It seems to be true for all jurisdictions that “good behavior” in prison results in a more or less automatic sentence reduction, typically 50%.
What’s the history of this policy, and when did it become fixed and so widespread?
Untrue for very, very many jurisdictions these days.
With the advent of “truth in sentencing” and “3 strikes and you’re out” legislation, many inmates across the US serve the same amount of time now no matter whether their behavior is sterling or they’re constantly abusive and disruptive.
As for when it began, all I can relate is that in Wisconsin with the opening of the first prison, the 1st warden was given great leeway to decide when someone was rehabilitated enough to be discharged. So since 1850 there.
This was not changed all that significantly until the 1980’s when absolute minimum incarceration time for certain crimes was legislated. Quickly the rules were tightened up further until the sentencing judge now imposes the exact minimum length of time the felon will stay in prison.
In England and Wales everyone is automatically released after serving 50% of their sentence (the only exceptions being life sentences, indeterminate sentences for public protection and the mostly defunct extended sentences). They serve the remainder of their sentence on licence, but can be re-called to serve the rest of their sentence if they commit another crime or breach the terms of their licence in some other way. Some people are released on home detention curfews even earlier if they are deemed suitable.
“Time off for good behaviour” used to operate in England and Wales I believe, but one of the big problems with schemes like that is that determining whether someone’s conduct qualifies as “good behaviour” becomes a quasi-judicial function as it is determining the length of their actual sentence.
In the state of Texas ‘time off for good behavior’ is dependent upon whether or not your crime is ‘aggravated’. If a person is convicted of a non aggravated crime, they typically become eligible for parole after serving approx. 50% of their sentence. If that person has prior convictions, their charges can be ‘enhanced’ so that whatever sentence is imposed will be equivalent to an aggravated sentence.
If convicted of an aggravated crime, a minimum of 85% of the sentence has to be served before being considered for parole.
There is no such thing as ‘automatic’ parole (at least, in Texas there isn’t), if you do not follow the rules while in prison, the date that you first become eligible for parole can be ‘set off’ (or extended), with the set off being variable from 6 months to 1 year or even longer.
For non aggravated sentences there is whats called the ‘short way’ which is the minimum time a person must serve before becoming eligible for mandatory parole if they are not approved for early release. But even that can be set off if the inmate does not follow the rules.
An inmate can be ‘written up’ for myriad different reasons, some minor infractions, some major. Three minor infractions (of the same type) within 90 days constitutes a major infraction. One major infraction is sufficient to deny an inmate an early release, or even set off the release on their short way date.
All in all, it’s a very complicated system. :smack:
IANAL And the info above may be incomplete.
Very true. However some states never enacted those laws. For example, the state of West Virginia never had high crime rates to deal with and there was never a demand for “three strikes” and the like so those laws never passed.
Here a prisoner is eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence and is credited day for day (50%) of good time behavior. So a person sentenced to 10 to 40 years in prison is eligible for parole in 2 years and 6 months. The person usually gets denied the first time as a matter of course, but makes parole the next year.
Even for 1st degree murder and a life sentence, a prisoner is eligible for parole after 15 years. A crime has to be especially heinous for a jury to recommend and for a judge to impose a “no mercy” life without parole sentence. And even those aren’t really carried out as the governor has a task force that reviews all life without mercy prisoners after 15 years and commutes the sentence of those he feels should be eligible for parole. (No capital punishment in WV).
It makes the news very rarely and isn’t changing, and even with that, we still have serious prison overcrowding. But it is astounding to know that for a crime I might only serve 2 years for in WV would get me 30 in Florida with no parole.
It gets even more bizarre when you factor in states with weapons ehancements, again Florida is one. Brandishing a gun might get you a couple of years in other states, but in Florida it’s 10 years plus whatever the time you get for the original offense.
Just what you get when you have 50 different legal systems with their own history, politics, and court cases. For non-US readers in the United States virtually all criminal offenses, from DUIs to premeditated murder, is prosecuted on the state level.
It’s one-quarter in Ireland, and applies by default. Remission can be lost for certain disciplinary infringements.