved in Bible studies were less likely than inmates who attended fewer classes (or none) and less likely to be arrested during a one-year follow-up.

o Subsequent research found that differences in rearrest peaked at two and three years after release.

o The average time to rearrest for the inmates who were most actively involved in Bible studies was 3.8 years versus 2.3 years for inmates who attended fewer classes (or none).

o However, differences between the two groups diminished after that and were not statistically significant in years four through eight.

o Over time, the effects of Bible study attendance are diminished in importance.

o Risk for arrest in years four through eight was explained by other factors such as prior record, race, and age.

· Those who minister to jail inmates tell us there are at least five benefits of jail chaplaincy.

o Jail chaplains believe that the cycle of crime can only be broken one life at a time.

o Jail chaplains can help jail staff with their emotional and family problems.

o Jail chaplains are in a unique position to mediate and moderate tension and conflict between inmates and staff before they get serious.

o The public perceives ministering to the disadvantaged as legitimate, so such ministry helps the community remember those they would just as soon forget.

o Jail chaplains can help inmates confront the truth about themselves and reverse the “everything is relative” attitude that offenders develop to justify their crimes.

D. Jail Standards, Inspection, and Accreditation

· Today, jail compliance with standards set forth by the American Correctional Association (ACA) has become the best defense to ensure that jails are operating properly and highlight where improvements are needed.

· There are several reasons why jails have been slow to adopt national standards or seek national accreditation.

o Accreditation is expensive and time-consuming.

o Jails hold relatively few long-term inmates.

o Some states have their own standards that jails must meet.

· There are, however, at least five reasons for jails to have national accreditation:

o Accreditation by the ACA indicates that a jail adheres to strict standards to protect the health and safety of staff and inmates.

o Being accredited may help a jail defend itself against lawsuits over conditions of incarceration.

o In preparing for the accreditation review, the sheriff’s office may evaluate all operations, procedures, and policies, leading to better management practices.

o With accreditation come professional recognition and status, greater appreciation by the community, and a sense of pride in the achievement and in the hard work that went into it.

o And recently, ACA in conjunction with the American Jail Association, National Sheriff’s Association, National Institute of Corrections, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons developed a set of core jail standards to establish minimum practices for small- and medium-size facilities.

E. Evidence-Based Practices

· The final priority identified by the group of sheriffs and jail administrators in 2007 and reiterated in 2012 at the National Jail Leadership Command Academy in Hunstville, Texas, relates to evidence-based practices.

· Also in 2007, researchers reported on what evidence-based practices are used in the nation’s jails to treat substance abuse.

o Of 13 key evidence-based practices recommended by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the researchers found that jail administrators reported implementing an average of only 1.6.

· Only four best practices are used in more than half of all jails:

o Comprehensive treatment methods to address offenders’ multiple needs

o Engagement with community agencies to provide services for drug-involved offenders

o Use of positive incentives to encourage inmate behavior

o Use of standardized substance abuse assessment tools to understand the extent and impact of drug usage

VI. Prisoners Confined in Jail and California’s Realignment

· A decade ago, almost 70,000 state and federal prisoners were held in local jails because prisons were overcrowded.

o Today, the number is more than 82,000 even though the number of persons sentenced to prison declined for the second consecutive year.

· Today California is experiencing a seismic shift in corrections policy that is likely to change the national landscape in the number of persons sentenced to prison and to jail.

· On May 23, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ruling by the lower three-judge panel and ordered the state of California to reduce its prison population by 33,000 within two years to alleviate overcrowding.

o In response, the California State Legislature and governor enacted a series of bills, most notably Assembly Bill 109—the 2011 Public Safety Realignment.

A. Lower-Level Offenders

· The 2011 realignment limited which felons can be sent to state prison, thereby requiring that counties manage more felons.

· Sentences to state prison are now limited to registered sex offenders, individuals with a current or prior serious or violent offense, and individuals that commit certain other specified offenses.

B. Parolees

· Following realignment, state parole agents supervise only individuals released from prison whose current offense is serious or violent as well as certain other individuals including those assessed to be mentally disordered or high-risk sex offenders.

· The remaining individuals—those whose current offense is nonserious and nonviolent, and who otherwise are not required to be on state parole—are released from prison to community supervision under county jurisdiction.

C. Parole Violators

· Following realignment, offenders released from prison—whether supervised by the state or counties—must generally serve their revocation term in county jail.

o In addition, individuals realigned to county supervision will not appear before the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) for revocation hearings, and will instead have these proceedings in a trial court.