CHAPTER 9
Parole and Prisoner Reentry
TEST BANK
Multiple Choice Questions
1)
Which term states that prison populations are first and foremost determined by the number of
people sent to prison and second by the amount of time the prisoners reside in them?
a: iron law of imprisonment
b: key law of imprisonment
c: iron law of prison populations
d: key law of prison populations
2)
Which term coined by Jeremy Travis states that few prison inmates die in prison and that all the
rest eventually “come home”?
a: iron law of imprisonment
b: key law of imprisonment
c: iron law of prison populations
d: key law of prison populations
3)
Which of the following is the conditional release from prison?
a: probation
b: house arrest
c: halfway house
d: parole
4)
Walter Crofton created what type of system as a way of releasing ex-convicts into the community
through four stages?
a: good-time
b: parole
c: Irish ticket-of-leave system
d: probation
5)
The first parole officer was known by which of the following?
a: probation officers
b: inspector of released prisoners
c: police officers
d: parole board
6)
What is an extraordinary action by the executive branch of government that means exchanging
one punishment for another less severe one?
a: commutation of sentence
b: pardon
c: expiration release
d: probation
7)
Which of the following is a form of executive clemency or mercy where the chief executive may
grant forgiveness for some or all post criminal deeds?
a: commutation of sentence
b: pardon
c: expiration release
d: probation
8)
Which term describes an unconditional release from prison when the offender’s sentence, minus
any good-time credits, ends?
a: commutation of sentence
b: pardon
c: expiration release
d: probation
9)
Which term best describes when correctional authorities believe that an inmate is ready for life on
the outside and they initiate the process?
a: probation
b: discretionary release
c: mandatory release
d: supervised release
10)
Which term describes when an inmate has served a statutorily defined minimum length of time
and his or her release is nearly automatic?
a: probation
b: discretionary release
c: mandatory release
d: supervised release
11)
What type of parole board is free of any other state agency’s control and generally reports directly
to the governor?
a: independent parole boards
b: dependent parole boards
c: consolidated parole boards
d: segregated parole boards
12)
Which type of parole board is an autonomous panel within the governmental department
responsible for administering correctional institutions or community corrections?
a: independent parole boards
b: dependent parole boards
c: consolidated parole boards
d: segregated parole boards
13)
Parolees who looked to be good risks but later committed a crime are known as:
a: false negatives
b: false positives
c: true negatives
d: true positives
14)
Which term describes release from prison and adjustment into the free society?
a: parole
b: probation
c: prisoner reentry
d: assimilation
15)
Which of the following are elements of a successful reentry system?
a: prepare for reentry
b: build bridges between prisons and communities
c: seize the moment of release
d: all of the above
16)
Parole comes from the term parole d’honneur, a French phrase meaning:
a: honorable
b: freedom
c: supervised freedom
d: word of honor
17)
Which laws allow prison officials to shorten an inmate’s prison term in exchange for good
behavior?
a: good-time laws
b: parole
c: probation
d: gain time
18)
In the 1800s, New York parolees were required to report monthly to citizen volunteers known as:
a: officers
b: guardians
c: probation officers
d: parole officers
19)
Paroling federal prisoners dates back to:
a: 1800
b: 1900
c: 1910
d: 1963
20)
Which term describes supervision of an individual upon exiting the state’s prison system by as
much as one-third of the sentence?
a: unsupervised probation
b: supervised release
c: supervised probation
d: house arrest
21)
States that generally use determinate sentencing and give eligible inmates an estimated release
date operate under which of the following?
a: early release
b: discretionary release
c: supervised release
d: mandatory-release
22)
States where inmates become automatically eligible for a parole hearing after serving a minimum
amount of time expressed in months operate under which of the following?
a: early release
b: discretionary release
c: supervised release
d: mandatory-release
23)
The consolidated parole board is also known as:
a: the outside model
b: the model
c: the release model
d: the institutional model
24)
Parole board members usually examine which of the following to determine eligibility for parole?
a: any indication of repentance for his or her prior criminal acts
b: any indication of prior adjustment in the community
c: the inmate’s physical, emotional, and mental health
d: all of the above
25)
Most parole officers or parole agents are what type of employees?
a: state-level civil service
b: federal-level civil service
c: local-level civil service
d: private
26)
What is the term for the official document that generally lists a state’s standard conditions of
parole?
a: risk assessment
b: probation agreement
c: parole agreement
d: release form
27)
If a parolee commits an offense that is not serious, the parole officer may ask the court for a legal
document roughly equivalent to a traffic ticket known as a:
a: warrant for arrest
b: citation
c: subpoena
d: summary arrest
28)
In most states, a parole officer who observes a violation in person can immediately take the
parolee into custody and this act is called a:
a: warrant for arrest
b: citation
c: subpoena
d: summary arrest
29)
Which landmark case ruled that parolees, like probationers, have limited due process rights?
a: Gideon v. Wainwright
b: Morrissey v. Brewer
c: Miranda v. Arizona
d: Brown v. Board of Education
30)
A preliminary parole hearing is typically conducted by a supervisory-level or senior member of
the parole agency staff known as a:
a: detention officer
b: retention officer
c: hearing officer
d: revocation officer
True/False Statements
Decide whether the following statements are true or false
1) Todd Clear and James Austin’s iron law of prison populations states that prison populations are
determined by the number of people sent to prison and second by the crime committed by the prisoners
who reside in them.
2) A false positive is parolees who looked to be good risks but later committed a crime.
3) Once an offender is statutorily eligible for parole, one of the criteria that determine its award is that the
inmate must not pose a significant public safety risk.
4) Parole is a conditional release from prison that comes from the term parole d’honneur, a French phrase
meaning “word of honor.”
5) Parole is offered by the federal government and in all states.
6) In mandatory-release jurisdictions, time served is the deciding factor: if the inmate has served the
minimum term required by law, he or she is eligible for a parole hearing.
7) During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the use of parole decreased.
8) Federal laws passed during the Great Depression encouraged the sale of products created using prison
labor, decreasing the economic burden on the states.
9) The good-time laws in 1817 allowed prison officials to shorten an inmate’s prison term in exchange for
good behavior.
10) Walter Crofton created the Irish ticket-of-leave system as a way of releasing ex-convicts into the
community through the four stages.
11) A pardon is another form of executive clemency or mercy and happens quite frequently.
12) Expiration release is an unconditional release from prison when the offender’s sentence, minus any
good-time credit, ends.
13) In medieval times, a defeated knight could give his word of honor to withdraw from combat and leave
the battlefield, escaping injury or death.
14) The parole board usually examines an inmate’s current and past crimes but an indication of
repentance is not a consideration for release.
15) Expiration release is another form of parole.
16) An inmate’s parole eligibility date is the earliest point at which the inmate can leave prison.
17) In many jurisdictions parole officers, or probation officers, who supervise parolees typically oversee a
larger number of released clients than do probation officers working entirely with probationers.
18) State and federal laws govern the duration of parole.
19) A parole decision that angers the public is largely a political mistake.
20) In regards to parole murderers, sex offenders, rapists and drunk drivers failed at the highest rates, all
above 70 percent.
Fill in the Blanks
1) A ___________ _________, typically a supervisory-level or senior member of the parole agency staff,
conducts the preliminary hearing.
2) Nearly all persons with criminal records who make an application to the
__________________________ Parole Board for a pardon, 99 percent routinely receives them.
3) In the late 1980s, the _____________ _____________ Act of 1984 went into effect. The intent of the
act was to phase out parole by 1992.
4) The _________ _____ ___________ and other legislative initiatives, along with state and federal
movements to restrict or eliminate parole, have swelled the number of inmates in jails and prisons.
5) Walter Crofton created the ___________ _____________-__- _____________ system as a way of
releasing ex-convicts into the community through the four stages.
6) According to _____________ _____________ parole did not originate from a single program or
experiment; it grew out of many different practices, including the transportation of prisoners to America
and Australia, the Irish ticket-of-leave system, and experimental early release programs in Massachusetts
and New York.
7) The Board of Parole was re-titled the US ________________ ______________ in 1976.
8) A ____________________ ___________________ is when the releasing authority can deny release if
the individual is deemed to pose a present risk to the community. In such systems, a fixed set of
guidelines governs the actual release.
9) An inmate’s _____________ ______________ _____________ is the earliest point at which the
inmate can leave prison.
10) _______________ ______________ ____________ are free of any other state agency’s control and
generally report directly to the governor.
11) The composition of the consolidated parole board, sometimes referred to as the ________________
____________ typically employs full-time corrections professionals.
12) __________ ________________ are inmates who would have made a success of their parole.
13) The official ____________ _____________ generally lists a state’s standard conditions of parole;
these conditions are often indistinguishable from the conditions the state sets for probationers.
14) ______________ and ______________ law govern the duration of parole.
15) A _____________, is a legal document roughly equivalent to a traffic ticket.
16) In the case ______________ v. _____________, the Supreme Court ruled that parolees, like
probationers, have limited due process rights.
17) ______________ _____________ is the term used to describe release from prison and adjustment
into the free society.
18) Strengthening the _________________ _________________ of support is one of the action
principles of reentry.
19) Nearly all parolees in 2010 were _________________ (95 percent) a much higher percentage than for
probationers who committed felonies.
20) ___________ -________________ of all paroles will return to prison in three years.
Matching
Match the words in the list to the following statements:
A) parole officers; B) discretionary release systems; C) expiration release; D) reentry system; E)
commutation of sentence; F) guardians; G) consolidated parole boards ; H) summary arrest; I) good-time
laws; J) mandatory release
_________1) The system that prepares a prisoner for leaving prison and returning to society.
_________2) An act where a parole officer who observes a violation in person can immediately take the
parolee into custody.
_________3) State-level civil service employees.
_________4) Are autonomous panels within the governmental department responsible for administering
correctional institutions or community corrections.
_________5) Inmates become automatically eligible for a parole hearing after serving a minimum amount
of time expressed in months.
_________6) An inmate has served a statutorily defined minimum length of time, his or her release is
nearly automatic.
_________7) An unconditional release from prison when the offender’s sentence, minus any good-time
credits, ends.
_________8) This is an extraordinary action by the executive branch of government. It literally means
exchanging one punishment for another less severe one.
_________9) A term used for those citizen volunteers who parolees were required to report to in 1876.
_________10) This allowed prison officials to shorten an inmate’s prison term in exchange for good
behavior in 1817.