[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 151 (Monday, August 7, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40092-40094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19312]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Parole Commission
28 CFR Part 2
Paroling, Recommitting, and Supervising Federal Prisoners:
Revision of the Salient Factor Score
AGENCY: Parole Commission, Justice.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Parole Commission is revising the salient factor
score at 28 CFR 2.20. The salient factor score is an actuarial device
which the Commission uses to measure the risk that a prisoner will
violate parole. The revised Salient Factor Score will improve the
accuracy of the Commission's recidivism predictions in the case of
older prisoners. Under the revised score (to be known as SFS-95), the
Commission will add one point to the prisoner's total score if the
prisoner was 41 years of age or more at the commencement of the current
offense (or parole violation), provided the prisoner does not already
have the highest possible total score (10). The revision is made
appropriate by the fact that the Parole Commission has jurisdiction
over an aging population of prisoners and parolees whose crimes were
committed prior to November 1, 1987.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 2, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pamela A. Posch, Office of General
Counsel, U.S. Parole Commission, 5550 Friendship Blvd., Chevy Chase,
[[Page 40093]]
Maryland 20815. Telephone (301) 492-5959.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking appeared in
the Federal Register for Tuesday, April 11, 1995 (60 FR 18378). Public
comment received with regard to the proposal was generally favorable.
The comment pointed out that the Commission was properly attempting to
capture the results of the agency's own research on recidivism and
``burnout'' among criminal offenders. In response to a comment that
suggested that the proposal was ambiguous concerning the date the
current offense was ``committed'', the Commission has revised the final
rule by specifying that the relevant date is the commencement of the
offense. Thus, a parolee who initiates an illegal narcotics
distribution conspiracy at age 39, and who continues that offense
behavior after reaching 41 years of age, is not to be given the
additional point required by the revised salient factor score. However,
a parolee who committed his original offense at age 35, and who is
returned to prison for a parole violation commenced after age 41,
receives the additional point when his score is recalculated at his
revocation hearing under 28 CFR 2.21(b).
The public comment also pointed out that the Commission's original
research focused on age at release as opposed to the age at which the
offense was committed, and suggested that the age of release should be
used in the revised score. This suggestion is not practical. Using age
at last release from prison would be too restrictive, and ``age at
release'' on the current period of imprisonment is the result of
applying the guidelines in the first instance.
Moreover, the Bureau of Prisons recently validated SFS-95 on a 1987
releasee sample (n=1205), using age at commencement of the instant
offense. Using this criterion, the revised salient factor score was
consistent with the original research, and displayed a high degree of
predictive accuracy. (The original research was done in 1984 with
research samples from 1970-72 (n=3,954) and 1978 (n=2,333).) The Mean
Cost Rating in the new study increased from .54 to .56 (the highest
recorded for a recidivism prediction device that has been subjected to
validation) and the point biserial correlation coefficient increased
from .47 to .48. Approximately 5% of the prisoners in this sample
received an improved parole prognosis category placement as compared
with the existing version of the salient factor score (SFS-81). The
Commission expects that these results will be reflected in future
parole decisionmaking.
Moreover, the revised salient factor score improves upon the
existing score by giving the Commission the equivalent of a ``rate'' of
criminality over a prisoner's entire career. This permits an assessment
of the current momentum of the prisoner's criminal career, leading to a
better prediction of the prisoner's future behavior if released on
parole. For example, the Parole Commission is enabled to determine that
a 50 year old defendant with 3 prior convictions and commitments over a
26-year career may be a better parole risk than a 25 year old defendant
who has 2 prior convictions and commitments over a 6-year career. Both
age and the rate of criminal conduct (over the length of his career)
are factors that work in the older offender's favor, despite his more
serious record. The Commission thus avoids the waste of taxpayer
dollars that can result when imprisonment decisions fail to account for
the probability that the current offense will turn out to be the last
in an aging offender's lifetime.
In sum, the revised salient factor score permits the Commission to
account for the affect of the aging process on each prisoner's
prospects for committing further crimes after release from prison. At
the present time, the average age of prisoners under the Commission's
jurisdiction is 43, a reflection of the fact that the Parole
Commission's jurisdiction is limited to offenders whose crimes were
committed prior to November 1, 1987. (See Section 235 of the Sentencing
Reform Act of 1984, which appears as an Editorial Note to 18 U.S.C.
3551.) Thus, it is increasingly appropriate for the Commission to
revise the salient factor score at this time. This decision accords
with the intent of Congress that the Parole Commission should ``* * *
continue to refine both the criteria which are used [to judge the
probability that an offender will commit a new offense] and the means
for obtaining the information used therein.'' 2 U.S. Code Cong. &
Admin. News at 359 (1976).
Implementation
The revised salient factor score (SFS-95) will be applied at
initial parole hearings and revocation hearings held on or after
October 2, 1995. It will be applied retroactively to prisoners who have
already been considered for parole, or reparole, at the next scheduled
statutory interim hearing under 28 CFR 2.14. If the prisoner's
guideline range is reduced through application of SFS-95, the
Commission will render a new parole decision. In some cases, individual
factors may warrant a decision to depart upward from the reduced
guideline range on the ground that the prisoner is a poorer parole risk
than SFS-95 indicates. For example, certain types of organized crime
members may be expected to continue their criminal careers despite
advancing age. The Commission will also apply SFS-95 in any other type
of hearing wherein the length of the prisoner's incarceration is a
function of the prisoner's current parole prognosis. This would not be
the case, for example, at a hearing under 28 CFR 2.34, wherein the
length of the prisoner's incarceration is determined by the need to
sanction institutional misconduct.
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Statement
The U.S. Parole Commission has determined that this rule is not a
significant rule within the meaning of Executive Order 12866, and the
rule has, accordingly, not been reviewed by the Office of Management
and Budget. The rule will not have a significant economic impact upon a
substantial number of small entities, within the meaning of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 605(b).
List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 2
Administrative practice and procedure, Probation and parole,
Prisoners.
Accordingly, the U.S. Parole Commission adopts the following
amendment to 28 CFR part 2:
PART 2--[AMENDED]
The Amendment
1. The authority citation for 28 CFR part 2 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 18 U.S.C. 4203(a)(1) and 4204(a)(6).
2. 28 CFR part 2, Sec. 2.20 is amended by adding a new Item G to
the Salient Factor Scoring Manual, to read as follows:
Sec. 2.20 Paroling Policy Guidelines: Statement of general policy.
* * * * *
Salient Factor Scoring Manual
* * * * *
Item G. Older Offenders
G.1 Score 1 if the offender was 41 years of age or more at the
commencement of the current offense and the total score from Items
A-F is 9 or less.
G.2 Score 0 if the offender was less than 41 years of age at
the commencement of the
[[Page 40094]]
current offense or if the total score from Items A-F is 10.
* * * * *
Special Instructions--Federal Probation Violators
Item G Use the age at commencement of the probation violation,
not the original offense.
* * * * *
Special Instructions--Federal Parole Violators
* * * * *
Item G Use the age at commencement of the new criminal/parole
violation behavior.
* * * * *
Special Instructions--Federal Confinement/Escape Status Violators With
New Criminal Behavior in the Community
* * * * *
Item G Use the age at commencement of the confinement/escape
status violation.
* * * * *
Dated: July 26, 1995.
Edward F. Reilly, Jr.,
Chairman, U.S. Parole Commission.
[FR Doc. 95-19312 Filed 8-4-95; 8:45 am]
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