Justice Reinvestment in North Dakota:
Success requires a coordinated system,
not another program
By Hon. Frank L. Racek, Andrew J. Myer, Ph.D., and Santana Royer
Society’s response to crime has historically relied on incarceration
at one extreme and various community treatment programs at the
other (Pratt, 2009). Heavy reliance on incarceration ultimately
falters due to the enormous cost of building and maintaining jails
and prisons and the poor results experienced once prisoners are
released. Likewise, reliance on community treatment ultimately
fails when those programs are ineffective and further crimes occur.
Success for criminal justice reform requires a community response
to rehabilitation that provides for public safety and maintains
accountability for offenders and the treatment programs funded
by the public. The ultimate goal is a safe, objective, affordable
rehabilitation system that meets society’s expected outcomes ( James,
Eisen, & Subramanian, 2012). Complicating this effort is the
required coordination of all agencies and branches of government
involved in the criminal justice system. Unless society’s expectations
are clearly stated and coordinated, each entity independently seeks its
own priorities and is content shifting problems elsewhere. Successful
justice reform requires the following coordinated elements: b. ICR: The current number representing the standard incident
report generated by law enforcement for a particular event. A
person with a history of multiple offenses would have a single
SID, but would have multiple ICRs - each representing a
separate contact with law enforcement.
I. Establishment of system goals, benchmarks, and terminology. f. Danger: The potential for an offender to cause physical harm to
another human being in the future. Currently, no rating system
exists.
A successful system needs all participants to agree to cooperate to
achieve common goals such as public safety and better outcomes
(NIC, 2004). To determine if these goals are being achieved,
information must be analyzed and disseminated using common
terms and benchmarks. A functional, successful system must have as
a minimum:
1.) Common definitions: Common terminology is necessary
so various agencies can communicate with a common level of
understanding, and to provide transparency to the public. Although
other definitions could be agreed upon, the authors use these
definitions for this article:
a. SID: The current state identification number given to a person
entering the criminal justice system. This number remains
specific to that individual forever. This allows for precise
identification of individuals.
c. CST #: The current common statute table number for crimes
prosecuted in North Dakota. This number is common to all
court and law enforcement agencies.
d. LSI-R: The Level of Services Inventory - Revised, currently
used by the Department of Corrections to assess the risk and
criminogenic needs of offenders.
e. Risk: Represents the probability of an individual reencountering
the criminal justice system in the future. Currently, the
Department of Corrections quantifies risk for each offender it
services.
g. Disproportionate Public Impact: This term describes offenders
who inflict damages other than physical harm as a result
of multiple crimes which have a substantial impact on the
community either as a result of losses suffered by victims or
which cause substantial use of public resources. Currently, no
system exists to consistently identify these individuals prior to
sentencing.
h. Criminogenic Needs: The eight specific areas identified by the
LSI-R that correlate to increased risk of crime.
i. Barriers: The seven additional recognized areas of need, which if
unmet, may hinder offenders from addressing their criminogenic
needs.
The Hon. Frank L. Racek is the presiding judge of the East-Central Judicial District in Fargo. Andrew J. Myer, Ph.D., is an
assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Political Science at North Dakota State University. Santana
Royer is a law clerk with the East-Central Judicial District in Fargo.
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THE GAVEL