NCJ Number
112946
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 52 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1988) Pages: 57-64
Date Published
1988
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This assessment of the impact on corrections costs of Alabama's habitual offender act, which mandates life imprisonment without parole for habitual offenders, indicates that habitual offenders tend to be property offenders and that even if habitual offender acts succeed in impacting only serious career offenders, the costs are unacceptably high.
Abstract
In 1980 the Alabama legislature passed a habitual offender act, which, among other things, provides for an automatic sentence of life without parole upon conviction for four class A felonies. To assess the corrections costs derived from this act, data on imate population growth were obtained from official future projections, and the impact of the act on inmates imprisoned under the act and on prison environments was determined from interviews with inmates and prison staff. The Department of Corrections must plan for an increase of 2,000 beds to accommodate the growth of inmates imprisoned under the act, in addition to the space required due to other factors contributing to an increased prison population. Habitual offenders tend to be more hostile, rebellious, and manipulative than other inmates, but attempt to maintain a low profile. These inmates, however, have high potential for creating dissatisfaction among other inmates. Overall, the costs occasioned by the act are not outweighed by its benefits. 2 tables and 27 references.