About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

2 Correction 1 (1932)

handle is hein.journals/crecton2 and id is 1 raw text is: xl - .------ -- S13 - - PUBLISHED BY THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION VOLUME 2 ELMIRA, N. Y. JANUARY, 1932 THE INDETERMINATE SENTENCE LAW A MENDMENTS to the criminal code which would modify some of the provisions of the law, as formulated by the late New York Crime Commis- sion, are to be proposed for enactment during the present session of the Legislature by the Commis- sion to Investigate Prison Administration and Con- struction. At a recent meeting of the Commission held at the office of its chairman, Sam A. Lewisohn in New York city, it was the unanimous sentiment that certain amendments placed upon the statutes of the State have, in many instances, completely destroyed or rendered impotent the indeterminate sentence law for first offenders. The Commission has issued the following state- ment The indeterminate sentence law, as originally drafted, recognized the impossibility of determining, by one act in his career, the exact amount of punishment which would prove salutory or remedial in each case involving the young first offender brought before the bar of justice. It further placed the stress upon rehabilitation and reform instead of upon punishment per se. and emphasized the position taken by modern penologists that, if penal law had for its primary objective the protection of society-such protection could best, and most economically, be secured by the restoration of the former offender to society on a social basis at the earliest possible moment-that the reformation and adjustment in society of the erstwhile rebel against law and order would afford better protection than his continued segregation be- hind stone walls and iron bars. It is generally conceded by those familiar with the criminal that, if reformation is to be the objective in the treatment of these young offenders, it will, in the vast ma- jority of cases, be accomplished in a relatively short time and that incarceration over a long period will, of itself, unfit the individual for return to society on a useful basis or make such a procedure exceedingly difficult, if not hope- less. With this theory in mind the original indeterminate sentence law prescribed a relatively short minimum sentence after the expiration of which the prisoner could, in the dis- cretion of the parole board, be conditionally released. The original law registered its opinion of the gravity of the crime by the length of the maximum sentence-thereby continuing the supervision of the parole board over longer periods, in the cases of those persons convicted of more serious violation of the law. In the past few years the increase in crimes of violence, and the wide publicity concerning them afforded by the press, stimulated an apparent demand for harsher methods upon the theory that such measures would exercise a more deterrent effect upon the potential criminal. That the theory (Continued on Paqc 3) NEW INSTITUTIONS RECOMMENDED G OVERNOR ROOSEVELT in his message to the Legislature. recommends two new penal insti- tutions, one for mentally defective delinquents, and another for the younger type. of delinquents: The State is making good progress in carrying out the new and comprehensive prison policy. With current appropriations and those to be made by this Legislature and the next, we shall be in a position by the date set-1935-to eliminate the antiquated and unsani- tary housing of prisoners which was such a disgrace to our modern society. The new Attica Prison is already in partial use, the new medium security prison at Wall- kill is under contract, and I am asking this year for the starting of two additional institutions-one to take care of mentally defective prisoners and the other to house the younger type of delinquents. Equally importnt has been the progress in the classification, segregation and paroling of prisoners, but the more we give intelligent administration to this prob- lem, the more we find a definite need for changes in the present law dealing with first offenders and the length of their sentences. I incline more and more to the enactment of an indeterminate sentence law, the found- ation of which will be the individual case rather than the application of definite terms and rules laid down by the Legislature and the courts. While the estab- lishment of the Parole Board has given a more sub- stantial justice, we must definitely follow this up with an extension of the system of probation and with ade- quate provision for indeterminate sentences. The Commission to Investigate Prison Administration and Construction will shortly make definite recommenda- tions along these lines to your Honorable Bodies. Several tentative sites are being examined by experts to determine the best location for another institution for defective delinquents. The present Institution for Male Defective Delinquents at Napa- noch is filled to capacity and it is impossible to furnish proper training and housing facilities for several hundred of this type of prisoner, already in custody in the state prisons and the Reformatory at Elmira. The new institution will supply this deficiency and relieve overcrowding. The popula- tion of the new institution will be selected from those already in custody who seem to possess the greatest possibilities of parole, leaving in the Napa- noch institution those requiring close supervision and longer custody. The capacity of the Napanoch institution is 850 and the population on January 1st was 918. NUMBER 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most