7.3 Crime and the law  (Page 5/22)

Corrections

The corrections system    , more commonly known as the prison system, is tasked with supervising individuals who have been arrested, convicted, and sentenced for a criminal offense. At the end of 2010, approximately seven million Americans were behind bars (BJS 2011d).

The United States incarceration rate has grown considerably in the last hundred years. In 2008, more than 1 in 100 U.S. adults were in jail or prison, the highest benchmark in our nation’s history. And while Americans account for 5 percent of the global population, we have 25 percent of the world’s inmates, the largest number of prisoners in the world (Liptak 2008b).

Prison is different from jail. A jail provides temporary confinement, usually while an individual awaits trial or parole. Prisons are facilities built for individuals serving sentences of more than a year. Whereas jails are small and local, prisons are large and run by either the state or the federal government.

Parole refers to a temporary release from prison or jail that requires supervision and the consent of officials. Parole is different from probation, which is supervised time used as an alternative to prison. Probation and parole can both follow a period of incarceration in prison, especially if the prison sentence is shortened.

Summary

Crime is established by legal codes and upheld by the criminal justice system. In the United States, there are three branches of the justice system: police, courts, and corrections. Although crime rates increased throughout most of the 20th century, they are now dropping.

Short answer

Further research

Is the U.S. criminal justice system confusing? You’re not alone. Check out this handy flowchart from the Bureau of Justice Statistics: (External Link)

How is crime data collected in the United States? Read about the methods of data collection and take the National Crime Victimization Survey. Visit (External Link)

References

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2010. “Violent and Property Crime Rates Declined in 2009, Continuing the Trend Observed in the Last Ten Years.” Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2011a. National Crime Victimization Survey . Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link)&iid=245 ).

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2011b. Victim Characteristics. Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link)&tid=92 ).

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2011c. Hate Crime, 2003–2009. Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2011d. “U.S. Correctional Population Declined for Second Consecutive Year.” Retrieved January 6, 2011 ( (External Link) ).

Cantor, D. and Lynch, J. 2000. Self-Report Surveys as Measures of Crime and Criminal Victimization . Rockville, MD: National Institute of Justice. Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

CNN Wire Staff. 2010. “‘Barefoot bandit’ returned to United States from Bahamas.” CNN, July 13. Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2010. “Latest Hate Crime Statistics.” Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2011. “Uniform Crime Reports.” Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Johnson, Gene. 2011. “‘Barefoot Bandit’ gets more than 7 years for spree.” Associated Press, December 17. Retrieved January 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Langton, Lynn and Michael Planty. 2011. “Hate Crime, 2003–2009.” Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link)&iid=1760 ).

Liptak, Adam. 2008a. “1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says.” New York Times , February 28. Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Liptak, Adam. 2008b. “Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations’.” New York Times , April 23. Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

National Archive of Criminal Justice Data. 2010. “National Crime Victimization Survey Resource Guide.” Retrieved February 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Wilson, Michael and Al Baker. 2010. “Lured into a Trap, Then Tortured for Being Gay.” New York Times , October 8. Retrieved from February 10, 2012 ( (External Link) ).

Yardley, William. 2010. “Barefoot Bandit Started Life on the Run Early.” New York Times , July 21. Retrieved from February 10, 2012 ( (External Link)&adxnnlx=1324486879-2H5iJVkslFMlxUWlySPTcA&pagewanted=1 ).