in what sense? I don't think the crisis would affect sentencing in any way.. suppose you could make the argument that more people out of work = higher crime= higher instances of probation.. but not sure where else you can go with this... can you be a bit more specific?
I mean how does it effect the jobs, number of people who would be let on parole. Would prison over populate?
Well, prisons are already over-populated, recession or not. That in and of itself would naturally lead one to think that those who commit lesser crimes are more likely to be let out on parole in order to make room in the already crowded prisons. as far as how the recession affects it all.. I can really only speculate as I did in my previous post that, if anything, the recession which cause an increase in unemployment would cause an increase in petty crime as well. I work at a police station, and though I haven't been there long the general attitude from the officers is that it 'seems' that with more people desperate these days, there are higher instances of theft, burglary and even robbery. Now, this is hardly a proven fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the numbers weren't really all that different from years past anyway. This article http://www.safetyandjustice.org/node/659 appears to relate the economic crisis' impact on the budget to directly impact prisons. Less money for prisons means fewer inmates can be sustained, fewer guards can be hired, etc. However article points out that different states are in different levels of crisis with budget, so they may be affected accordingly. Also, some state crime rates can be falling while the national crime rate could be rising, and potentially vice versa. It appears to all be very state and local area dependent. This makes sense, as each community is affected differently by the financial crisis. I think it would be hard to draw direct cause and effect links from the crisis to rise and fall in parole/probation rates, but it could and most likely does affect them. I am hardly a political guru, so I may be completely off in my assessment here. You may want to raise this question to some of our more versed members in the Political Forum, as they may be able to shed better light on the issue or at least point you in the correct direction as far as readings go. Good luck to you though I hope you find the answer you're looking for
Parole/probation is usually determined by the conduct of the prisoner, not the economic circumstances. Where the economic crisis may come into it is that parole boards usually look favorably on parolees re-entering the workforce. Everything else aside people in paid employment commit less crimes than the unemployed simply because for 40 hrs/week their *** belongs to their boss and they have less opportunity to commit crimes. Economic crisis = fewer jobs for parolees = less crims being given parole.
As a recent prison employee, I can somewhat answer this question. You are correct in the assumption that less funding leads to more parole/probation cases, because ultimately prisons have budgets just like any other entity and early release is a proven money maker. With a lack of jobs for work release employees it makes sense to let them go home and find work on their own, all the while charging them large fees in exchange for their freedom. While crime may rise during hard economic times, there are hundreds of model inmates within any legal system that do not have to be in jail except for the judge's ruling. Letting them go home for a few thousand dollars over the course of a few years is a win/win for everyone involved and makes space for the career criminals that just do not get it. I would go into more detail but then I would have to worried about being sued, but I can say for a fact that more paroles/probations were granted in 2009 than there were in 2008....and more will go home this year than in 2009. This is public record that anyone can view, so it's not really a debatable issue. Hopefully that helps.
