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

58 Fed. Probation 45 (1994)
An Analysis of Home Confinement as a Sanction

handle is hein.journals/fedpro58 and id is 47 raw text is: An Analysis of Home Confinement as a Sanction By STEPHEN J RACKMILL Chief United States Probation Officer, Eastern District of New York N 1988, in Addison County, Vermont, the Honor able Frances McCaffrey stunned an already cynical public when he imposed an innovative but controversial sentencing sanction on a convicted cocaine peddler who stood before him for punish- ment. The defendant, at 26, had been a student at Middlebury College and was known on campus as the pharmacist in view of his drug dispensing capa- bilities. What made this defendant unique was that John Zaccaro, Jr., was the son of the 1984 Demo- cratic Vice Presidential candidate, Geraldine A. Fer raro, and the product of an affluent, influential background. With his defense lawyers at his side, defendant Zaccaro was sentenced to serve 4 months of a one-to-five-year suspended prison term under house arrest rather than behind bars. Within a short time, the media discovered that Zac caro was serving his period of house arrest in a $1,500- a-month luxury apartment in Burlington, Vermont, which included cable television, maid services, and privileges at the neighboring YMCA. When inter viewed, the prosecutor, John Quinn, stated that house arrest is ajoke and concluded that Zaccaro was, for the most part, not being punished but grounded for 90 days. Expressing the view that Zaccaro's incarceration under an experimental program was making a mock ery of the jail sentence, a spokesperson for Vermont's then Governor, Madeline M. Kunin, stated, We will take a look and maybe we will make some changes.' In spite of the protestations, Zaccaro successfully com- pleted the program without incident. In a recent, celebrated case, arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi was released under house arrest after post- ing $10 million bail following an indictment on charges of mail fraud and obstruction of justice for allegedly helping Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos plunder the Philippine Treasury. The decision to release Khashoggi under house arrest caused substantial con- troversy In July, Mr. Khashoggi traded a 75 sq. ft. cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan for his 30,000 sq. ft. luxury Fifth Avenue apartment overlooking the spires of St. Patrick's Cathedral-complete with swimming pool. The Saudi arms dealer wears the band on his right ankle according to officials in the U.S. Marshal's Office. The 54-year-old defendant was origi- nally restricted to the court's jurisdiction-New York City and surrounding northern suburbs-which apparently affords him access to many of the city's posh watering holes. His hours are loosely restricted, too. He must remain home from 1:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. He received the court's permission to make holiday trips to Aspen, Colorado and his family home in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, one of the twelve residences he owns throughout the globe.2 In this era of increasing public outrage concerning a growing crime problem-and a Presidential commit- ment to wage a war on drugs-were the court's contro- versial dispositions in these two cases merely anomalies or were they balanced attempts to find suitable alternatives to incarceration? In sentencing jurisdictions throughout the country, judges are being faced with balancing such competing objectives as public safety, humaneness, and the assurance of of- fender accountability, while confronting accelerating increases in prison overcrowding and a political com- mitment to incapacitation and retributive justice. The Probation and Pretrial Services Division of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts points out that the use of house arrest and electronic monitoring equipment is increasing as an alternative to pretrial detention. During 1989, 185 defendants were placed on electronic monitoring in the Federal system. Judicial officers are beginning to use house arrest and curfew as mechanisms to release offenders who otherwise may be confined to local jails.3 In discussing the rationale for home confinement for pretrial defendants, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts makes the following declaration: The purpose of home confinement is to provide, in concert with pretrial services supervision, an alternative to detention for those persons whose non-appearance or danger to community safety cannot be controlled by less restrictive release conditions. Pun- ishment is not appropriate for persons presumed innocent; there- fore, home confinement is not used to punish, only to assure appearance and community safety.4 In addition to providing cost-effective alternatives to incarceration at the pretrial and sentencing stages of the process, home confinement programs are being used at the Federal level as a method to release inmates from custody before their scheduled parole release date. On March 3, 1986, the United States Parole Commission implemented an experimental program to provide an alternative to community correction center residence during the 60-day period before the parole release date. This Curfew Parole Program is designed for prisoners who would otherwise qualify for community treatment center residence, but who have acceptable release plans and do not require the support services provided by the community treatment center. Under this program, qualified and approved prisoners have their release date advanced for up to 60 days on the condition that they remain at their place of residence between the hours of 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. every night Vol. 58, No. I

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