Offenders in The Community
by The basic concept of parole and probation can be made into useful tools for community good as well as victim assurance if properly used. The ideas associated with parole have been a part of the American Justice system for well over a hundred years now. The premises of these release programs call for individual reform and personal change and present themselves in both the discretionary and mandatory parole models. Parole can provide cost savings to communities by the lower costs of release as opposed to continued imprisonment.
The remainder of his actions is a matter of history as his outrageous release resulted in an additional death. The public felt as much of a victim with his light sentence as the poor girl which he mutilated. As a result of this the public outcry concerning his early release resulted in legislation being drafted and passed. These laws prevented the early release of such offenders as Singleton who commits crimes involving torture. The “Singleton bill” passed in 1987 proposed a twenty-five year to a life sentence for crimes of this nature.
The major disadvantage experienced by this example is that many criminals are paroled without any sort of guidelines. In the case of Singleton, even though the leniency which was shown to him provided an opportunity to start over it was testified by witnesses that he failed to accept his guilt and was not convinced his crime as even wrong. That to me is an invitation for repeated offenses. This proved to be entirely true as Singleton upon his return to Florida murdered a prostitute named Roxanne Hayes,
Additional disadvantages border upon the perceived lack of punishment for a crime, the increased risk to the community and the associated social costs to maintain the parolee’s meager lifestyle.
In today’s court systems, the use of statistical risk assessment for offenders who are being released on parole usually provides an accurate scoring when their individual offenses and background are taken into consideration. Since each case is separately scored based upon the criminals prior convictions, his or hers employment status, the age of the offender and whether the offence is considered a class A felony, a specific level of risk is generated. This is intended to protect and ensure the public and society that the parolee is an acceptable risk.
As for the needs associated with the offender this parole assessment provides an effective gauge where they are assigned a risk score. This score is used in determining their level of supervision ranging from that of intensive to those of administrative only. The higher risk score indicating intensive supervision could pose a significant risk to the victim and must report weekly to their supervising probation officer.
Copyright @2010 Joseph Parish
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