December / January 2017

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December/January 2017

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Courts Today 69 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755

Case Management Systems: Trends & Updates

Vol. 14 No. 6

Predictive Risk Scales & Parole Reform

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with alternative & diversion programs

Publisher & Executive Editor Thomas S. Kapinos Assistant Publisher Jennifer Kapinos

D E C E M B E R / J A N U A R Y 2 017

Editor Donna Rogers

VOLU M E 14 N U M B E R 6

Contributing Editors Michael Grohs, Bill Schiffner G.F. Guercio, Kelly Mason

F EATU R E S

Art Director Jamie Stroud

4 E-Courts 2016 Conference Highlights High-tech Tools

12 American Probation & Parole Association 2017 Winter Training Institute & Resource Expo

Marketing Representatives Bonnie Dodson (828) 479-7472 Art Sylvie (480) 816-3448 Peggy Virgadamo (718) 456-7329

20 Case Management Systems: Trends & Updates

28 Chasing Down Contraband 32 Bail and Pretrial Release A Texas Study

36 Predictive Risk Scales & Parole Reform

DE PARTM E NTS

38 Ad Index

with alternative & diversion programs

is published bi-monthly by: Criminal Justice Media, Inc PO Box 213 Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 310.374.2700 Send address changes to: COURTS TODAY 69 Lyme Road Hanover, NH 03755 or fax (603) 643-6551 To receive a FREE subscription to COURTS TODAY submit, on court letterhead, your request with qualifying title; date, sign and mail to COURTS TODAY 69 Lyme Road Hanover, NH 03755 or you may fax your subscription request to (603) 643-6551 Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions for non-qualified personnel, United States only, is $60.00.

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B Y B I L L SC H IF F N E R , CO N T R I B U T I N G E D IT O R

E-Courts 2016 Showcases New Tech Tools for Court Professionals Emerging technologies and best court practices were demonstrated at the December gathering.

This year’s conference education sessions focused on how courts must become more ‘agile’ in their adoption of technology.

E

very two years, the NCSC sponsors an e-Courts conference designed to improve court efficiencies and effectiveness by educating court professionals about the latest breakthroughs and best practices in court technology.

This year’s conference, e-Courts 2016, was held in December at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The conference drew more than 500 national and international participants and showcased some of the highest quality court technology products and services available, the organizers noted.

“This year’s e-Courts sold out six weeks before the conference began.

Obviously the community was hun-

gry to hear about the latest innovations in court technology,” commented Jesse Rutledge, vice president, External Affairs at the NCSC. “The education program focused on how the courts must become more ‘agile’ in their adoption of technology. It’s no longer a meeting dedicated just to e-filing. Much of the program actually focused on how courts are developing customer-facing solutions, like the growing demand for online dispute resolution services,” Rutledge pointed out.

Emerging Technologies

Noted “futurist,” and Regents’ Professor of Law at Arizona State

University Gary Marchant was the keynote speaker. He has authored more than 130 articles and book chapters on various issues relating to emerging technologies and he brought a unique perspective to how changes in science, technology and society will impact the law and the courts. He reported that many of these changes will be coming far sooner than many of us might think.

The recent conference also continued the tradition of bringing new perspective to high-tech tools for the court professional with handson demonstrations. Here are some of the top products on display:

Mic with LED indicators

Not all microphones are created equal. JAVS FlexMic, for example,

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is designed with court-specific features to ensure optimal recording.

FlexMic comes equipped with programmable patterns and RGB colored LED indicators that activate when speech is detected, so you can be sure a session is on the record.

Plus the pushbutton can be configured for several settings including push to talk and hold to mute. www.javs.com, 1.800.354.JAVS (5287)

cases and workload whether in chambers, on the bench, or remotely. It’s designed to complement an existing case management system by allowing judges to configure their own views, follow-on rules, and actions for data that already exists in the court’s CMS. www.courtview.com, 1.800.406.4333

Court Management Solutions

At the e-Courts 2016, Thomson Reuters Court Management Solutions featured updates to CTrack Configuration Manager, Rules

500,000+ users and 40 million documents annually. www.tylertech.com, 1.800.431.5776

Browser-based Access

FTR Court.fm streamlines access to court recordings by providing a browser-based experience for court users and customers. To facilitate this, Court.fm securely streams court content to authenticated users for playback on any device, anywhere.

Court Case Information Management System

JWorks by CourtView Justice Solutions (CJS) is a new, modifiable COTS system that handles all court and case types and is personalized for your unique business processes through its dynamic case flow management engine. Based on your guidelines, deadlines, event triggers, and routing rules, JWorks manages

Engine, API library, Data Exchange and Ad Hoc Reporting technologies.

“C-Track CMS components bring configurability to the hands of the court and are designed help courts optimize both internal and external workflow needs to achieve a connected justice ecosystem,” reported Manoj Jain, VP with the company. www.thomsonreuters.com, 1.877.923.7800

Open Interface E-Filing Solution work assignments, notifications, documents/artifacts, and lifecycle tracking from intake through final resolution while personalized dashboards display updates and tasks that are pertinent to individual users or entire teams. For courts without JWorks, CJS offers their Judicial Tools plug-in to provide judicial officers with a way to better manage

Tyler’s Odyssey File & Serve solution enables the electronic filing of documents with the court via a secure, web-based portal, including online filing for self-represented litigants. The system’s open interface connects to all EFSPs and case management vendors and is IJIS Institute Springboard Certified for ECF 4 standards. As the most widely adopted e-filing platform in the country, Odyssey serves 22 states,

No longer is playback restricted to the courtroom or even the court’s network. Court.fm differs to CDbased distribution models by ensuring control of the record stays with the court at all times and all activity is logged in accordance with security standards. www.fortherecord.com, 1.877.650.0958

Systems Integration

FivePoint Solutions specializes in systems integration, federated searches and portal queries, which allow agencies to query local, state, and federal databases and consolidate search results into a matched, merged, scored, and parsed user-friendly format.

FivePoint Solutions also focuses on: payment processing, bulk e-fil-

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Litigants, Self-Help Centers and Courts. The award-winning modular design guides filers through easy-to-follow online interviews, automatically selects and prepares the required forms that are customtailored to your court’s procedures and rules. It provides 24x7 access,

virtual self-help support, embedded quality controls, 100% error-free submissions, automated notices, messages, alerts, seamlessly connects with CMS and is ECF4 compliant. www.info.turbocourt.com, 1.650.372.1790, OPT.1

ing, accountability court case management for drug and treatment courts, document management and workflow, contract management and document and data conversion services www.myfivepoint.com, 1.803.951.2094

Payments Made Easy

nCourt provides payment processing services for thousands of

government courts across the United States. Through secure, easy-to-use payment sites, onsite card readers, and its bilingual Citizen Payment Center, individuals can conveniently make payments using their credit cards, debit cards, ACH and other electronic payment methods. www.nCourt.com, 1.888.912.1540

Filing for SelfRepresented Litigants

TurboCourt iFiling is said to be the most advanced, cost-effective, configurable electronic filing technology for Self-Represented December/January 2017x W W W . C O U RT S T O D A Y . C O M

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Treatment Court Case Management System

The COMPAS Specialty Court System from Northpointe is a comprehensive decision-support software package of scientifically validated risk/needs assessment and offender case management tools.

These instruments address the complex set of risk-needs-responsivity considerations that improve decision accuracy for program eligibility, treatment needs, supervision, and specific programming based on underlying criminogenic needs of

both adult and youth offenders. The COMPAS components allow assessment data to flow seamlessly to help guide the team’s detailed case plan, treatment strategy, milestones, and outcomes. The system can easily consume lab results and other data from third-parties and has a secure portal for team collaboration and program updates. www.northpointeinc.com, 1.888.221.4615

Revenue Recovery

Ontario Systems partners with courts, state and local governments across the country to dramatically increase their revenue recovery success. Their RevQ software and con-

show attendees how to improve their compliance and collection results, and manage and collect outstanding fines, fees and revenue. www.ontariosystems.com, 1.765.751.7471

Greater Public Access

Ernie Sego, president/CEO of Justice Systems, Inc., presented on the near-future, public-facing online services at the conference. His presentation explored opportunities courts have for providing greater public access. Justice Systems develops and implements case management software, utilizing the latest

CaseView Dashboard

File & ServeXpress has launched a new CaseView dashboard within the File & ServeXpress application to make it even easier for judges and judicial staff to process and

web-based technologies, for courts and attorneys across the nation.

They also provide an online payment system, cutting-edge tools, and professional services for the judicial system. Their industry specialists diligently assist with implementing court systems, they say. www.justicesystems.com, 1.505.883.3987

Judicial Tools

sulting services enable you to organize and automate most collection activities while tracking and managing accounts with follow-up at predetermined intensity. They will

lytics, and tasks executed across multiple cases. With anywhere access, judicial users can securely: manage calendars, case dockets, and annotations, create and sign orders, perform analytics, respond to new filings and research and collaborate. www.aiSmartBench.com 1.303.756.4564

Mentis Technology Solutions delivers judicial tools designed by judges for judges. aiSMARTBENCH, a judicial dashboard and eBench, empowers the judicial user to work more efficiently and effectively by leveraging the electronic case file. In addition, aiWorkSpaces, a case analytic and workflow tool, enables the user to manage their court caseload through automated watch-lists, ana-

retrieve case documents. CaseView provides one-touch access to essential tools like the judicial mailbox, custom folders, and the case message/bulletin boards. This all comes with easy-to-use search and filter features for finding and organizing cases or documents by name. www.fileandservexpress.com, 1.888.247.2051

Simplifying the Jury Management Process

Tyler’s Odyssey Jury enhances both services provided and citizen’s perceptions of the court by offering an easy and efficient online jury experience while also automating staff activities such as empanelment and deferrals/excusals. As an endto-end, enterprise jury system, it efficiently organizes and simplifies the selection process at a state and county level, from the loading of the jury wheel or master list to managing the pooling process and panels

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sent to the courtroom for trial, as well as compensating jurors. www.tylertech.com, 1.800.431.5776

CaseQ Solution

The Infax CaseQ solution allows courts to edit and display real-time case information on monitors outside individual courtrooms. After logging into the CaseQ dashboard, authorized staff members can view a

Pretrial Release Risk Decision Support

One of the most critical decisions your court makes is whether to release or detain a defendant before trial; issues of appearance and public safety must be balanced with due process and equality under the law.

Northpointe’s COMPAS Pretrial helps to inform your recommenda-

and risk assessment scores. If a decision to release is made, COMPAS Pretrial facilitates appropriate supervision plans and detailed tracking of condition compliance. It is a comprehensive risk assessment and offender management system and is affordable, applicable, and scalable to all sizes of jurisdictions–from small, single-user systems to statewide implementations. It easily interfaces with your court’s primary case management systems for a complete, seamless solution. www.northpointeinc.com, 1.888.221.4615

Case Management System

specific courtroom’s entire daily docket and change the order of the day’s proceedings by simply dragging and dropping the party names.

The staff can also update a party’s status with information such as present, in custody, interpreter needed, or has appeared. www.infax.com, 1.770.209.9925

tions for pretrial release and decisions about release conditions by substantiating the court’s findings through detailed views of defendant history

Tybera had its case management system, Alpine, and its document management system, CEDAR at their booth. These court applications are browser-based, simple to use and affordable—combined with their popular eFlex efiling solution, they create a fully integrated eSuite of applications for conducting court business. They also have the live video conferencing that they have added to eFlex that allows a judge to initiate a video session with a victim of domestic violence who is trying to efile a complaint. www.tybera.com, 1.801.226.2746

Paperless Court Solutions

ImageSoft, Inc., provider of the JusticeTech suite of solutions for a paperless court, exhibited a number of products at the e-Courts Conference. ImageSoft provides a complete caseflow management solution for courts. Their most recent version includes best-ofbreed components for: eFiling— TrueFiling and a2j (Access to Justice) for self-represented litigants; eBench —aiSmartBench; EDMS—OnBase and CMS-JusticeTech CMS. www.justicetech.com/, 1.888.315.3901 December/January 2017 10

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B Y B I L L SC H I F F N E R , C O N T R IB U T IN G E D I T OR

PROBATION AND PAROLE PROFESSIONALS BETTING ON TECHNOLOGY BREAKTHROUGHS AT APPA RESOURCE EXPO IN RENO AT APPA’s 2017 WINTER Training Institute being held January 8-11, 2017 at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada, attendees will have the opportunity to see and consider the latest products, innovative services and stateof-the-art technologies that meet the major challenges of keeping their communities safe.

“Current exhibitors for APPA 2017 in Reno run the gamut from colleges offering online advanced degrees in criminal justice to kiosks for offender check-ins,” reports Diane Kincaid, deputy director at the American Probation and Parole Association. “With community corrections being such a varied field,

covering so many disciplines, it is difficult to pin down one or two technology trends that will be big this year. The most important thing is that technology is assisting probation and parole officers to more effectively monitor their clients and, in addition, help these individuals build better, crime-free lives. In general, community corrections lags behind other justice partners in funding, which makes technology advancements all the more important in doing more with less,” she explains.

She says that the conference expects to attract hundreds of professionals involved in the community corrections, juvenile justice and treatment professions from across

the United States, its territories, and several other countries. It will also offer a host educational workshops, intensive training programs, special sessions that are tailored exclusively for the parole and probation market.

Electronic Displays “Technology is continuing to play a huge role in this marketplace,” comments Kristen Zeck, marketing associate at Infax Inc. “For example courts are moving toward electronic displays for posting probation office rules instead of the traditional plaque or poster. As this trend has caught on, we have seen it become more dynamic. Instead of a static image, the display flips to a video,

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IMAGE COURTESY OF GRAND SIERRA RESORT AND CASINO IN RENO, NV

T H E G R A N D S I E R R A R E S O R T A N D C A S I NO I N R E NO, NV

IMAGE COURTESY OF GRAND SIERRA RESORT AND CASINO IN RENO, NV

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advertisement, or any other information that might be useful to someone waiting in a probation office,” she says.

Smartphone Solutions “Smartphone-based monitoring technology also represents an innovation that will continue shape the future of the corrections field,” reports Corrisoft vice president of Sales and Marketing, Jim Webb. “It completely redefines the way supervision agencies interact with offenders and manage their activity.

Unlike traditional EM equipment, smartphone-based supervision solutions afford officers with a direct line of communication to their offenders, which, greatly improves efficiency as well as officer safety. Agencies that are focused on supporting offenders through rehabilitation and re-entry services are finding that smartphone-based solutions prove a more effective way to deliver assistance as well as improve case manager and officer efficiency.”

Resource Expo

efforts to facilitate the broad set of services fostering reentry and rehabilitation.

Corrisoft’s AIR program is a smartphone-based community supervision solution that enables agencies to more consistently communicate with participants, more effectively deliver support services, and better manage client activity. AIR combines a customized smartphone with a web-based management platform in order to both deliver proactive communication capabilities and serve as a tool that more efficiently facilitates support resources. www.corrisoft.com, 859.685.1492

Monitoring Device

Satellite Tracking of People LLC introduced BLUtag, the original one-piece GPS monitoring device, in 2005 and more government agencies continue to use it than any

Corrisoft delivers advanced technology solutions that support community supervision agents in their

Electronic Detainee Info

The Infax JailCall application gives correctional facility personnel the ability to provide up-to-date detainee information electronically.

With JailCall, personnel and visitors of the jail are informed of an inmate’s bond information, as well

as the status of the detainee such as booked, fingerprinted, or ready for bond. This solution seamlessly integrates with any jail management system to pull real-time information about the detained. www.infax.com, 1.770.209.9925

Electronic Monitoring Bracelet

The OM400 is a versatile, onepiece, GPS/cellular ankle-worn electronic monitoring bracelet with 2way communication. Designed to track—and communicate with—all types of offenders 24/7, indoors and outdoors, this rugged and weatherproof ankle bracelet signals offenders using vibrations and sound, and receives offender acknowledgment in return. The OM400 can pair with

Kincaid says that at the Resource Expo attendees can compare products and services while discussing an agency’s specific needs with experts in areas such as correction software applications, drug testing technologies, offender monitoring systems, training and curriculum development, substance abuse and behavioral health programs and many more valuable products and services.

Here’s a sample of some of the products that will be on the show floor at the Resource Expo:

Community Supervision Solution

Technology and an advanced GPS signal receiver. www.stopllc.com, 1.832.553.9500

other one-piece. BLUtag offers many advantages: it detects and immediately reports four types of tampering; one battery charge powers the device for 48+ hours; and it offers enhanced Secondary Location

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an OM400 RF Beacon to extend battery life and precisely verify in-home locations all while using the cloudbased software application, FocalPoint, to map and track offender location. www.numerex.com, 1.800.665.5686

Cotinine Oral Fluid Screening Device

The iScreen OFD Cotinine device is an all-inclusive screen test for Cotinine (a major metabolite of nicotine) using saliva. The device is confirmation ready and results can be photocopied. With no bathroom necessary, you can test anywhere. A 3minute oral fluid collection provides a qualita-

tive detection of cotinine in 10 minutes. The cutoff at 30 ng/mL will detect nicotine approximately 1-2 days after use. iScreen OFD is well suited for health and wellness programs, smoking cessation programs, insurance risk assessment applicants, and clinical setting screening programs. www.orasure.com, 1.800.869.3538

Smartphone GPS-based Monitoring

Telmate Guardian is a technologically advanced, low-cost smartphone-based, GPS monitoring solution for community corrections including pre-trial, work release, probation and parole. Guardian leverages an enrollee's personal smartphone and offers case managers real-time supervision, easy to read reports and check-in controls, along with features like live video

calls, event reminders, SMS alerts, face and voice detection, and location compliance zones that make it simple to actively pinpoint and supervise enrollees. www.telmate.com, 1.855.TELMATE (835.6283)

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Portable Testing System

The IN-HOM S.M.A.R.T. Mobile is a portable, handheld, cellular alcohol monitoring device. It features facial detection, a built-in camera, GPS, affordable pricing, and up to 10 customized test windows daily. The mobile monitoring device can serve as a helpful monitoring tool for offenders of all risk levels, and allows for immediate violation notification to monitoring authorities. www.smartstartinc.com, 1.800.880.3394

Opioid Dependence Care

VIVITROL (naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension) is a once-monthly medication for the treatment of alcohol dependence as well as for the prevention of relapse to opioid dependence, following opioid detoxification. VIVITROL is the first and only non-narcotic, non-addictive, once-monthly medication approved for the treatment of opioid dependence.

Treatment with VIVITROL is also part of a comprehensive management program that includes psychosocial support. www.alkermes.com, 1.781.609.6000

with Microsoft technologies and services. It has a very rich REST API that allows any other inhouse or 3rd party applications to communicate and work seamlessly with it. eCourt is a true browser-based system that was architected from the ground up as a highly configurable “business processing engine” to be the centerpiece for document management and eFiling solutions. Users only need a web browser to access their eSuite of software from desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablet devices. The system’s graphical user interface, including all screens and dashboards, is natively touch-screen enabled. www.journaltech.com, 1.877.587.8927

fication, GPS tracking and real-time reporting, Intoxalock’s eLERT device is ideal for courts that require or recommend advanced technology. In addition, courts and monitoring authorities can require pre-scheduled random testing intervals with the eLERT device in order to enforce complete sobriety. www.intoxalock.com, 1.844.677.9243

Tracking Device

3M Electronic Monitoring is pleased to announce its new 3M One-Piece Tracking Device 4, a robust unit that has features designed to meet the exacting

Ignition Interlock Devices

Intoxalock is an industry leader in advanced technology for ignition interlock devices. With camera veri-

requirements of criminal justice agencies. The technologies included within combine to provide reliable tracking capabilities interfacing with its web-based software, EM Manager. The One Piece is an autonomous GPS device, capable of four supervision levels: Active, Passive, Hybrid, and RF (with Beacon). www.3m.com/electronicmonitoring, 1.813.749.5454

Smart Tag Case Management Software

Journal Technologies eSuite software was developed using java technologies, and is fully compatible

Buddi US’s Smart Tag is a one piece tracking device that features 3G GSM communication, thus providing improved coverage compared to 2G and their ground breaking Convergent Location Technology

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that provides full time indoor tracking. The Smart Tag continuously records indoor points to supplement GPS and provides minute-byminute location information indoors and in urban canyons, greatly reducing gaps in location information when GPS is unavailable. www.buddi.us, 1.844.283.3487

Online Degree Programs

Columbia Southern Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s online degree programs explore various areas of criminal justice such as criminal investigation, constitutional law, terrorism, justice system procedures and policies, leadership, theory and management. Students will learn about the historical foundations of criminal justice, agencies and processes. Their classes feature top instructors who work to chal-

lenge and help you meet your educational goals. http://learn.columbiasouthern.edu, 1.877.561.3001

Q.E.D. Saliva Alcohol Test

Q.E.D. Saliva Alcohol Test is a CLIA-waived and DOT-approved, on-site, rapid, low-cost alternative to breath or blood testing. Q.E.D. is

easy to administer and provides quantitative results comparable to a blood test. Q.E.D. is ideal for use in criminal justice, drug and alcohol treatment centers and clinical setting screening programs, among others. www.orasure.com, 1.800.869.3538

Digital Signage

The Infax Engage solution is a content creation program that allows users to easily create and display digital signage. In jail facilities, staff members can display bond company advertisements, welcome messages, visitor information and more. Jails have also had success in capturing their Most Wanted felons by using Engage. After seeing their pictures and information, jail visitors identified these felons in public and assisted the county in their arrests. www.infax.com, 1.770.209.9925

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B Y G . F. G U E R CI O , CO N T R I B U T I N G E D IT O R

/"+ * '+D $')* +

The Changing Landscape )90@>;C6C>B=D:@0CD58=:C9DB:CD(A8>9@<?C=DA3D/"+2 ?>;<C@=?>4DB:CD<C@;:D3<A6D9?=5@B;:DBAD<CC>B<1Gone are the days of simply managing documents…

A case management system (CMS) today is expected to reach across agencies and jurisdictions to connect communication from the beginning of the process with dispatch and police, follow through the courts’ processes—providing improved connections to the public and self-represented—all the way to corrections/community corrections and recidivism concerns.

Software updates that courts are

requesting are reshaping the landscape with faster paths to a logical workflow triage, removing impediments for a quicker, decision-based system and, ultimately, justice.

“We’ve recently integrated the Northpointe Software Suite (NSS) with JWorks so courts can quickly access risk and need assessments captured in the COMPAS or other R/N (risk/needs) tools supported within the NSS,” says Sue

Humphreys, industry solutions director, CourtView. They can then “utilize that information to better inform decisions, whether gauging pretrial release risks, weighing sentencing decisions, or deciding the most effective interventions.”

The marriage of JWorks and COMPAS not only gives decisionmakers a view of critical risk and criminogenic need factors, but allows them to use that data to automatically form intervention plan details and to monitor outcomes so that programs align with

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CorrectTech’s features allow treatment and education dosages to address the assessed criminogenic needs identified by the risk instrument of choice, involving multiple parties collaborating through shared information.

what works.

Our goal is to help remove impediments to justice wherever possible, she adds. “We think that a great place to start is by guiding cases down the best path possible for timely resolution and illuminating potential conflicts and obstacles before they impact progress. Since courts aren’t cookie-cutters of one another, we want to provide screen and workflow templates that are adjustable to local practice while enforcing data standards that promote secure, reliable exchanges across agencies with an emphasis on intelligent workflow and on supporting key decision points across a case or person lifecycle.”

The greatest advancements in JWorks coincide with industry advancements around intelligent case triaging and case management, she says, “determining a case lifecycle based on certain characteristics like number of parties or whether someone is self-represented or a specific offense category—and then

automatically triggering events, documents, notifications, etc. for each specific case.” Because it is tagged

for multiple users based on task and availability, logjams are more easily avoided and timing and compliance are more easily monitored, she adds.

“Built-in workflow automatically assigns and routes outstanding todos and deadlines and lets you notify, escalate, re-route, and re-assign work as needed. This unique capability goes beyond caseflow to include the flow of person/party information and specific activities like calendaring, warrants, investigation, financials, docketing, motion tracking, and documents to name a few.”

Thinking through court process improvements requires looking to both internal court workflows as well as how the court interfaces with external partners, says Jamison Sarno, senior director, Technology Development, Thomson Reuters.

Some of the latest C-Track enhancements help courts optimize both internal and external workflow needs.

“Internally, each court has unique

ImageSoft shows its CMS/DMS process and inclusion of eFiling, eBench, and reporting/integration and workflow.

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requirements and must be able to operate in a manner that is most efficient for them. Our team has created a flexible Configuration Manager, featuring a robust rules engine that allows court IT staff to manage the flow of business processes on-site, directly in the system. The C-Track Configuration Manager gives more ownership of the CMS system to the courts, where they can update or change business processes without having to rely on their maintenance and support team,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Externally, the courts partner across the justice ecosystem with law enforcement, public defenders, law firms and several other justice partners,â&#x20AC;? Sarno furthers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Data transparency and system integrations with these critical justice partners create a cohesive environment

for the secure exchange of near real-time data and information.

With greater integration capability, courts and the judges presiding over cases have more accurate information available regarding the case, case participants and case circumstances.â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Giving the courts ownership over managing business process updates as they arise is a big focus for our development teams,â&#x20AC;? says Manoj Jain, Ph.D., vice president, Global Head of Business Development & Sales, Thomson Reuters. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One area where we are

Connect Online with Peers

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A screen shot of JWorks/COMPAS integration by CourtView shows risks and criminogenic needs scale, case details, and tasks assigned.

improving is offering an expanded configuration capability beyond just the register of actions, to warrants, bonds and payment configuration and triggers. User and system actions can trigger subsequent actions that then automate complex business processes, freeing up staff and streamlining operations. This logic can all be updated from within the system, by someone with the proper access and training.”

With the evolution of technology used across justice partner agencies, courts are finding that integration between systems allows for better communication and information accuracy, Jain furthers. “In order for today’s courts to be effective in administering justice, they need to be integrated with many justice partners.”

Continuing along the same lines, Eric Tumperi, CEO, CorrectTech, lays out a plan for modernizing community corrections systems as they relate to CMS. “With the movement of all but the highest-risk offenders away from prison beds, community corrections programs are receiving more clients and focus and, therefore, higher expectations.

There is an international effort to integrate a wide range of programming, interventions, education, and treatment. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all interventions. Case plans must be specific and individualized, all while demonstrating

fidelity to evidence based practices (EBP) and state and federal mandates.”

While there are many exceptional automation systems centered on courts and jail processes, traditional case management systems were not conceptualized with this type of client-centered treatment or EBP implementation and tracking, he says. “Historically, community corrections has been under-utilized and underfunded. A large gap exists between the necessary automation tools and the mission to focus on clients’ individualized needs as they prepare to re-enter the community.”

Evidence Based Practices mandate for better outcomes and thus measurements and common practices is driving agencies toward modernizing their systems, Tumperi contends. “CorrectTech’s advanced features allow its customers to provide comprehensive treatment and education dosages to address the assessed criminogenic needs identified by the risk instrument of choice,

An example of Thomson Reuters’ Rules Engine Decision Table Management where configurations and rules can be added or edited. The Docket Entry Life Cycle here shows rules are set up based on various entry types and the resulting event and actions that are to occur.

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provide a holistic view of clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; needs to help them be successful in their transition using an integrated view of client behavior management, involve multiple parties in the pathway to success for a clientâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;all collaborating through seamless shared information.â&#x20AC;?

He notes associated agencies increase significantly their ability to integrate operations, increase collaboration, and evaluate programs in real time for ongoing organizational improvement and quality.

David Smith, sales, Journal Technologies, says eCourt was architected from the ground up as a highly configurable business processing engine to be the centerpiece for document management and eFiling solutions to be used by trial and appellate courts, prosecutor and public defender offices, and other

governmental agencies, including probation, tribal and state and county governments. ECourt can either be hosted in-house or in the cloud through Amazon Web Services. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Users only need a web browser

to access eCourt and eCourtPublic from desktops, laptops, smartphonesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;iPhone, Androidâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and tablet devicesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;iPad, Galaxy, etc. The systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s graphical user interface, including all screens and dashboards,

Avoid Upgrade Pitfalls

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is natively touch-screen enabled.â&#x20AC;?

He adds, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Customers also want fewer clicksâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;they want to access information faster, and they also want the ability to save data to a case more quickly. We have approached this with case and person views that maximize information and alerts, and with widgets that are configurable and extensible.

The results can be dramatic: if a user can save 30 data elements to a case with just three clicks, that provides a huge time savings, higher job satisfaction, and better service.â&#x20AC;?

Others are further aligning across the criminal justice continuum. For example, with the addition of New World Public Safety, Tyler Technologiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; new Tyler Alliance platform can unify and automate sharing of criminal justice information across agenciesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;dispatch operators, police on patrol, fire departments and emergency services, court clerks, trial judges, prosecutors, corrections staff and probation officersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;better than ever before, says Michael Kleiman, director of Marketing, Tyler Technologies Courts & Justice Division.

Also, designed with an insiderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s understanding of the courthouse,

CREDIT: COURTESY TYLER TECHNOLOGIES

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With the addition of New World Public Safety, Tyler Technologiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; new Alliance platform integrates information sharing from dispatch, police, emergency services, court clerks, judges and prosecutors to corrections and probation.

Odyssey Case Manager increases efficiency and improves the effective administration of justice, he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As the heart of the Odyssey software suite, Case Manager is highly configurable and adaptable to evolving with local and legislative requirements.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tylerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s evergreen philosophy means weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re always enhancing our products and making those latest technology developments and new product releases available to clients at no cost. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Courts can manage complete case histories, process documents and handle cash/bond transactions, all the while benefitting from comprehensive security and auditing functions,â&#x20AC;? Kleiman concludes.

The most recent version of ImageSoft, according to Brad A. Smith, senior justice consultant, includes best-of-breed components for eFiling with TrueFiling and a2j (Access to Justice) for self-represented litigants; eBench as aiSmartBench; EDMS (electronic document management systems) through OnBase; and CMS through JusticeTech.

Smith says the most important trends in CMS technology start with the Cloud, since â&#x20AC;&#x153;modern systems are complex, and the Cloud offers speed, scalability and security that

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cannot be achieved by most courts that try to build out an on-premise solution.” He adds mobile needs to the list because “citizens and staff are leveraging mobile devices as their primary interface. A modern CMS needs to provide a full-featured mobile experience.” He further emphasizes use of eBench software, “because judges are not clerks and the system must provide an efficient interface for the judge.”

Significantly, Smith adds, “The public needs both high-powered eFiling interfaces for attorneys, and easy-to-use, wizard-like interfaces for self-represented litigants. The self-represented is a growing phenomenon and a2j offers an interface that enables untrained people to file correctly the first time. ImageSoft provides TrueFiling, a popular ECFconformant solution, which inte-

grates with a2j software for the selfrepresented.”

He adds a look back and forward: “The Federal Courts PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) began in 1988 and in combination with Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) enabled the legal community to file and update records electronically, without having to physically go to the courthouse.

Fast forward to today’s state and local courts, which are now implementing and/or exploring new solutions that fits the needs of their individual jurisdictions. Stakeholders not only have to evaluate what is available today, but have an eye towards the rapidly evolving technology landscape.”

As the CMS landscape expands to include risk/needs tools and the ability to connect to all users includ-

ing the public on an improved level, the terrain expands to view a new and vast horizon.

For More Information: cFive Solutions, formerly Capita Technologies, Inc., www.cfive.com Thomson Reuters, thomsonreuterscourtmanagementsolutions@tr.com, www.legalsolutions.com/ctrack-CMS, CorrectTech, info@correcttech.com, 303.586.6551, www.correcttech.com, CourtView, Info@Courtview.com, 1.800.406.4333 ImageSoft, 1.888.315.3901, www.imagesoftinc.com Tyler Technologies, cjsales@tylertech.com, 1.800.431.5776, www.tylertech.com Journal Technologies, sales@journaltech.com, 1.877.587.8927, www.journaltech.com

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B Y M I C H A EL G R O H S , CO N T R I B U T I N G E D ITOR

Eradicating Contraband Technology that chases down narcotics, shivs, cell phones and other hazardous items.

“THERE'S A GUY LIKE ME in every state and federal prison in America, I guess—I'm the guy who can get it for you. Tailor-made cigarettes, a bag of reefer, if you're partial to that, a bottle of brandy to celebrate your son or daughter's high school graduation, or almost anything else...within reason, that is.”

That is the opening line of Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. While the reader may be rooting for Red and Andy, the protagonists, the reality is that contraband is a scourge in correctional facilities, and the phrase “within reason” has probably evolved since then. In the 1990s, the nation was shocked when a video from a contraband video surfaced of deceased serial killer Richard Speck sitting topless with developed breasts grown with contraband

female enhancement drugs, flashing wads of cash and a massive amount of cocaine and boasting about how much fun he was having.

Shawshank was written and set long before the advent of the current most pressing contraband scourge: the cell phone. Thousands of cell phones find their way into correctional facilities and are used to intimidate witnesses, run crime syndicates, place hits, and engineer escapes. The five primary ways they get in, says Scott Schober, president and CEO, Berkeley Varitronics Systems, Inc., is via employees, deliveries, visitors, being thrown over the wall hidden inside objects such as basketballs, and now by being delivered by drones. (Drone use has gone from practically nothing in 2013 to a billion-dollar industry.) Prisoners pay as much as

$1,500 for a phone, and corruption certainly exists. An extra $1,000 might sound tempting to those serving in what can be a thankless profession. Back in 2009, in California alone, 300 correctional employees were suspected of smuggling cell phones to prisoners. By fall 2014, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) arrested 546 visitors for smuggling cell phones or drugs.

Two years later two employees at a prison admitted to making over $100,000 each trafficking cell phones. They can be smuggled in items such as a peanut butter jar, which might throw off the scent for dogs. They have arrived in hollowed out loaves of bread. Every prison has scores of MacGuyvers with nothing but time to plot. Even Charles Manson had a phone and was able

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to make thousands of phone calls and send thousands of texts to the outside world.

Laws have been implemented in making smuggling contraband a more serious offense, but clearly prisons are filled with people who are a bit more comfortable outside the law than most of us. The playwright David Mamet once wrote “Give a character something to want on page one, even if it’s a loaf of bread.” Prisoners want things they are not supposed to have, and they are not supposed to have much.

Giving Chase with High-tech It’s a game of cat and mouse, but the cat has better technology. Metal detectors such as those made by Garrett can detect weapons carried in a vertical position, a position that can be difficult to detect. Videoscopes can offer a camera so small (smaller than 2mm) that can pass through a tire without letting the air out or to be passed through locks or gaps in doors.

A recent technology of the past five years has been one using ferromagnetic technology. Metrasens, which manufactures CellSense, is one of those devices. This technology is being widely used to detect cell phones (among other contraband) and can find cell phones whether they are on or off, on the inside or outside of a human body, and whether it has a battery or not. The technology, which was developed by physicists for detecting submarines, does not detect metal. It detects changes in the earth’s magnetic field. They are mobile, so if a facility suspects the cafeteria is a point of entry and the inmates find out that that is a detection spot, they will simply not bring their phones to lunch. In that case, the device can be moved. They can also work surreptitiously from behind a cement wall.

Most facilities or DOCs use multiple tactics to keep phones out, what James Viscardi, vice president of Global Security at Metrasens, the manufacturer of Cellsense describes as a “layered security approach” that includes X-ray machines, metal detectors, wands, canines, and inmate intel. One of those departments is the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), Vicky Waters, press secretary, says they are “in the process of installing a suite of detection solutions at all institutions, which will include x-ray scanners, ferromagnetic detectors, metal detectors, etc.”

Some of the manufacturers or distributors of these technologies include the following.

Berkeley Varitronics Systems

WallHound™ Cell Phone Detection and Deterrent for Secure Facilities detects and deters individuals from using cell phones in areas where they are normally December/January 2017x W W W . C O U RT S T O D A Y . C O M

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restricted, unauthorized or illegal.

All nearby cell phone activity including voice, data and texting are detected. Once detected, WallHound alerts the mobile phone user (and anyone else within visible & audible range) with a bright, flashing LED â&#x20AC;&#x153;No Cell Phoneâ&#x20AC;? sign and loud, custom audio message set by the facility.

Detection sensitivity and alert volumes are fully adjustable and also key lockable to ensure no tampering occurs.

WallHoundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strength lies in its ease of use and ability to function fully unattended, the company says. WallHound frees up security personnel for more pressing duties while reminding visitors that cell phones are prohibited.

This makes WallHound ideal for visitors in correctional facilities, courtrooms or

anywhere people need to be reminded about cell phone policies.

WallHound sells for $1,800.

WallHound supports optional DF (Direction Finding) antenna for targeted detection and optional Bluetooth and Wi-Fi detection as well. ! ! !

Garrett Metal Detectors

The PD 6500i walk-through metal detector from Garrett Metal Detectors, chosen for its superior pinpoint technology and unmatched discrimination features, was used to protect patrons of the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. The PD 6500i features 33 distinct zones to precisely identify multiple target locations. With advanced networking options, this detector can be remotely accessed by supervisors to manage controls and monitor statistics and alarms. The PD6500i walk-through detector has a new Prisons 2 program that provides enhanced detection of difficult weapons that are carried

through in a vertical orientationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; an orientation that has proven to be difficult for some other systems to detect.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a game of cat and mouse, but the cat has better technology.

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The Garrett Super Scanner V, with audible and vibrating alarm options, detects ferrous, non-ferrous and stainless steel weapons, contraband, and other metallic objects. The Super Scanner V is rugged, self-calibrating, includes adjustable sensitivity, and it is made in the USA. ! !

Metrasens

Cellsense Plusâ&#x201E;˘ from Metrasens is the leading search and detection product used to target cell phones, small blades, other weapons and concealed contraband. Detecting and stopping illicit prison use of cell phones thwarts inmates from intimidating witnesses, threatening victims, organizing crimes and plotting escapes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cellsense Plus has twice the detection sensitivity when compared with the best performing competitive product, and is also much better at cutting interference from surrounding activity,â&#x20AC;? says company VP James Viscardi. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The result is that Cellsense Plus will detect smaller concealed items

even in the most challenging environments.â&#x20AC;?

Cellsense is the leading detector of contraband and all cell p h o n e s used in correctional facilities across 32 Departments of Correction and over 200 counties in the United States with installations in 41 countries to date around the world.

Recognized as the most versatile detector available, it adapts quickly and simply for faster, more thorough portable or checkpoint searches of people or objects, indoors and outside. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

maintain, the SASRAD Readyscope is ready to use straight out of the case without needing t o

negotiate tiers of menus or long warm-up times.

There are other scopes available with tiny diameters of less than 2 mm used to inspect vehicle tires without letting the air out, but can be used though locks and gaps in doors. Infrared illumination is available for clandestine use such as prison riots and barricaded cells. ! !

! ! ! !

Sas

Videoscopes are used to inspect areas that are normally inaccessibleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; typically in a prison situation that would be around the bend in the toilets, behind the walls and in any holes found in the structure of the furniture or fabric of the cell. The videoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scope probe can be up to 118â&#x20AC;? (3m) long, although most are in the 60â&#x20AC;?-80â&#x20AC;? range. The videoscope will record the area it is inspectingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;for training or evidentiary purposes. It will see concealed items, such as narcotics or shivs or any other contraband tucked inside an object. Simple to use and easy to December/January 2017x

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A ST U D Y B Y T E X A S A PP L E S E E D , A N O N P ROF I T JU S TI C E AG E NC Y

A Summary of Recent Research on What Works pproximately 61% of the individuals held in Texas county jails have not been convicted of any crime. They are being detained before trial, most often because they cannot afford the bond amount set in their cases, or even 10% of the bond amount to pay to a bail bondsman.

In most counties, no risk assessment tool is used to determine the likelihood that each defendant will commit a new crime awaiting trial or fail to appear in court. Instead, judges often determine bond amounts based on bond schedules, where the category of the offense as well as defendant’s criminal record determines the pre-set bond amount in each case.

A growing body of compelling

A

research suggests that Texas’ current monetary bond system may actually harm public safety. Low-risk, lowincome defendants remain in jail for no other reason than they cannot afford bail, and detaining these individuals actually makes it more likely they will reoffend in the future.

Meanwhile, higher-risk individuals with higher incomes can buy their release through cash and surety bonds. A research-based, validated risk assessment tool would allow counties to assign each defendant a risk level and make informed decisions about bond amount, pretrial release and pretrial supervision based upon the assigned risk level.

This risk assessment tool used in combination with increased personal recognizance (PR) bonds would not only increase public safety but

also save counties millions of dollars that are currently spent on jailing low-risk defendants.

The following is a summary of recent research into best practices around bond decisions and pretrial release.

A monetary bail system leads to detention based primarily on income level. Low-income defendants remain in jail before trial regardless of risk level, while higher income defendants who can afford bond go free.

A 2012 study by Wichita County, Texas, by Texas A&M’s Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI) showed that being indigent reduces a defendant’s chance of bond by about 16%. Indigence was the primary determining factor in whether a defendant bonded out—NOT the

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seriousness of the current charge or criminal history.

Additionally, indigent defendants who were released from jail took longer to do so—nearly two times longer than other defendants.

Another analysis of the New Jersey statewide jail population showed that nearly 40% of the total jail population were awaiting trial and detained solely because they could not afford bail. Twelve percent of all jail inmates were being held on a bond amount of $2500 or less; 800 inmates were held on $500 or less. (Marie VanNostrand, Luminosity, New Jersey Jail Population Analysis, 2013) Defendants who are detained pretrial have worse outcomes and receive lengthier sentences compared to otherwise identical defendants released on bond. This means the current system punishes the indigent more harshly, solely because they are indigent and cannot afford their pretrial release.

The same PPRI study compared Wichita County defendants who are otherwise statistically identical, except for whether they were released pretrial. They found that those who made bond had a: • 333% better chance of receiving deferred adjudication; • 30% better chance of having the charges against them dismissed; • 24% less chance of being found guilty; and • 54% fewer jail days sentenced Another study Investigating the Impact of Pretrial Detention on Sentencing Outcomes funded by the Houston-based Laura & John Arnold Foundation (Christopher T. Lowenkamp et al., 2013) compared defendants in Kentucky and found that, compared to those released on bond, those who were detained pretrial were: • More than 4 times likely to be sentenced to jail; • More than 3 times likely to be

sentenced to prison; and • Received significantly longer sentences—nearly 3 times as long for those sentenced to jail and more than twice as long for those sentenced to some prison.

Impact of Jailing Low-risk Defendants

Jailing low-risk defendants before trial has a negative impact on public safety, making it more likely they will commit a new crime in the short term and the long term.

• In another groundbreaking Arnold Foundation study of defendants in Kentucky jails, low-risk defendants held at least 2 to 3 days were almost 40% more likely to commit a new crime before trial than a low-risk defendant held no more than 24 hours. (Lowenkamp et al., Hidden Costs of Pretrial Detention, 2013) • The longer low-risk defendants were held, the more likely they were to reoffend, the Hidden Costs study found. Those detained more than a month were 74% more likely to commit a new crime before trial than those released within 24 hours.

• Long-term recidivism was also correlated with longer pretrial detention periods. Compared to low-risk defendants released within 24 hours of arrest, those detained 2 to 3 days were 17% more likely to commit a new crime within 2 years; those detained 1 to 2 weeks were 51% more likely.

• One likely explanation for this is that longer pretrial detention makes it more likely low-risk defendants will lose their employment, lose their housing, and encounter family disruptions and other obstacles as a result of their jail stay, thus increasing the likelihood of future criminal activity.

Court appearance rates improve by releasing low-risk defendants quickly and providing effective pretrial supervision for moderate- and

high-risk defendants.

• Low-risk defendants held 2 to 3 days were 22% more likely to fail to appear than similar defendants held for less than 24 hours. Low-risk defendants held 15 to 30 days were 41% less likely to appear, according to the Hidden Costs study.

Moderate- and high-risk defendants who received pretrial supervision were significantly more likely to appear for court appearances than those who were unsupervised, according to a third Arnold Foundation study of defendants in two states (Christopher T. Lowenkamp & Marie VanNostrand, Exploring the Impact of Supervision on Pretrial Outcomes, 2014). Moderate risk defendants missed court 38% less frequently with supervision, and high-risk defendants missed court appearances 33% less frequently.

Surety bonds and bail bondsmen do not reduce the risk of defendants committing a new crime, nor do they improve court appearance rates or rate of fugitive return compared to unsecured bonds.

• A 2013 study of nearly 2,000 Colorado defendants compared those released on unsecured bonds (PR bonds where defendant promises to pay only if he fails to appear) and secured bonds (cash bonds and surety bonds posted by a bail bondsman). The researchers found no statistically significant difference in the rate of rearrest for new crimes before trial between defendants of the same risk level released on different types of bonds. For example, 93% of low-risk defendants released on unsecured bond were not charged with a new crime; 90% of defendants released on secured bond were not charged with a new crime. (Michael R. Jones, Unsecured Bonds: The As Effective and Most Efficient Pretrial Release Option, Pretrial Justice Institute, 2013).

• According to the Jones’ study, there were no statistically signifiDecember/January 2017x

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A study of defendants in Kentucky jails found low-risk defendants held at least 2 to 3 days were almost 40% more likely to commit a new crime before trial than a low-risk defendant held no more than 24 hours. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;The Hidden Costs of Pretrial Detention cant differences in the court appearance rates of defendants of the same risk level released on unsecured bonds versus secured bonds. For example, 97% of lowrisk defendants on unsecured bond appeared in court; 93% of low-risk defendants on secured bond appeared in court.

Finally, the report stated, there was no difference in the rate of fugitive return between unsecured and secured bonds, undermining bondsmen claims that they successfully located and returned fugitives to court at a greater rate.

Moving Away from Monetary Bond

Jurisdictions have successfully moved away from monetary bond without suffering decreased court appearances rates or pretrial rearrest rates. â&#x20AC;˘ Kentucky overhauled its pretrial release laws with the passage of legislation in 2011 that created a presumption for non-financial release of low- and moderate-risk defendants, with financial bond only if a judge documents defendant is a flight risk or danger to the community. The bill also incorporated the use of a research-based, validated pretrial risk assessment tool statewide. In the first year, nonfinancial release increased from 50% to 66% of all defendants. The release rate of low-risk defendants jumped from 76% to 85%, and the statewide pretrial jail population decreased by 279 people. Court appearance rates and public safety rates remained steady, despite the higher release rates (Pretrial Services, Administrative Office of the Courts, Kentucky Court of Justice, Pretrial Reform in Kentucky, 2013). â&#x20AC;˘ In Washington, D.C., 80% of all

defendants are released on a PR bond before trial. The remaining 20% are either held without bond because they are determined too high of a risk to release (15%) or released on cash bond after a determination that they have sufficient income to make bond (5%). (See The D.C. Pretrial Services Agency: Lessons from Five Decades of Innovation and Growth, Case Studies, An E-Publication of the Pretrial Justice Institute, Vol. 2, No. 1, conducted by the Pretrial Justice Institute.)

Thus, according to the Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia, Performance Measures: With an effective pretrial services agency making accurate risk assessments and supervising defendants on release, those released before trial have an 89% court appearance rate. Similarly, 89% are not rearrested for a new crime before trial. CT For more information www.texasappleseed.org/

visit

Report by Texas Appleseed, a public interest justice center, a nonprofit that promotes social and economic justice for all Texans.

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BY DONNA ROGERS, EDITOR

ew legislation is changing who is being released from prison and when, retroactively applying reforms that give many offenders early release, and determining who actually goes to prison in the first place. By reducing incarceration for even a few individuals, jurisdictions can save substantial sums, funds they may not have had in the first place.

The state of Maryland, for instance, according to a report by the Justice Policy Institute, could have expected to save millions of dollars by releasing onto parole many low risk individuals—like some of the oldest members of the prison population—and by expanding parole eligibility and improving supervision. The 2009 report, The Release Valve: Parole in Maryland, notes that in 2007 the state spent approximately $1,422 per person on

N

parole or probation, and $33,310 per person incarcerated. Just by paroling an additional 100 people, the report concludes, the state could potentially save approximately $3 million over the course of one year while maintaining public safety.

Legislation Drives Reform

One of the biggest shifts in early release from prison occurred in November 2014 when California voters passed Proposition 47, which converted many lower-level drug and property offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. According to the Public Policy Institute of California,

by January 2015 California’s prisons dropped below 137.5 percent of design capacity for the first time in recent memory; the end result was

that the state’s total prison population had declined 45 percent since its peak in 2006.

The initial federal sentencing reforms resulted from recommendations of the U.S. Sentencing Commission to reduce federal crack versus powder cocaine sentencing disparities and culminated in enactment of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. In 2014 the Commission also reduced federal sentencing guidelines for most drug-trafficking offenses, potentially shaving an average of about two years off sentences averaging over 10 years, according to the 2016 Trends in State Courts report by the National Center for State Courts.

To obtain the potential reductions, it furthers, inmates had to file individual petitions with a federal judge. Judges reportedly granted

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about 75 percent of the petitions, and 6,000 federal inmates obtained early release in November 2015— the largest one-time release of federal prisoners in history. The commission estimated that an additional 8,550 inmates would be eligible for early release over the next year.

Eventually, almost half of all imprisoned federal drug offenders may qualify for early release.

A further proposed reform, the Smarter Sentencing Act, introduced in both the House and Senate in 2014, would allow the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 to be applied retroactively and could reduce many federal mandatory minimum sentencing provisions.

Even some conservatives traditionally “tough on crime” are getting on the bandwagon, according to NCSC 2016 Trends. It noted that: as recently as March 2015, for example, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) had been publicly committed to kill any federal legislation softening federal mandatory minimum sentences.

Yet, barely six months later, on October 1, he joined half a dozen of the Senate’s most powerful Democrats and Republicans in announcing new legislation, the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, that does exactly that, calling it “the biggest criminal-justice reform in a generation.”

In October 2015, the Sentencing and Corrections Reform Act in fact passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan vote of 15 to 5. In addition to its revisions of existing mandatory minimum sentencing provisions, it also provides retroactive effect to the Fair Sentencing Act, contains compassionate-release provisions for older inmates, expands earned-time credits to allow some offenders to earn extra credits for participating in recidivism reduction programs, and establishes a demonstration project

to pilot promising reentry programs.

Notwithstanding that, there are inherent risks that come with early release, some criminal justice experts maintain. For example, according to a September 14, 2009 TIME article: “Criminologists say little research has been conducted to determine whether early-release initiatives lead to higher crime rates, although some prisoners who get out will undoubtedly commit crimes that they wouldn't have been able to commit if they were still behind bars.

"There's no risk-free early-release program," said Jeremy Travis, president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Yet the article “Do Early-Release Programs Raise the Crime Rate?” also toned down his remarks: “But early release doesn't simply mean opening the gates and letting inmates run for it. No state is freeing sex offenders, murderers or habitually violent criminals.

Most inmates who are eligible for early release are those who were caught with relatively small amounts of drugs.”

Public Safety Backlash

Some public safety groups are expressing caution about the repercussions of slashing sentences.

According to a joint report in May 2011 by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), called Early Release of Prisoners and Its Impact on Police Agencies and Communities in California, release of prisoners into the community may have a negative impact on those communities.

According to Bernard K. Melekian, then director, Office of COPS, a retired police chief and former president, California Police Chiefs Association, “We have to ensure that the budget cuts are focused to a strategic end, and not merely targeted to achieve a specific

dollar figure. The release of inmates is a social issue with real-life impacts. It should not be approached as a purely financial challenge.”

Another public safety warning about early release came from San Mateo Chief Susan Manheimer, president, California Police Chiefs Association. She said: “In California, the rate of recidivism is about 70 percent within 3 years of release.

Combine that with the estimated 10 to 20 percent cut that the state has inflicted on policing over the last decade, and we have the perfect storm of increasing violent crime and economic crime, high recidivism rates, and now a state corrections system that is looking to reduce the prison population.

“Our biggest concern is the shortsighted release of prisoners who then commit new crimes, increasing our workload and clogging local jails that are already over capacity,” she furthered. “And these offenders ultimately go back into the prison system, rather than becoming law-abiding [citizens] and achieving what we hoped they would achieve,” she said.

Risk Assessments Predictive risk scales have been used for parole decisions as far back as the 1920s. Today while their use spans across the criminal justice system from the determination of pretrial and probation supervision intensity and content to electronic monitoring decisions, it is falling more regularly to parole boards for early release decisions.

For example, in 2014, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was considering a new system for deciding which jail inmates get released early by making predictions about who is most likely to commit new crimes, according to a March 8, 2014 article in the Los Angeles Times.

The new tool would be a streamlined system using data from the California December/January 2017x

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Department of Justice.

Washington state has a comparable system to help decide the level of supervision for released felons and how much time can be knocked off their sentences for good behavior. The numbers were compelling.

A follow-up study in Washington found that about 47% of inmates in the highest-risk group returned to prison within three years, while only 10% of those labeled low-risk did.

Their system had been developed in 2008 in a collaboration between the Washington Department of Corrections and a company called

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No risk assessment tool is 100% accurate.… but they can stack the odds in your favor.

Assessments.com. This tool, called the STRONG, is an evidence-based risk and needs assessment/supervision planning system for adult offenders; it is now being implemented in a number of counties in California as well.

Another tool, the LS/CMI risk/needs assessment tools from Multi-Health Systems, Inc., is relevant to all stages of the criminal justice process, but it is most often used in post-conviction situations. The LS/CMI is extremely informative in determining institutional security levels, type and intensity of treatment programs, conditions of community supervision, and parole decisions, according to research.

Further, the Northpointe Suite/COMPAS scales are used for a wide range of risk and needs assessments across the criminal justice continuum. Two of the three COMPAS risk models would be useful in accessing which inmates would be best eligible for early release: (1) risk of general recidivism and (2) risk of violent recidivism.

All of the 23 criminogenic need scales and the COMPAS case plan

would be useful, however, explains Dr. Angel Ilarraza, director at Northpointe, “because a parole decision often comes with requirements or conditions that must be satisfied during the parole term. A parole board can be an effective mechanism to help ensure that a parolee is required to continue their work on behavior/lifestyle change after release from prison.”

Risk/Need assessment tools can be of value in helping parole boards identify the best or most appropriate candidates for parole release, Dr. Ilarraza explains. When we release someone from incarceration (either as an early release or not) with assistance from a risk scale instrument there is a greater understanding of the inmate’s risk and criminogenic needs profile, he says, and that information is used to facilitate a successful parole by identifying (and providing) the right types of support and services necessary to help ensure that a person refrain from recidivating.

Risk assessments, of course, are not an exact science. Susan Turner, a UC Irvine criminology professor who helped develop the system California's corrections department uses, said the tool has an approximately 70% accuracy rate in its assessments—similar to the accuracy of other risk assessment systems that include a more involved interview process, stated the 2014 LA Times article.

"The tool is not 100% accurate, and that's what many people get stuck over," she said. "No risk assessment tool is 100% accurate.… We're trying to predict human behavior."

Even so, says Dr. Ilarraza, states should offer predictive risk assessment data to parole board members, “provided that those members are trained in understanding what the tools are, how well they perform, and [know] that the results should serve as just one more piece of information to consider in their decisions.” CT

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