Alternative Sentencing

Increasingly, criminal justice professionals have argued that dwindling prison space should be reserved for the most serious and dangerous offenders, necessitating a reconsideration of alternative sanctions for first-time and nonviolent offenders. This paper analyzes alternative sentences for federal offenders and, specifically, United States citizens sentenced under various types of alternatives. This analysis describes current federal sentencing policy governing alternative sentences and examines offenders with alternative sentences using the United States Sentencing Commission’s data. An analysis of factors associated with alternative sentences imposed for eligible offenders provides insight into considerations made by federal sentencing courts in determining whether to impose alternatives. Other products relating to this topic that may also be of interest include the following: United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual 2015 can be found at this link: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/node/49457 Code of Federal Regulations, Title 28, Judicial Administration, Pt. 0-42, Revised as of July 1, 2015 can be found at this link: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/869-082-00111-9 Slip Opinion 13-1333, Coleman v. Tollefson can be found at this link:https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/828-050-00037-1 Slip Opinion 14-6368, Kingsley v. Hendrickson can be found at this link:https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/828-050-00058-3

The articles in this collection originally appeared in the journal “Overcrowded Times”. They provide an overview of sentencing policy, practices, and institution in the United States, other English-speaking countries (Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand & South Africa), and Europe.

This report surveys and summarizes the literature on the use of alternative sanctions in 12 western countries with a particular focus on its effectiveness and efficiency.

Changing Lives recounts the experiences of a dozen men on probation in Massachusetts who took classes for three months to read and talk about great works of literature. The men explored the writings of Malcolm X, Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov, amongst others. In these writings the men discovered many issues relating to their own lives, such as substance abuse, family breakdown, poverty and racism. The lessons create a safe space for reflection and earnest conversation, in which the students no longer have to bluff or be cool, guarded, or evasive. And because the classroom puts them on equal footing with authority figures - teachers, probation officers and even judges - a new social awareness begins to emerge. Changing Lives shows how reawakening moral consciousness and a fresh commitment to society is essential if probationers are not to cycle endlessly through the limbo of street life and jail time.