Discussion 1
"Reentry into Society" Please respond to the following:
• From the e-Activity, take a position on whether or not the structure of probation effectively reintegrates the offender back into society while avoiding the stigma of incarceration. Provide a rationale for your response.
• Take a position on whether or not intermediate sanctions allow judges too much discretion for establishing sentencing first time offenders. Provide a rationale for your response.
Discussion 1
I personally take a position on the structure of probation effectively reintegrates the offender back into society while avoiding the stigma of incarceration if they are submit in the right program to be better re-entry back into society. The reason for this structure is because keeping offenders incarcerated for a period of time is becoming quite expensive when that amount of money that is being spend can use for something else In the community.
In an article "reducing recidivism, the challenge of successful prisoner re-entry" by Paul Heroux stated that probation and parole both used post release to monitor inmates are very important to help reducing recidivism. With that being said ex con's are convicted offenders and some make serious mistakes and some mistakes aren't as serious, and probation can help reducing but not eliminating recidivism(Heroux,2011).
Intermediate Sanctions help meet the need for developing community services that are fair, proportional and equitable. As stated by Zachariah Wavomba it is unfair to treat a rapist and a shoplifter with the same type of probationary sentences given the differenced in their crimes.
Therefore, intermediate sanctions are beneficial because they allow judges to fit the punishment to the crime without resorting to a prison punishment, with this given information helps me to take a structure that intermediate sanction does not allow judges too much discretion I feel judges gives sentencing to first time offenders to what fits the crime.
Reference:
Heroux.P., (2011). Reducing Recidivism: The Challenge of successful prisoner Re-entry.
Wavomba.Z.(2017). Advantage of intermediate sanctions in sentencing.
Discussion 2
"Model Countries" Please respond to the following:
• Select one (1) of the model countries from the text. Compare and contrast two (2) strengths and two (2) weaknesses of its justice system to the United States' justice system. Suggest one (1) change to each country's justice system that might improve on the weaknesses that you noted. Provide a rationale for your response.
• From the e-Activity, suppose you are a political leader in your community. Give one (1) example of an alternative to incarceration that you would implement to reduce crime in your community. Examine the fundamental ways in which implementing your chosen alternative will potentially lead to reduced crime.
Please also reply to the student
Discussion 2
•Select one (1) of the model countries from the text. Compare and contrast two (2) strengths and two (2) weaknesses of its justice system to the United States' justice system. Suggest one (1) change to each country's justice system that might improve on the weaknesses that you noted. Provide a rationale for your response.
The model country i picked is England. Two strengths of England's juridical system is the unitary government . This means the power is centralized rather than divided between states and a central government. The U.S. is the opposite of this. England has Parliament, which can override any executive decision. Parliament is consist of three parts : The Monarch, The house of Lords, and the house of commons.
This is very similar to the U.S. with Executive, Legislative, and Judicial systems. Another Strength is the Crime statistics and police data that is used. This is great to keep track of what crimes are going on and becoming a problem in the United Kingdom. The U.S. uses similar system such as Uniform Crime Reports and Victim surveys. Crime rates in both England and the U.S. continue to dip and seem to be parallel with one another.
One weakness of the U.S. is they do not compare their reports to other states but England does compare them. The U.S. could be more in tune with what is coming and going within the U.S. if they looked at the crime rate in different places. Both countries have illicit drug problems while U.S. has high violent crime rates and England has money laundering issues. Both countries could have higher punishments for white collar crime such as money laundering. This would help reduce the rate of the crime.
•From the e-Activity, suppose you are a political leader in your community. Give one (1) example of an alternative to incarceration that you would implement to reduce crime in your community. Examine the fundamental ways in which implementing your chosen alternative will potentially lead to reduced crime.
Cuba has a rehabilitation program that helps offenders return to the public without being behind bars. This is a great idea for small offenses like a drugs charge or other misdemeanors. The prisoners are allowed to wear their street clothes; they are incarcerated in their homes. This is a great way to rebuild an individual instead of putting them behind bars for a petty crime.
A lot or prisons are overcrowded in the U.S. for petty crimes and they could solve this problem by just allowing the inmate to be rehabilitated at their own house. One strength of the rehabilitation process is that prisons are less crowded and another is the possibility of rehabilitating faster than if they were behind bars. One weakness is that people will see that "criminals" are still walking the streets. Another one is that if they do not have to spend any time behind bars they may feel that it's not a big deal to commit the crime again. They should make the punishment of "rehabilitation" at home a little less open.
Make the individuals have a set schedule they strictly have to follow. If they break that schedule then they are required to go back into the court system and behind bars. This gives them the opportunity to fix themselves but know they could have harsh punishment if they mess up. They get the one chance opportunity. This will lead to less crime because they will see it as they are getting this one and only chance. They will be less inclined to commit that crime again.