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Halfway House
In the United States, the halfway house originated. The concept for halfway houses dates all the way back into the early 1800's. A halfway house is one of the most common and oldest type of communitiy residential facility for probationers and parolees. The term halfway was made up from two sayings; "those who were halfway on their way out of prison and those who were one step away from it if they didn't make it" (Alarid, Carmen, 2008, para. 2). -
Juvenile court
In the year 1899, Illinios Juvenile Court Act legally established a juvenile system different from the adult system to stop the exploitation of children. The courts went off of the belief that the child's behavior was stemming from poor family backround and surroundings. The juvenile court was geared toward rehabilitation. -
John Augustus
In the year 1939, John Augustus was known as the founder for probation in the corrections comunity. John was a bootmaker that lived in Boston. John would bail out offenders if he thought they would return to court for their court date. John Murray Spear was a follower of John Augustus. -
Pretrial Release
The first pretrial release program began in 1960 as the mahattan Bail project assist judges in identifying defendants who could be released on their own recognizance before their next schedules court date. A pretrial release was the alternative to detention while waiting on his/her court date. Pretrial release allows defendants to live and work in the community while they wait. -
!st Bail Reform
The !st Bail Reform Act was established in 1966 with guidelines on appropriate bail amounts and alternatives to detention for those unable to afford bail. The act was a reminder that the law favors release unless the defendant poses a risk of not showing up for the court date. -
determinate sentencing
Main became the first state in 1975 to return the determinate sentencing where the minimum and maximum sentence range is predefined and release is determined by the legislative statute. The sentence is determined by the offenders behavior rather than the rehabilitative part of the process. During this time there were less sentencing options for the judges. -
Federal Pretrial
The Federal Pretrial Services Act was passed in 1982 to authorize pretrial supervision for federal defendants accused of felony and class A misdemeanors. The growing concerns of the publics safety toward the Federal Pretrial Services Act is what led to the passage of the second Bail Reform Act being passed. -
boot camp
The first boot camp for offenders was in Georgia. The boot camp style was a lot like the military style to teach discipline through physical training, hard labor and rigid structure. This type of corrections was one of the most shock incarceration programs their was. Eligible candiadates were young first time felony offenders with a non violent offense due to the physical demands. -
Second Reform Act
The second bail reform act was passed in 1984 that included the safety of the public as a important criterion in the decision to release a pretrial defendant. The U.S. Supreme court decided that this reform was for the defendants who posed a threat to themselves or others and not as a form of punishment. -
Griffen v. Wisconsin
Due to the case Griffen v. Wisconsin in 1987 the U.S. Supreme Court rules that a warrantless search of a probationer's home is valid as long as reasonable grounds exist to beleve contraband is present in violation of the conditions of the probationer. The courts felt this was consistent to the Fourth Amendment. -
Drug Courts
The idea of drug courts began in 1989 in Dade County, Fl under the assumption that treatment interventions of first time drug offenders or low level drug users would be more likely to curb future drug use than punishment without treatment. There was another assumption that the sooner they started a drug intervention after arrest the shorter time they spent in jail and in a negative environment.
