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A Decade of Experimenting with Intermediate Sanctions: What Have We Learned?*

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A Decade of Experimenting with Intermediate Sanctions: What Have We Learned?* A Decade of Experimenting With Intermediate Sanctions: What Have We Learned?* BY JOAN PETERSILIA, PH.D. Professor of Criminology, Law, and Society, University of California, Irvine HIS ARTICLE reviews what has been learned The ISP Experiment Begins during the past 10 to 15 years about the restric- In the mid-1980s, a broad-based consensus emerged Ttions and costs of intermediate sanctions, those as to the desirability of developing mid-range punish- mid-range punishments that lie somewhere between ments for offenders for whom incarceration was unnec- prison and routine probation. Various intermediate essarily severe and ordinary probation was inappropri- sanctions programs (ISPs) that incorporate intensive ately light. Three converging conditions and events supervision, home confinement, community service, drove the development of this consensus. boot camps, and day fines have been developed in re- 1. Crowded Southern prisons and a poor econ- cent years. omy. First, prison crowding in the Southern United For those of us whose research has focused primarily States, coupled with a poor regional economy, created on community corrections, the end of the 1990s marks early pressures for tough community-based options. an important landmark. We have witnessed the nat- Federal courts found several overcrowded prisons in ural progression of ISPs, beginning in the mid-1980s the South to be in violation of the eighth amendment with the media’s enthusiastic portrayal of them as the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and panacea of corrections; through program design and mandated that these states either build new facilities implementation; to evaluation and testing; and finally or find some other way to punish offenders. Because to institutionalization, redesign, or abandonment. It is these states did not have the funds to build new prisons critical for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to (as other states experiencing prison population growth look back and reflect upon what has been learned dur- initially did), judicial pressure created an incentive for ing these years. them to develop tough but inexpensive sentences, When looking at ISPs, there are three important specifically those that did not require a prison cell. Be- questions to consider: First, what did the ISP experi- cause the voters were not about to endorse “soft” social ment consist of—who did what, with whom, and for programs, the new programs were presented to the what purpose? Secondly, how did ISPs affect program public as punitive rather than rehabilitative. In fact, costs, recidivism, and prison crowding? And, perhaps some of the older, first-generation intensive supervision most important, how is the knowledge gained from this programs (which provided intensive rehabilitation ser- experience influencing current practice? vices) changed their names to “intensive surveillance” Several conclusions can be drawn from the evalua- programs while programs originally called “alterna- tions of ISPs: tives to incarceration” were renamed “intermediate punishments.” • In terms of sheer numbers and investments, the The State of Georgia developed the first well- overall ISP experiment was more symbolic in its publicized intensive supervision program, the hallmark achievements than substantive. of which was the assignment of 25 offenders to a su- pervision team of two probation officers. The team con- • Specific components must be in place for these pro- sisted of a surveillance officer, whose main responsibil- grams to work. ity was to monitor the offender closely, and a probation • Research findings currently influence the design of officer, who provided counseling and had legal author- corrections programs and, more important, con- ity over the case. While on intermediate sanction, each tribute to an emerging community justice model that probationer was seen five times a week, performed promises to create a major paradigm shift in commu- community service, paid a supervision fee, and had to nity corrections. be employed or in an educational program. Georgia’s self-evaluation showed that ISP partici- pants had extremely low recidivism rates (less than 5 *This article was originally prepared for the National In- stitute of Justice (NIJ) for use in its Crime and Justice Per- percent), and most offenders maintained employment spectives series and is reprinted with NIJ’s permission. and paid restitution to victims. In addition, the 3 Vol. 62, No. 2 4 FEDERAL PROBATION December 1998 monthly supervision fee made the program self- only to relieve prison crowding but to relieve probation supporting. In 1985, Georgia Corrections Commis- crowding as well. The dissemination of the NIJ-RAND sioner David Evans claimed the ISP had saved the study became the second event to increase the accep- state the cost of building two new prisons. tance of ISPs. A great deal of national publicity followed. The Wash- 3. Morris and Tonry’s book on the polarization ington Post and the New York Times ran major stories of sentencing. The third event that was critical in cre- touting the program’s success and called Georgia’s pro- ating the impetus for the ISP movement was the publi- gram “the future of American corrections.” Proponents cation of an influential book in 1990 by Norval Morris suggested that intermediate punishments could relieve and Michael Tonry entitled Between Prison and Proba- prison crowding, enhance public safety, and rehabili- tion: Intermediate Punishments in a Rational Sentenc- tate offenders—all at a cost saving. Probation staffs ing System.2 Written by two of the nation’s leading also were enthusiastic, saying intermediate sanctions criminologists, this study acknowledged that U.S. programs gave them an opportunity to “do probation judges faced a polarized choice between prison and pro- work the way it ought to be done.” bation, with a near vacuum of punishment options be- Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Florida, tween these extremes. The study provided the needed among other states, quickly followed suit, and the in- conceptual framework for a more graduated sanction- termediate sanctions movement was born. It is impor- ing system that relied upon a range of sentences in- tant to be clear about the initial motivation: modern cluding fines, community service, house arrest, inten- ISPs were developed in direct response to prison crowd- sive probation, and electronic monitoring. Morris and ing, and without that pressure, we would not be here Tonry argued that rigorously enforced intermediate today reviewing their performance. punishments better serve victims and the justice sys- 2. First indepth study of U.S. felony probation. tem. A continuum that matches offenders to sanctions Research evidence produced at that time showed that based on the seriousness of their crime is essential—re- the existing felony probation system was a failure in gardless of any prison-crowding concerns—in creating large urban areas. This evidence helped convince Cali- a rational sentencing system, they wrote. fornia and other large states that had not yet faced se- The ISP Concept Gains Strong Support vere prison crowding that there were public safety risks in placing felons on routine probation. In 1983, the Na- What existed, then, were program models that ap- tional Institute of Justice (NIJ) awarded a grant to the peared to work, research to show that without these RAND Corporation to conduct the first indepth study of programs the public was at serious risk, and a felony probation in the United States. The final report, compelling theoretical justification for moving for- Granting Felons Probation: Public Risks and Alterna- ward. A groundswell of support emerged for intermedi- tives, documented the fact that serious felons were ate sanctions and, as one article noted about this pe- being granted probation. Furthermore, because of lim- riod, “State legislators were virtually falling over each ited (and often declining) community corrections re- other” in an effort to sponsor legislation to implement sources, these offenders were ineffectively supervised, these programs.3 and the public safety consequences were severe. Two- The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and several thirds of the nearly 2,000 felony probationers who were private organizations, particularly the Edna McConnell tracked during this study were rearrested within 3 Clark Foundation, played a catalytic role in focusing years, and more than half were reconvicted of serious this energy. In 1990, NIJ sponsored a national confer- offenses.1 ence that brought together more than 300 federal, The study also generated a great deal of public at- state, and local criminal justice administrators to ex- tention because it clearly showed that overburdened plore the state of intermediate sanctions and their po- probation staff often were unable to closely supervise tential. In his keynote address, Attorney General Dick felons or hold them accountable for their crimes. The Thornburg emphasized the strong bipartisan support researchers, however, did not call for the abandonment for developing intermediate sanctions. The Bureau of of probation for felons or their incarceration in the fu- Justice Assistance (the “action” arm of DOJ) solicited ture but rather something in between: agencies across the country to participate in a demon- The justice system needs an alternative, intermediate form of pun- stration to test the costs and benefits of various types of ishment for those offenders who are too antisocial for the relative
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