Vera Institute of Justice

Overview

This 1983 Vera report is the fifth interim report on the impact of the New York City Community Service Sentencing Program, which was intended to enforce a sentence of supervised, unpaid community service as an alternative to short jail terms given primarily because no enforceable alternative punishment is available. Highlights of the impact analysis are: 1) of the property misdemeanor recidivists sentenced to the project, many would have drawn jail sentences without the project, and thus the program significantly reduced the demand for jail cells. Given Rikers Island at an over capacity, the economic value to the City of reducing cell demand is substantial.