Court Leader's Advantage

October 17th Court Leader’s Advantage Podcast Episode In the middle of last month’s episode, the question was asked, should recidivism be a trial court performance measure? All the panelists responded negatively, but the reasons they gave are worth hearing. We have all heard the criticism that the criminal justice has turned into a “revolving door.”  Defendants are arrested and tried, most are convicted and sentenced.  Some are incarcerated, others are placed on probation. The recidivism rate for incarcerated defendants is nearly 50%; almost one out of every two incarcerated defendants is rearrested.  The recidivism rate for defendants on probation is not much better.  43% of probationers are rearrested within 3 years.   Traditionally, there are four main purposes of criminal justice sentencing. 1) Incapacitation, 2) punishment, 3) deterrence, and 4) rehabilitation.  Rehabilitation as a goal is not easily measured and yet it seems as if it is one of the standards by which the public gauges the success of the