Restrictions
Some of the material is restricted, please consult the Archivist.
History--Biography
The National Institute for Sentencing Alternatives (NISA) was a criminal
justice public policy center within the Heller School for Social Policy
and Management. NISA was founded in 1980, with support from the Edna
McConnell Clark Foundation, as a training program for judges, probation
officials, and others interested in the use of restitution and community
service as alternatives to incarceration. Over time, NISA expanded its
mission to focus on the broader public policy issues of sentencing, the
use of prison and jail, and the management of corrections resources.
Through education and training, policy analysis, program development, and
research, NISA provided services to legislators, judges, law enforcement
agencies, corrections administrators, and others with a stake in the
criminal justice system. NISA sought to increase understanding of the
risks and needs of criminal offenders; the feasibility of prisons for
purposes of punishment and public protection; and the emergence of
sentencing alternatives such as restitution, intensive supervision, house
arrest, and community service. The center closed ca. 1990.
Scope and
Contents
Materials in this collection include correspondence, reports, proposals,
memos, newspaper clippings, and journal and magazine articles created
from 1980 through 1990. All of the materials relate to NISA’s
mission to improve management and policy development within the criminal
justice system. Some of the topics the materials address include: prison
and jail overcrowding, sentencing reform, the cost of the criminal
justice system, social responsibility and the courts, judicial
intervention in the administration of corrections, and the management of
probation and institutional corrections. The materials were created as a
function of the training, technical assistance, research, and policy
analysis/evaluation services that NISA provided.
Series
Correspondence (box 1)
Reports (boxes 1-2)
Proposals (boxes 2-4)
Series Summary
Correspondence
Inclusive dates: 1980-1990, n.d.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by Location
This series contains correspondence between NISA and judges,
legislators, public officials, corrections administrators, probation
departments, lawyers, students, teachers, interested individuals, and
other criminal justice organizations. Much of the correspondence is
routine letters requesting information from NISA, however, the
correspondence also includes information on a number of topics. Some of
these topics include: court ordered community service in Georgia; in-
house arrest procedures using electronic monitoring in Collier County,
Florida; restitution program problem areas in Massachusetts; information
about a NISA workshop for criminal justice officials in North Carolina;
felony sentencing guidelines in Oregon; a summary report on the
Community Service Work Program in Wisconsin; bills on sentencing
guidelines, the death penalty, restitution, and plea bargaining from the
Michigan Senate Majority Counsel; and a proposal for the Development of
a Health Services Quality Assurance Program prepared by the Tennessee
Department of Corrections. There is also a small amount of
international correspondence mostly with individuals and organizations
in Israel.
Reports
Inclusive dates: 1983-1988
Arrangement: Alphabetical by Location
This series contains reports and drafts of reports prepared by NISA
mostly for state departments of corrections including: Georgia,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Virginia. Other reports
were prepared for criminal justice and corrections task forces, the
Massachusetts Anti-Crime Council, the Hampden County, Massachusetts
Sheriff’s Department, and the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and
Means. Most of the reports address resources planning in the
Departments of Corrections. The resources planning reports make
recommendations for management, program development, policies, and
resource allocation for the various different departments within the
prison system including: housing security, classification, recreation,
transportation, control room, booking and admissions, maintenance, food
service, and inmate property. Other reports address sentencing and
prison overcrowding.
Proposals
Inclusive dates: 1981-1988, n.d.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by Recipient
This series contains proposals, drafts of proposals, and all of the
surrounding background material and correspondence pertaining to them,
including articles, reports, letters, and memos. Many of the proposals
were prepared for and submitted to county, state, and federal government
agencies such as: the Marin County, California Office of the Criminal
Justice Coordinator, the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice, the
National Institute of Corrections, and the National Institute of
Justice. Several proposals were also prepared for private foundations
like the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Florence
V. Burden Foundation. Most of the proposals relate to prison
overcrowding, sentencing reform, alternatives to incarceration, or the
improvement of existing correctional systems. It is not always clear
from the materials which of the proposals were funded and which were
not. For a proposal titled Justice and Punishment in America: A Cable
Television Series Proposal, no recipient could be identified.
Folder List
Correspondence
Box 1
Alaska, 1984, 1987
Arkansas, 1981
California, 1987-1990
Connecticut, 1989
Florida, 1989-1990
Georgia, 1985-1987
International, 1980-1989
Louisiana, 1990
Massachusetts, 1987-1989
Michigan, 1986-1987 [R]
Minnesota, 1987
Multi-state--Contact information, 1985-1986
Multi-state--Requests for information, 1986-1990 [12 folders] [R]
New Mexico, 1984, 1989
New York, 1986-1989
NISA stationary, n.d.
North Carolina, 1981-1986
Ohio, 1987-1989
Oregon, 1990
Pennsylvania, 1990
Rhode Island, 1987-1989 [R]
South Dakota, 1987-1989
Tennessee, 1982, 1989
United States Restitution and Community Service Programs--Contact information, 1980
Vermont, 1981-1986
Virginia, 1987-1989
Washington, 1986
Washington D.C., 1987
West Virginia, 1989
Wisconsin, 1981-1989 [R]
Reports
Box 1
Georgia Department of Correction, Women’s Correctional Institution--Resources Planning Project,
1988 [10 folders]
Hampden County, Massachusetts Criminal Justice Task Force--Interim Report, 1983
Hampden County, Massachusetts Sheriff’s Department--Technical Assistance Report, 1983
Massachusetts Anti-Crime Council--Technical Assistance Report, 1983 [2 folders]
Massachusetts Criminal Justice Committee--Testimony for a hearing on presumptive sentencing,
1985
Massachusetts Department of Corrections--Resources Planning Project, 1986 [2 folders]
Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means on Prison Overcrowding--The Crisis in
Corrections, 1985
Minnesota Joint Task Force of Corrections Professionals--Technical Assistance Report, 1983
National Institute of Corrections--Resources Planning in Corrections, 1988
Box 2
New Hampshire Department of Corrections--Offender Population Management Study, 1986 [7
folders] [R]
New Mexico Department of Corrections--Maximizing Residential Corrections Options, 1988
Virginia Department of Corrections--Resources Planning Project, 1984 [2 folders]
Proposals
Box 2
Bureau of Justice Assistance
Prison Capacity Program--Technical Assistance Coordinator, 1987 [6 folders]
Prison Capacity Program--Private Sector Capability Statement, 1987 [2 folders]
Sentencing and Treatment of Drug Offenders, 1986
Structured Sentencing Program--National Program Coordinator, 1987 [3 folders]
Bureau of Justice Statistics--Factors Affecting Sentence Length and Time Served: A Four State
Comparison, 1983 [2 folders]
Colorado Department of Corrections--Request for Proposal Bids, 1985
Colorado Division of Criminal Justice--Analysis of Community Based Corrections in Colorado, 1988
[4 folders]
Colorado Judicial Department--Contract for Technical Assistance, 1984
Department of Justice, Office of Justice Assistance, Research, and Statistics--Proposed Budget,
OJJDP Project, 1983-1984
Department of Transportation--A Field Evaluation of Jail/Fine Sanctions for DWI, 1984, 1987 [4
folders]
Edna McConnell Clark Foundation--Proposal for Continued Funding, 1982
Box 3
Florence V. Burden Foundation
Massachusetts IUE Alternative Sentencing Project, 1988
Management Education for Criminal Justice Professionals, 1982, 1986
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Improving Sentencing Policy, 1985 [3 folders]
State Sentencing Reform, 1985-1986 [2 folders]
Kent County, Michigan--Criminal Justice System Study, 1989
Maine Commission on Corrections--Briefing on Policy Options and Program Models, 1985
Marin County, California Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator--Marin County Jail/Honor Farm
Crowding, 1981-1985 [11 folders]
Massachusetts Department of Probation--Policy and Management Review Proposal, 1984
National Institute for Sentencing Alternatives--Allocating Justice Resources: Policy Options for
Low Risk Offenders, n.d.
National Institute of Corrections
Arizona Probation Department Training, 1983-1985
A National Assessment of Clemency Practices and Policy Issues, 1985-1986 [8 folders]
Providing Technical Assistance to Residential Community Corrections Programs, 1985
Residential Community Corrections Technical Assistance Program, 1987
Short-term Recommendations of the Prison and Jail Overcrowding Problem, 1983
A Survey of Residential Community Corrections Programs, 1987 [4 folders]
National Institute of Corrections and the State Justice Institute--Facilitating the Use of
Intermediate Sanctions, 1988
National Institute of Justice
Community Service and Diversion of Jail-Bound Offenders, 1984, 1987 [4 folders]
An Evaluation of the Impact of Court Intake Reporting on Sentencing Practices in South
Carolina, 1981-1987 [5 folders]
Evaluation of Intensive Probation, 1984
Box 4
Prison/Jail Overcrowding: Determining Factors which Enhance or Constrain Use of Community
Service to Affect Overcrowding, 1983
Selection Criteria for Career Criminal Prosecution, 1984
National Sheriff’s Association--Resources Planning Project, 1985
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services--Developing Alternatives to Incarceration
Service Plans, 1983-1985 [9 folders]
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention--National Study of Law Enforcement Policies
and Procedures Regarding Missing Children and Homeless Youth, 1985
Rhode Island Department of Corrections--Management Study, 1988 [2 folders]
Rhode Island District Court--Community Service Sentencing, 1983
South Carolina Department of Parole and Community Corrections--Public Service Employment
Training Program, 1986-1987 [4 folders]
State of Iowa Corrections System Review Task Force--Iowa Corrections Plan, 1988 [2 folders]
State Justice Institute
Expanding Sentencing Options: A Judicial Education Project, 1988 [3 folders]
Grant Guidelines, 1987
Judicial Education and the Challenge of Sentencing Reform, 1987 [2 folders]
Unidentified--Justice and Punishment in America: A Cable Television Series Proposal, 1983, 1986, n.d.
[3 folders]
United States Government Funding Sources, 1981-1987 [2 folders]
State of Vermont
State Government Transition Project, 1984
Toward a Rational Community Correction Approach, 1983-1984
West Virginia Department of Corrections--Proposal for Technical Assistance Consultant Work, 1983
Notes