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Reintegrative Justice
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A New Sentencing Model to Meet the Challenge of Reentry and Public Safety
In this policy piece the authors, Alan Rosenthal, J.D., Marsha Weissman, Executive Director; Elaine Wolf, Ph.D., explain the significance of the recent amendment to Penal Law §1.05(6). The amendment brings to New York a new sentencing goal which is to promote the "successful and productive reentry and reintegration into society." The authors explore some of the questions and challenges faced with the advent of reintegrative sentencing.Click here for pdf.
New York State Enacts a New Sentencing Model to Meet the Challenge of Reentry and Public Safety
On June 7, 2006 Governor George Pataki signed into law an
important change affecting sentencing in New York. Penal Law
§1.05(6) has been amended to add a new goal, “the
promotion of their (defendant’s) successful and productive
reentry and reintegration into society...” (Chapter 98 of the
Laws of 2006), to the four traditional sentencing goals of deterrence,
rehabilitation, retribution and incapacitation. This
amendment became effective immediately.
This reintegrative sentencing model was developed by the Center for Community Alternatives in 2004 (See CCA Working Paper “Unlocking the Potential of Reentry and Reintegration” and championed by the Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Reentry and Employment (ICARE), an alliance of communities of faith, direct service providers, and policy organizations including the New York State Council of Churches, Legal Action Center, Center for Community Alternatives, Reentry Net/NY and many congregations throughout New York State.
This amendment to New York’s Penal Law marks a
significant shift by the legislature in sentencing policy.
The new law will require every judge presiding at sentencing in a
criminal case to consider carefully the extent to which any given
sentence will help to promote the convicted person’s
reintegration into society. Under the amended law a new and
increased significance is placed on breaking the cycle of recidivism by
imposing sentences of a length and type that will promote successful
reintegration and increase public safety.
Click here for an HTML version and here for the text in Word
Unlocking the
Potential of Reentry and Reintegration:
A Reintegrative Sentencing Model
In this paper Alan Rosenthal, J.D., and Elaine Wolf, Ph.D., describe a new approach to reentry practice and policy in the context of the processing of a criminal case. They view reentry planning as valuable at six points during the pendency of a criminal case and service of a sentence: decision making regarding pretrial release; plea bargaining and sentence negotiations; sentencing; jail and prison programming; the provision of supportive services at the time of release; and decision making regarding parole revocation. If such planning were systematically incorporated into these six phases of criminal case processing, people involved in the criminal justice system would be more likely to reintegrate into their communities successfully and maximize their capacity for productive citizenship. The authors argue that in order to unlock the potential of reentry as a vehicle to reduce reliance on incarceration and promote public safety, traditional sentencing must be replaced with a reintegration-focused sentencing model.
Click here for an HTML version and here for a pdf (1.3M).
Related Resources
Reentry Net/NYhttp://www.reentry.net/ny/
Reentry Net/NY is the first ever support network and information clearing house on reentry from jail and prison and the civil consequences of criminal proceedings.
New York State Bar Association: Report of the Special Committee on Collateral Consequences of Criminal Proceedings
http://www.nysba.org/MSTemplate.cfm?MicrositeID=100
The New York State Bar Association is the nation's largest voluntary statewide association of lawyers and has long served a dual role as an advocate for the profession and for the public. The Special Committee's report "Reentry and Reintegration: The Road to Public Safety" analyzes the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction and makes recommendations for change.
Collateral Consequences of Criminal Charges
http://www2.law.columbia.edu/fourcs/
An online collaborative forum where judges, lawyers and scholars can learn more about collateral consequences; content managed by experts in the major areas of New York law where collateral consequences occur.
The National H.I.R.E. Network
http://hirenetwork.org/
Established by the Legal Action Center, the National Helping Individuals with criminal records Re-enter through Employment Network is a national clearinghouse for information and an advocate for policy change. The National H.I.R.E. Network also provides training and technical assistance to agencies working to improve the employment prospects for people with criminal records.
ICARE
http://nyicare.org/
The Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Reentry and Employment (ICARE) was founded in October 2004 to organize a religious response to the crisis of recidivism in New York State.