Split Sentence

Weekend Confinement

There are several variations on the traditional split sentence that has an offender spend some time incarcerated followed by some time on probation. One of these variations is “weekend confinement,” also called “intermittent confinement.” This option is designed to lessen the negative impacts of short-term incarceration (such as loss of employment, family stress, and child care issues), and it allows offenders to retain current employment and keep their dependents off welfare rolls. Weekend confinement allows offenders to check into the jail facility on Friday, after work, and to leave Sunday evening or Monday morning. (Local jails, rather than state prisons, are usually the facilities for weekend confinement, because jails are generally used for less serious offenders serving shorter terms.) Some jurisdictions permit weekend confinement to be served only during nonworking weekends. A “weekender,” as these convicts are often called, would generally be credited with three days of confinement per weekend until the entire sentence is served. Some jurisdictions have so many weekenders that specific buildings are set aside for their short-term detention. In larger jurisdictions where sufficient numbers of offenders work on weekends, but not every day during the ordinary workweek, those buildings operate all week but at reduced staffing levels. Weekend confinement does not necessarily involve formal probation supervision in which the offender reports to a probation officer. Rather, the offender is, in effect, on probation during the week; if any new infractions occur, his or her work privileges can be revoked, and the offender could be incarcerated continuously for the remainder of the sentence.

Offender Boot Camps

Another version of split sentencing involves shock incarceration programs, which require offenders to serve a short term in a quasi-military program similar to military boot camps or basic training. The individuals selected for this option are usually younger offenders who are seen as people who still have a chance of being diverted from a life of crime and incarceration. Once in the camp, the participant is subjected to a regimen of military-style drills and discipline, physical exercise, specialized education and training, and counseling and treatment for alcohol abuse and other problem areas. The offender generally will be returned to the community on probation after a few months, with the hope that he or she has gained discipline and direction in the boot camp program. Boot camps operate at both jail and prison facilities. The philosophy behind boot camps is simple: The court attempts to target offenders who it believes can be turned around before they graduate to major crime; the boot camp and probation combination is intended to encourage them to improve their own futures.

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