Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Jail and Juvenile Facility Information..............



Juvenile Facilities in South Dakota........

In South Dakota the total number of privately run juvenile facilities for 2000 was thirteen. The total number in 2002 was twelve and in 2004 the total numbers of privately run juvenile facilities were thirteen. During the four year time period the numbers slightly dropped in 2002 to twelve but went back to thirteen two years later. I think the reason the numbers have stayed the same is because the crime trend in South Dakota has stayed the same. Overall the crime rates and crime stories in South Dakota are not very high therefore their facilities would stay the same. The numbers of privately owned juvenile facilities could also be staying the same over this time period because of the way the system works in South Dakota. If the system is very strict and gives no chances to juveniles, or any person for that matter, then this could scare the juveniles to not commit any crimes. Another reason the number of facilities have stayed the same could be the culture in South Dakota. If many families are strict with their children then this will keep them away from crime. If the juveniles are not committing crimes then they will not be sent to facilities and the state would not need more of them.

Jail Populations in South Dakota in 1998......

In 1999 in the state of South Dakota, there was 31 jails. They had a rating capacity, the number of beds or inmates assigned by a rating official to facilities within each jurisdiction, of 1,623. The jails in South Dakota were under capacity with a mere 66% rated capacity occupied. One reason for the under capacity, can be due to population. South Dakota had a population census in 1999 stating that they had 733,133 people living in that state. This means that out of the entire population only 7% were locked away in jail. A trend occurs with population and crime rate, the larger the population the higher the crime rate. Since South Dakota has a small population size, they should have a lower crime rate, thus allowing for under capacity in jails. Another reason for this under capacity could be because of the types of criminal in the jails. The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau Census of Jails, 1999, states that they held inmates beyond arraignment (usually more than 72 hours). This means that anyone who stayed in jail before those 72 hours were not counted in the census, thus causing a possible under capacity in the jails. The final reason for this under capacity is because of incorrect crime rate statistics. Like all cities there are a great number of unreported crimes. South Dakota crime rates could be skewed because of these unreported crime rates, leaving criminals on the streets, and not in jail, thus causing an under capacity of inmates in the jail.

Male to Female Ratio in Prisons......

In South Dakota the prisoner ratio for male to females in jail is significantly high. In 2000 there were 200 females in prison. In 2006 there was a 150 person increase to 350. In 2007 it went up again to 369. The percent change from 2000 to 2006 was a 9.8 in increase. From 2006 to 2007 there was a 5.4 increase.

On the other side of the spectrum are the males. In 2000 there were 2,416. In 2006 there were 3,009. In 2007 there were 2,942. The percentage increase in 2000 to 2006 was 3.9. As one can see, the percentage decreased from 2006 to 2007 by 2.2.

Three reasons for the increase in the male ratio are:
South Dakota has the highest percentage of American Indian male inmates than any of its neighbors.

There has been more White people move to South Dakota and that causes an up-roar in the Native American community

Woman Wise the increase is because:

Misguided policies that create harsher sentences for nonviolent drug offenses are disproportionately responsible for the increasing rates of women in prisons and jails. From 1995 to 2003, inmates incarcerated in federal prisons for drug offenses have accounted for 49 percent of total prison population growth.

There has been a 32% increase in women using the drug Meth

Citations.....

Citation for Juvenile Facilities in South Dakota:

2009 South Dakota Juvenile Information. Retrieved Nov. 23, 2009, from the World Wide Web: http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t100092004.pdf

Citation for Jail Populations in South Dakota:

Waldron, R., & Schuldt, C. M. (2009). South Dakota Population Statistics General Demographic Information. Retrieved Nov. 23, 2009, from University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD. Web site: http://people.usd.edu/~rwaldron/popstats.html

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Death Penalty and Parole Information in South Dakota.....



Basic Death Penalty Information in South Dakota:

Based on the Death Penalty Information Center(http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/state_by_state) the mid-western state of South Dakota does have the Death Penalty. The sentence is determined by the jury. South Dakota’s Death Row facility is located in Souix Falls. The method for the process is injection. The number of executions since the year of 1976 has been a minimal 1. Before the year of 1976 there were a total of 15. The current Death Row inmates are 3 and none of them are women. The Death Penalty was re-enacted in 01/01/1979. The murder rate (per 100,000 people) is 2.1. Life without parole is an option in South Dakota. A Defendant can receive death for a felony in which he/she was not responsible for. The number of Clemencies granted, as well as, the number of innocent persons released from death row are both 0.

First Recorded Death Penalty Case:

The first recorded execution in South Dakota was on the 1st of March, 1877. The person executed was a 24 year old white male by the name of Jack McCall. He was found guilty of murder. The mode of execution was hanging. The last recorded execution in South Dakota was 70 years and 38 days later on the 8th of April 1947. This person was also a white male. His name was George Sitts, age 33. George, just as Jack McCall, was found guilty of murder. George, however, was executed by way of electrocution.
What cannot be seen in the data here is that all but one of the executions performed in South Dakota were done by hanging. This makes the execution of Jack McCall unique in two ways; he was not only the last person to be executed in South Dakota , but was also the only person to be executed by electrocution. South Dakota has not done an execution in over 60 years.


South Dakota Parole Statistics:

The state of South Dakota has 3,440 entries and 3,087 exits for the year of 2006 with a total population of 5,661 adults on probation (thus, a probation rate of 959 per 100,000 adult residents) (Bonczar, and Glaze, 2006). The parole system of South Dakota has 2,054 entries and 1,731 exits with a total population of 2,767 adults on parole (thus, a parole rate of 469 per 100,000 adult residents) (Bonczar, and Glaze, 2006). Clearly, the state of South Dakota has a higher probation rate than parole. The state of Texas has a total of 431,967 adults on probation (yielding a probation rate of 2,515 per 100,000 adults) compared to 100,053 adults on parole (yielding a parole rate of 583 per 100,000 adults) (Bonczar, and Glaze, 2006). When one compares the two states it is noticeable that both tend to have higher rates of probation compared to parole; perhaps, because of the reasons discussed in class (for example, one serving probation is less socially stigmatizing than one serving prison time). Also noticeable is the higher rate of probation for the state of Texas compared to South Dakota (2,515 per 100,000 versus 959 per 100,000 in South Dakota); this difference might be because of several factors (South Dakota might use restorative justice programs more often than probation). Thus, as one could see, probation is used more often than parole in the criminal justice systems of South Dakota and Texas.

Restorative Justice Information in South Dakota:

The center for restorative Justice is a helpful program. Their motto is, “We promote healing between people separated by conflict, mediation education and peacemaking processes.” They offer a variety of programs and services but their most successful one is the Voices of Understanding. This program offers an open dialogue type setting which allows for a healthy, yet neutral environment. This program receives funding from sponsors and there are several ways in which one can contribute. Simply visit the website http://www.cfrj.org/membership.html and fill out their online membership form.

Citations:

Citation for Basic Death Penalty Information in South Dakota:
Death Penalty Information Center (2009) State by State Database: Retrieved from the World Wide Web on November 16, 2009 from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/state_by_state

Citation for First Recorded Death Penalty Case:
Death Penalty Execution Center (2009). Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The Espy File. Retrieved from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/ESPYyear.pdf

Citation for South Dakota Parole Statistics:
Bonczar, T. and Glaze, L. (2006). United State Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Probation and Parole in the United States, 2006 NCJ 220218 [Table 1: Adults on Probation]. Retrieved from https://webcampus.nevada.edu/webct/urw/lc33129041.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct
Bonczar, T. and Glaze, L. (2006). United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Probation and Parole in the United States, 2006 NCJ 220218 [Table 3: Adults on Parole]. Retrieved from https://webcampus.nevada.edu/webct/urw/lc33129041.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct

Citation for Restorative Justice Information in South Dakota:
Center for Restorative Justice (2009) Retrieved from the World Wide Web at http://www.cfrj.org/membership.html on November 17, 2009

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

South Dakota's Grand Jury Laws and New News Stories....


Grand Jury Hearing Information:

All counties in South Dakota participate in Grand Jury hearings. The state does not, however, separate the Grand Juries by county, but by divisions (United States, p. 3). South Dakota is split into four divisions which each contain numerous counties. South Dakota also offers petit hearings. (United States, p. 1)

Grand Juries - Grand Juries are held in secret (NOLO). The jury consists of randomly selected citizens. It is the grand juries job to decide if there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial. Indictment from a grand jury does not require a unanimous vote.

Preliminary Hearings - Preliminary Hearings are held to determine if a person being charged with a felony should go to trial for the crime they are being charged with (Preliminary). More evidence is needed in a preliminary hearing than in a grand jury. Because of this, prosecutors will often fore go the preliminary hear and go to a grand jury instead (NOLO).


Rapid City News:

The October 26, 2009 edition of the Rapid City Angus Leader article entitled “Trial begins today for Rapid City man who says he assisted in suicide” provides excellent insight into the jury selection process. The article notes “Jury selection was scheduled today in the trial of 51-year-old Robert Goulding of Rapid City. He is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death last November of 56-year-old Allen Kissner of Redfield (AP, 2009).” The article later notes “Authorities say Goulding has confessed to pulling the trigger. Goulding’s attorney says the shooting near Sheridan Lake was an assisted suicide, not murder. Prosecutors say they are confident they can prove murder (AP, 2009).” Unfortunately, the article doesn’t go into details about the jury selection process for this trial; The AP doesn’t even note if any jurors challenged for cause (perhaps because of this trial’s sensitive nature).
However, one may make assumptions on the type of jurors the prosecution and defense would desire. The prosecution would prefer potential jurors who believe in the rational choice crime theory, as well as socially conservative potential jurors who tend not believe in assisted suicide. The defense would probably prefer potential jurors who believe in victimization crime theory, as well as more socially liberal potential jurors who tend to believe in assisted suicide. Overall, this story shows that the jury selection process can be somewhat secretive (depending on that nature of the case); nevertheless, this case illustrates that one could make inferences about the types of potential jurors prosecutors and the defense wish to have on the jury that decides on the verdict of a given case.


Smoking Ban Trial:


The current trial in the state of South Dakota is regarding the ban on smoking. This issue was brought to the state law makers approximately eight months ago. The argument against this is that the smoking ban should be in effect now and not later. "I think it is important we get back to that threshold issue of, did the legislature intend this to go into effect? Should this go into effect because of the public health preservation?" Jennifer Stalley of the American Cancer Society said (Nobody Smokes Here Anymore). Part of the evidence that is being presented in court is a signature petition that Larry Mann is creating. "We're prepared to make a strong case that we've got a lot of signatures that ought to be included in that count," Mann said (Nobody Smokes Here Anymore). "I think we're confident South Dakota will eventually become smoke free. We just are working to make that happen sooner rather than later," Stalley said (Nobody Smokes Here Anymore). If this case is passed the ban will likely take effect in November 2010. The evidence that is being shown in the courtroom trial will be effective because it is showing the number of people that are for the ban on smoking in South Dakota and they also present the health risks associated with smoking.



Speedy Trial Information:

In South Dakota, a person accused of a crime has the right to a speedy trial by an impartial jury in the county that the crime was allegedly committed. It becomes different when describing an indictment, information or complaints. When a defendant is charged with one of these processes they must be brought to trial within 180 days. The 180 days start from when you appear at a judicial office. If the 180 days elapse and the defendant is not brought to trial they are entitles to dismiss all offenses charged. The rights vary from state to state, including Nevada. In Nevada defendants are also granted the right to a speedy trial. In Nevada a defendant has the right to a speedy trial within 60 days after they have been charged. The only way that the time limit can be extended is if the trial is postponed by filing an application with the court.



Citations:

Citation for Grand Jury Hearing Information:

NOLO (n.d.). How people get charged with crimes. Retrieved from http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/article-29677.html

Preliminary Hearing. (n.d.). In Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary online. Retrieved from http://www.nolo.com/dictionary/preliminary-hearing-term.html

United States District Court District of South Dakota (July 22, 2008). Plan for the random selection of grand and petit jurors. Retrieved from https://www.sdd.uscourts.gov/docs/juryplan/juryplan72208.pdf

Citation for Rapid City News:

Associated Press (2009, October 26). Trial begins today for Rapid City man who says he assisted in suicide. Rapid City Angus Leader. Retrieved from: http://www.argusleader.com/article/20091026/UPDATES/91026006/Trial-begins-today-for-Rapid-City-man-who-says-he-assisted-in-suicide

Citation for Smoking Ban Trial:

Nobody Smokes Here Anymore. (10 October 2009). Retrieved 9 November 2009 from website: http://snus-news.blogspot.com/2009/10/october-7-2009-south-dakotas-statewide.html

Citation for Speedy Trial Information:

Criminal Process in South Dakota (2009, January 13). Retrieved November 10, 2009, from Lexis Nexis
Criminal Process in Nevada (2009, January 13). Retrieved November 10, 2009, from Lexis Nexis.