Read the Crime Story in Chapter 12 about New Jersey’s new halfway house system.

1.Do you think New Jersey’s halfway houses are an effective way to reduce prison overcrowding and save money? Defend your answer.

2. Why would halfway house residents escape when they have only a few months or less left on their sentences?

3. Are there any ways that escapes from halfway houses could be better prevented? If so, what are they? If not, why not?

4. Do you think there are any improprieties in the relationship between Community Education Centers and the Christie administration? If yes, what are they, and what should be done about them?

Read the Crime Story in Chapter 13 about the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility.

5.Should the care of youths, some as young as 13, be given to private prison corporations? Why or why not?

6.Should a private prison corporation profit each time a young man is tried as an adult and ends up behind bars? Why or why not?

7. Should youth under age 18 who have been convicted as adults in criminal court be incarcerated in adult prisons rather than in juvenile correctional institutions? Why or why not?

8. Who bears responsibility for the conditions at WGYCF, and what, if anything, should be done to those responsible?