Parole
The conditional release of inmates by a parole board prior to the expiration of their sentence.
Alexander Maconochie
The superintendent of the British penal colony on Norfolk Island from 1841 to 1844 who created a system of marks for good behavior that could lead to a graduated release from prison.
Mark system
Credits against a sentence that allowed for inmates to be release once they earned the required level of marks through work and good behavior.
Ticket of leave
A form of release used by Maconochie; once prisoners earning the required level of marks, they received a conditional pardon and were released to the community.
Sir Walter Crofton
The director of Irish prison system in 1854, who began to implement many of the ideas of Maconochie's work.
Zebulon R. Brockway
A leading U.S. penologist in the mid-1800s who was a proponent of adopting the Irish system in the United States and who became the first superintendent of the Elmira Reformatory.
Elmira Reformatory
The first reformatory in the United States; it opened in 1876 and used the principles of the Irish system, indeterminate sentences, and parole.
Justice model
The model for sentencing proposed by Fogel that would use flat, determinate sentences, eliminate parole boards, and make all treatment voluntary.
Just deserts model
A model for sentencing proposed by von Hirsch that had fixed sentences for each crime so that the punishment fit the crime.
Discretionary parole
Release of inmates in which the decision to release is made by a parole board.
Supervised mandatory release
A type of release in which inmates seve a determinate sentence and are then released, but with a period of supervision to follow.
Unconditional mandatory release
A type of release in which inmates seve the full portion of their sentence and have no supervision after release from prison.
Parole guidelines
Similar to sentencing guidelines, these use predictive factors to determine the offenders' risk to the community and chance for success; guidelines prescrive a presumptive time to be served based on the seriousness of the crime and the factors predictive of success for each inmate.
Salient factor score
A point determination for each inmate for use with parole guidelines; the score is based on factors predictive of success on parole
Hearing officers
Officials who are not appointed parole board members, yet they hold parole hearings and make recommendations to the parole board regarding inmates' release.
Presumptive parole date
A date the inmate can expect to be released on parole, even if it is five or ten years later than the hearing.
Positive contact
Face to face contact between a parole officer and an offender.
Violation
Failure to follow conditions of parole supervision.
Morrissey v. Brewer
A 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision that once parole is granted, a liberty interest is created and offenders must have certain dur process to revoke that liberty.
Prisoner reentry
The process of an inmate leaving prison and returning to the community.