Chapter 10

Corrections Organization and Operation

 

GENERAL FEATURES:

Two subsystems:

Two types of supervision:

TWO PHILOSOPHIES to CORRECTIONS

Two philosophies can conflict

Corrections departments-traditionally closed system
resulting in suspicion and distrust from outside.

Reality: Corrections has an external impact and must
interact with/be responsive to outside forces

ADMINISTRATOR:-develops policy-highly political

Can be used as scapegoat in highly politicized environment-
No job security-serves at will

MANAGERS-implement policy

REVIEW SAMPLE RANK STRUCTURE in Textbook

 California Dept of Corrections

PRISONS AS ORGANIZATIONS

DEVELOPMENT AND STATUS OF INMATE
CIVIL LITIGATION

PRISONER LITIGATION

Increase from 218 in 1966 to 16,741 in 1981.

in 1996 64,000 petitions filed

Successful Law suits-benefitial impact on staff

Review the Federal Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996
which attempts to address the problem of frivolous lawsuits.

US SUPREME COURT CASE INVOLVING PRISONERS
 Procunier v. Martinez: 416 US 396, 1974 -mail censorship and client/attorney priviledge issue for paralegal/law students' interviews of inmates.

Successful Law suits-benefitial impact on staff

Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996

"The overwhelming majority of prisoner cases, especially civil rights
cases filed by state prisoners in federal district courts pursuant to
42 U.S.C. §Ê1983, are filed pro se and in forma pauperis (IFP).
Thus, an effective case-management plan for prisoner civil rights cases
must focus on court practices for processing IFP suits.
Because the majority of prisoner civil rights complaints are decided
on the pleadings and disposed of without trial, most of the administrative
burden this litigation imposes on the district courts results from the
initial screening and pretrial processes."


PLRA provisions can be sorted into six basic categories:
criteria for case screening and dismissal;
requirements for achieving IFP status;
provisions affecting the management of cases;
limitations on relief;
sanctions; and
attorneys’ fees.

I. Case-Specific Procedures for Facilitating Effective Management
of Prisoner Litigation according to the

The original and complete document linked above discusses procedures
for the following decision points in managing a prisoner civil rights action:

determining IFP status and the appropriate filing fee
ordering service of process
determining whether a claim or complaint should be dismissed
handling mandatory exhaustion of administrative remedies
determining whether and how to provide counsel
managing cases that survive the initial determination regarding frivolousness
determining sanctions to deter abusive prisoner litigation
setting out appeal rights in final orders and IFP proceedings on appeal.

A. Procedures for determining IFP status and the appropriate filing fee.
Regardless of a prisoner’s ability to qualify for IFP status, as
explained below, new section 1915(g) precludes granting such status
to any prisoner who has had three prisoner actions dismissed in federal
court as frivolous or malicious, or for failing to state a claim on which
relief could be granted, unless the prisoner is in imminent and serious
physical danger.

The prisoner’s affidavit must “include a statement of all assets
such prisoner possesses.”31 In addition to the affidavit, the prisoner
must file “a certified copy of the trust fund account statement . . . .
for the prisoner for the 6-month period immediately preceding the
filing of the complaint.”

Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2002
Presents data on prison and jail inmates, collected from National Prisoner Statistics counts and the Annual Survey of Jails in 2002. This report provides for each State and the Federal system, the number of inmates and the overall incarceration rate per 100,000 residents. It offers trends since 1995 and percentage changes in prison populations since midyear and yearend 2001. The midyear report presents the number of prison inmates held in private facilities and the number of prisoners under 18 years of age held by State correctional authorities. It includes total numbers for prison and jail inmates by gender, race, and Hispanic origin as well as counts of jail inmates by juvenile status, conviction status, and confinement status. The report also provides findings on rated capacity of local jails, percent of capacity occupied, and capacity added.

Highlights include the following:


In the year ending June 30, 2002, the number of inmates in custody in local jails rose by 34,235; in State prison by 12,440; and in Federal prison by 8,042.

At midyear 2002, a total of 3,055 State prisoners were under age 18. Adult jails held a total of 7,248 persons under age 18.

At midyear 2002, there were 113 female inmates per 100,000 women in the United States, compared to 1,309 male inmates per 100,000 men.

From: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pjim02.htm

Changes in Prisoner litigation since 1996

House Introduces Crucial Prison Litigation Reform Legislation

Prison Litigation and What It Means To You as a Corrections Professional

PRISONER LITIGATION IN THE INTERNET AGE

BJS Statistics