ABSTRACT
This doctrine of isolating the offender, or causing “social disablement,” proposes “adopting a policy of incarcerating those whose criminal behavior is so damaging or probable that nothing short of isolation will prevent recidivism.” This “nothing-else-works” approach would require correctly identifying those offenders who should receive long-term imprisonment and diverting others into community corrections. Thus, we would be able to make maximum use of prison cells, a scarce resource, to protect society from the depredations of such dangerous and repetitive offenders. The “three strikes and you’re out” approach is a continuation of this theme. Current correctional technology does not permit our correctly identifying those who require incapacitation. Rather, the evidence is that we would probably incarcerate numerous noneligibles (a “false positive” problem) and release to lesser control many of those eligible (a “false negative” problem). Whatever benefits might accrue to this sentencing doctrine have thus far eluded corrections.
