American Corrections
In modern times it seems that legal system is as developed as it possibly can. We are living in the country of freedom and law supremacy, where every criminal will receive a fair punishment. Without any doubt, some of the misdemeanors are less dangerous for our society than other. Years ago, in legal practice, almost all the criminal cases were resolved by the imprisoning of the offender. For minor crimes, such serious punishment was quite controversial and there was a huge public interest in the changes in criminal justice and legislative system. Modern trends in justice allow some things that were unusual years ago. For example, Alarid, Leanne et al. stated that some of the civil conflicts could be resolved without going to the court, only by Alternative Disputes Resolution, such as arbitration and mediation. However, the criminal cases are still ruled by the court, but nowadays some courts appoint intermediate sanctions as alternative corrections.
According to Clear, Todd R et al., intermediate sanctions are criticized by conservative part of modern society because they consider that all offenders should be imprisoned. They ignore the facts that sometimes offenders are quite normal people, without any deviant or criminal behavior. Such people only were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The followers of intermediate sanctions found that the modern penitentiary system of every country is a very badly managed organization, where the strongest and most arrogant prisoners control other. In non-violent cases, such imprisoning could lead to the worsening of the situation, when instead of re-education, the system will create a real displeased criminal. They advise using probation instead of incarceration for nonviolent crimes. To understand wherever it is a good idea or not, we should analyze the whole situation in the legal system.
Non-violent crimes are such time of crimes, where the usage of force is limited, and there are no injuries for other people. Non-violent crimes cover a wide range of offenses and the level of non-violent crimes is usually measured by the financial damage or loss made. The most popular non-violent crimes are property crimes, tax, and white collar crimes, alcohol-related crimes, and gambling crimes. So, the main argument of probation supporters is the fact that non-violent crimes are all about the economic damage. The imprisoned offender will not be able to cover all losses, so if the court will decide to appoint the probation instead of incarceration, there are more chances that offender will cover the losses for the aggrieved party.
Clear, Todd R et al. stated that during the probation, the law enforcement agencies will still monitor the behavior and lifestyle of the offender and could easily imprison him in the case of repetition of an unlawful act. Additionally, we should remember that redemption is a basic principle in legal practice. The probation will be the last chance for people who conducted a non-violent crime by mistake. The offender has more chances to rehabilitate during the probation, instead of incarceration due to the …
