What is the legal liability of parole board members and staff for acts committed by persons on community supervision? The answer is affected largely by whether the particular official involved enjoys absolute, rather than qualified, immunity, but again, the matter remains unsettled. These issues and others should be resolved promptly. (Author)

Three themes run through this collection of citations which represent a small fraction of literature on the adult female offender. One is the ideology, implications, and impact of criminological theory to the study of female crime and criminality. A second theme treats the legal and procedural mechanics of justice administration. The final theme…

Presents an overview of the information available on Black women in the criminal justice system, highlights their statistical profile at several stages in the system, their unique problems, and future directions for research, programs, and policies. (Author/JCD)

Using a quota sampling procedure, 514 Indiana citizens were asked about specific circumstances surrounding capital punishment and about their support for various goals of sentencing. Results suggest that although general favorability toward capital punishment is quite high, such a result is misleading with only nine percent supporting it under all…

Discusses issues for child welfare workers seeking to preserve the relationship between incarcerated parents and their children in the wake of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997; the Act advocates swift separation of parent and child and placement of children for adoption. Discusses this public policy, suggesting strategies for permanency…

Discusses enhanced prison visiting programs that offer support for the mother-child relationship in cases of incarcerated mothers. Highlights the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars program, which offers a solution to the problems of mother-child separation by imprisonment, traditional visiting practices, mother-child reunification, and permanency planning.…

Selected offender classification practices, past and present, are reviewed. Megargee's requirements for a "good" classification system are amplified, and a critique of several current approaches is provided. The role of classification deficiencies in prison conditions litigation is summarized. Guidelines from commissions, courts, scholars, and…

Discusses the needs of incarcerated mothers for child welfare services. Explores why working with women in jail and their children is within the scope of the child welfare system's mandate. Describes pressures on criminal justice and child welfare systems that prevent either from working effectively with these families; suggests a collaborative…

Five million people in the United States are under the supervision of the criminal justice system, 1.5 million in prisons or jails, the rest on probation or parole, and the inmate population continues to grow. Taxpayers spend billions of dollars each year on prisons and jails, yet the solution to crime problems remains elusive. To assist in…

Discusses the interdependence of criminal justice policy, welfare reform legislation, and kinship foster care in relation to the care of children with incarcerated parents. Explores the impact of these interdependent service organizations on these children, and discusses the characteristics of relative caregivers, their needs, and the support…

This paper describing offenders and components of the criminal justice system is the second of the five-part Comprehensive Community-Based Services for Offenders Information PAK that provides guidelines for developing a system to improve exoffender service delivery. (Parts 1 and 3, which also contain printed information, are available separately.)…