Alternative Sentencing: Community Sentencing Or Non-Custodial

Alternative sentencing comprises all of the different forms of punishment that a court can impose on a defendant after he’s been convicted of an offense, other than a jail term or the death penalty. It’s also called community sentencing or non-custodial sentencing. It is a powerful tool for judges and courts to impose a punishment that is tailored to the crime and has the best chance of having a positive impact on society, and the defendant, too.

These programs are not open to everyone. Defendants must meet certain criteria. It depends largely on the type of crime that was committed and whether or not the accused has any prior convictions. But for those who qualify, alternative sentencing programs offer an opportunity to avoid the kind of punishment that could ruin their lives.

Types of alternative sentences

The most common form of alternative sentencing involves monetary fines. In fact, they are so common that they don’t really seem like an alternative. Speeding and parking tickets are two examples. In criminal cases, judges often use fines as an additional punishment rather than an alternative, tacking them onto the sentence. But a smart Gillette criminal defense attorney has the ability to negotiate a fine in exchange for lowering or getting rid of a jail term altogether.

Another option for judges is to issue a suspended sentence. The judge hands down a sentence but does not actually enforce it. This is typically used with non-serious crimes or first-time offenses. In other cases, there will be some conditions imposed along with the suspension, such as completing a substance abuse program.

Likewise, probation is an option that requires the accused to fulfill certain conditions or risk having the probation revoked and being sent to jail. As with fines, probation and suspended sentences are often negotiated between the prosecution and the defense lawyer.

Another common choice for judges is to order restitution. This is similar to a fine, except the money goes towards the victim of the crime to compensate any financial setbacks caused by the crime, such as for medical expenses or property damage. Similar to a fine, this might be used as an additional punishment in some cases, rather than as an alternative.

Other times, a judge will order the defendant to perform community service. This could be through a local or regional program, such as a highway clean-up program. Sometimes, it’s possible to negotiate a specific form of service that’s related to the crime, such as a person who was arrested for a drug offense lecturing young people about the dangers of getting involved with drugs.

Finally, many municipalities and counties have special diversion programs that result in the charges being dismissed if the defendant meets certain criteria. The aim of such programs is to give offenders the opportunity to show they have learned from their mistakes and will be unlikely to repeat them. If they fail to stay clean during their probationary period, charges will again be brought against the offenders.

One example of a Wyoming diversion program is the Intensive Supervision Program. This program “promotes public safety through increased accountability” with options such as electronic monitoring, drug and alcohol testing, and unannounced home or work visits. The goal is to enact long-term behavioral change via cognitive-behavioral intervention, mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, life skills development, and educational or vocational training.

Alternative sentencing programs are based on the belief that rehab is a more effective solution for new offenders than prison. Alternative sentencing acknowledges the fact that drugs can turn the best of us into criminals, and that each of us deserves a chance to recover from the disease of addiction. For many of the offenders who are diverted into these programs, alternative sentencing is their first real opportunity to have a shot at medically supervised rehabilitation.

The benefits of alternative sentencing are far-reaching:

Choosing rehabilitation instead of incarceration may save taxpayers money by helping drug offenders get out of the criminal justice system and stay clean. A Research Triangle Institute study of 150 felony offenders in a drug treatment program in Brooklyn, New York found that rehabilitation saved the New York City system over $7 million.

Alternative sentencing diverts nonviolent offenders out of the system so that the courts aren’t overwhelmed with drug cases.

Drug rehabilitation gets to the root cause of drug-related crime instead of perpetuating the problem by sending nonviolent offenders straight to prison.

Alternative sentencing lets offenders remain in the community, where they can continue to work, take care of their loved ones and make a contribution to society.

Outpatient drug rehab programs may benefit the offender’s family by allowing children to continue having regular contact with their parents.

Advantages of Alternative Sentencing

work release – These programs generally allow the inmate to work in the community during the day, returning to the prison during non-working hours. This allows the inmate to begin to save money for when they are released from prison. Also, these programs help the inmate become re-integrated into the community so that once they are completely released, they are better situated to succeed.

House arrest and community service – These options offer several advantages to traditional criminal sentences or incarceration. They cost taxpayers less than it would to house an inmate in jail or prison. In fact, by one estimate, it is 7 times more expensive to incarcerate a drug offender than to put that offender through a treatment program. More importantly, these programs keep families together and allow the offender to continue to help provide for his or her family while repaying their debt to society.

Juvenile offenders may learn important lessons and gain invaluable skills – Minors who are caught during the commission of their first crimes are given a chance to rehabilitate in the hopes that the alternative sentencing will allow the minors to see why their crimes were harmful to their victims. On a few occasions, that juvenile defendant may find an employment opportunity or even a career path.

Conclusions

The unprecedented rise in incarceration rates can be attributed to an increasingly punitive political climate surrounding criminal justice policy formed in a period of rising crime and rapid social change. This provided the context for a series of policy choices across all branches and levels of government, that significantly increased sentence lengths, required prison time for minor offenses, and intensified punishment for drug crimes. Instead of depriving those who commit less dangerous offenses (such as summary offenses) of their freedom, the courts put some limitations on them and give them some duties. The list of components that make up a community sentence is of course different in individual countries and will be combined individually by the court.