Population: All populations
Legal Features: N/A
Law Type: Statute
Excerpt of Relevant Text:
(a)(1) The Legislature finds and declares that the purpose of sentencing is public safety achieved through punishment, rehabilitation, and restorative justice. When a sentence includes incarceration, the deprivation of liberty satisfies the punishment purpose of sentencing. The purpose of incarceration is rehabilitation and successful community reintegration achieved through education, treatment, and active participation in rehabilitative and restorative justice programs. This purpose is best served by terms that are proportionate to the seriousness of the offense with provision for uniformity in the sentences of people incarcerated for committing the same offense under similar circumstances.
(2) The Legislature further finds and declares that programs should be available for incarcerated persons, including, but not limited to, educational, rehabilitative, and restorative justice programs that are designed to promote behavioral change and to prepare all incarcerated persons for successful reentry into the community. The Legislature encourages the development of policies and programs designed to educate and rehabilitate all incarcerated persons. In implementing this section, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is encouraged to allow all incarcerated persons the opportunity to enroll in programs that promote successful return to the community. The Legislature finds and declares that community-based organizations are an integral part of achieving the state’s objective of ensuring that all people incarcerated in a state prison have access to rehabilitative programs. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is directed to maintain a mission statement consistent with these principles and shall facilitate access for community-based programs in order to meaningfully effectuate the principles set forth in this section.