Expanding Home Detention at Sentencing

Expanding Home Detention at Sentencing is an article that addresses some of the current issues facing our nation with the reality of overly utilizing incarceration as a punitive measure. This issue raises the question: Could expanded community custody finally be considered as a desperately needed pressure relief valve? When passing the CARES Act, Congress acted early to grant authority to the Attorney General and the BOP Director to expand home confinement options. This discretion includes the AG taking the unprecedented step to directly publish a ruling in the Federal Register on behalf of the BOP. The discretion granted to BOP staff to lower the prison population inadvertently brings their own job security into question and this creates a conflict of interest. Allowing for those who've been convicted of non-violent offenses to be placed in home confinement as opposed to in custody will reduce costs, encourage reduced recidivism, and reduce health risks in facilities. In light of the fact that the BOP and the U.S. Probation Office has established new technology with the capacity to monitor large community custody populations, this article suggests that the sentencing guidelines be updated to encourage judges to utilize home detention measures, in part or in entirety, when sentencing.