Download The Mutual Pledge System and the Common Law - 601-1500

www.360degrees.org
May 15, 2001
Where are We Now?
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An estimated 5.1% of all persons in the U.S.
will be confined in a State or Federal prison at
some point during their lifetime.
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Men have an overall 9.0% chance
Women a 1.1% chance
Blacks 16.2% chance
Hispanics 9.4% chance
Whites 2.5% chance
Prison Populations
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Current Prison Populations
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131,496 inmates in Federal Prisons
1,179,214 in State Prisons
621,149 in local jails
The Nation’s inmate population is projected to
reach 2 million by late 2001.
The Mutual Pledge System and the
Common Law - 601-1500
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Feudalism takes hold at the beginning of the 8th
Century and then declines between 1150 and 1500.
– Under Feudalism, disputes were handled informally
usually through the exchange of monies.
– When a dispute could not be handled economically
or the offender did not have economic means to
settle the dispute, corporal punishment and public
shaming was used.
– The assumption at this time was that violent
criminals were possessed.
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Evidence as we know it today was not needed – the goal of
the ordeal was to expunge the demons.
The Mutual Pledge System and the
Common Law - 601-1500
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As England become more urbanized there becomes a
need to manage disputes more formally.
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Around 1100 the first book of English common law is
published.
With the development of the common law came a need to
identify guilty individuals using some form of evidence.
It was at this time that the jury developed (1200).
The assumption of the time was that there was ‘fact’
and that a rational process could uncover those facts.
The Protestant Work Ethic
1500-1607
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During this time there was a significant dichotomy
between types of punishment.
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Corporal punishment was still widely used with serious, violent,
and personal crimes.
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The purpose of punishment now becomes deterrence.
Work houses were used for those persons convicted of
property crimes, and other nuisance crimes.
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The goal of the work houses was to reform individuals through
work.
Work houses were mainly reserved for the lower classes.
Although corporal punishment continued, the private workhouse
signaled a separation of society from its criminals.
The Enlightenment
1607-1776
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The enlightenment ‘the age of reason’ is a
major political movement that argues that
reason can be used to find the truth.
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Out of this period developed what we know of today
as ‘classical’ criminological theory.
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Scientific reasoning and objective thought
Assumption that government should provide the greatest
good for the greatest number of people.
Cesare Beccaria
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1764 ‘On Crimes and Punishments’
Assumption that people are rational and that
they act out of free will.
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Individuals balance the positives and negatives of
criminal activity and make a rational choice. Cost
Benefit analysis.
To deter crime we must make the costs outweigh
the benefits. He argues that swift and certain
punishment are the key to deterrence.
The Dawn of the Prison
1776-1784
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1789 - Bentham and the Panopticon
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“a place where everything is seen”
This type of prison was never developed during his lifetime but
influenced correctional design for centuries.
1773 – Newgate Prison in Connecticut
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This is one of the first prisons used to house people for a long
period of time.
No longer are people just held for pre-trail punishment –
incarceration represents retribution – sentences range from a
few years to life.
Models of Punishment
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The Pennsylvania system:
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Developed based on the Quaker model of repentance and
reform
All inmates live is complete isolation and only religious
teachings and visitors are allowed
The Auburn system
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This model emphasizes hard work which is deemed the true
way to repent and to be rehabilitated
Unlike the Pennsylvania model, the auburn model allows
people to work in groups – but all work must be done in
complete silence
This prison system was also the first to develop inmate
classification systems.
Institutions and Disorder
1828-1865
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Prisons become the primary form of
punishment during this era.
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Unfortunately, the penitentiary becomes so popular
that institutions become overcrowded and riotous.
Most prisons are built based on the Auburn system,
but the overcrowding becomes so intense that
prisons become warehouses.
The first non-public hanging is held in 1864
The Big House
1917-1945
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1930 – The Federal Bureau of Prisons is
developed.
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26,000 inmates were incarcerated in the Federal
System.
1933 – Alcatraz is developed into a Federal Prison.
During this time there is a movement to
develop ‘correctional institutions’.
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The prisons are now developed on the medical
model.
Riots and Rebellion
1945-1960
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The field of sociology gains substantial prominence
during this period
Sociologists begin to study subcultures within the
prison
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The work of sociologists brought to light the need for
programming within the prison
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Sykes (1950), Clemmer (1940) & Irwin (1962)
Correction rehabilitation remains the norm until the 70’s
1954 – the American prison association becomes the
American correctional association
The War on Drugs
1970-1980
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September 9, 1971 – Attica Riots
– This riot is a symptom a the current correctional
system – most prisons are old and crowded.
In 1972, as a result of Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme
Court rules the death unconstitutional for the first time.
In 1976, the Supreme Court overturns its controversial
1972 ruling against capital punishment after hearing
the case of Gregg v. Georgia
“Nothing Works”
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Fall of the rehabilitative era