Sentencing And Corrections

Week of 4-18-11

One of the most notable things about Ed Ross is that he's not in an office: he's out all over the place. Can you hire people to do this?
Most probation/parole officers are "failure processors:" they are waiting for offenders to fail.
According to those who met Ed Ross, he is not good at explaining what he's doing: he's mostly governed by intuition. But note that he's very result-focused: he manipulates, he stays close, he is a very active supervisor. Maybe to an uncomfortable extent in some cases. He uses his authority to advance the state's interests (i.e., public safety) as he sees them.
The article is Walter Dickey's attempt to tell us about what he believes, through the stories of Ed Ross.
Mike Sullivan's strategy was to close all the offices: he wanted probation/parole officers out in the community. The office is the site of "passive supervision," not actual case management.
Intelligent use of power might involve using it for purposes other than those for which it was granted.
Is "secular penance" a narrative initiative (i.e., changing one's story so that one takes responsibility for one's deeds)?
Refusing to listen to the communicative message of a sentence is not conduct for which additional punishment is appropriate.
Why should we worry about whether or not it's OK to punish prison rule violations? Of course, we should have sensible rules, but if we're going to have rules, there must be consequences for violation.
Papers on the 13th; send to everyone, hard copy to Smith