NCJ Number
84370
Date Published
1981
Length
9 pages
Annotation
The rationale and use of weekend confinement as a sentencing alternative are discussed, with emphasis on the experience of Dade County, Fl.
Abstract
Weekend or nighttime confinement is one type of partial confinement, a sentencing option in which offenders are incarcerated on an intermittent basis. Vermont has the most extensive weekend program among the States surveyed by Corrections Magazine. Florida judges have always been able to impose weekend confinement by requiring it as a condition of probation or by imposing it directly. Florida judges may also mitigate a regular incarceration sentence to weekends for the remainder of the sentence. Beginning in 1976, Dade County has also used a Days Off program, by which persons sentenced to weekend sentences can serve their time in the community working on public or nonprofit organization projects. Since mid-1980, offenders sentenced to weekend incarceration have not been required to spend nights in jail in order to relieve jail overcrowding. Partial confinement permits the offender to maintain community responsibilities while experiencing incarceration and also provides a sentence midway between incarceration and probation. Analysis of data on the 66 persons in partial confinement in Dade County on the weekend of July 11, 1980, showed that most offenders were males and were serving weekend sentences. Over half the sentences were attached as a special condition of probation. Most of the cases involved felonies. Future research should focus on the criteria used by judges in deciding on a weekend sentence, the effectiveness of partial confinement, and participants' views of their experiences. Four references are listed.