Frequently Asked Questions
about C.A.S. programs

This is a newly added page.It is still very much "under construction"Please revisit this page from time to time,new material will be added as time allows.


What is a C.A.S. program?
          C.A.S  stands for corporal alternative sentencing.  These proposed 
     programs would offer both the defendant and the courts an intermidiary 
     sanction.



How would they work?
          The defendant, through his or her attorney, would offer to sign 
     affidavits waiving their rights against corporal sentencing under all 
     current interpretations of the Eighth Amendment.  The court would 
     then have the option of either rejecting this option; or, acceptong it 
     and sentencing the defendant to a C.A.S. program, in lieu of prison.



Is this legal???
          Yes, it is, even without the proposed legislation ever being passed, 
     any defendant currently has the well established right to waive any 
     other right; or, protection under law, other than a single appeal of 
     a sentence of death.  As long as the defendant offers them of their 
     own free will and with no duress or coercion (aside from the otherwise 
     appropriate prison sentence), the court is free to accept this sentencing option.


Have any of these sentences been carried out?
          Yes.  We are occassionally able to arrange for corporal 
     sentencing to substitute for prison, as a part of the plea bargain 
     negotiation process.  These numbers are limited; but, growing.  
     We currently accept only people who are charged with non-violent 
     crimes and who have no violent history.  If we agree to try to 
     assist them, they must talk their attorney into helping them 
     pursue this alternative and (s)he must persuade either the judge 
     or prosecutor assigned to the case to agree to a formal sentence 
     of probation or to a deferred adjudication of the charge.  If 
     there are grounds for substance abuse treatment, restitution, 
     community service, etc. these elements are ordered as elements 
     of that formal order.
          We refer to these as "waiver cases," instead of C.A.S.



Why bother with the legislation, then?
           Many judges have rather strong resevations against accepting 
     these waivers without this legislation first being passed.  Also, 
     it would make it possible for inmates who are currntly in prison to 
     volunteer for resentencing under these programs guidelines.  This 
     would free up that bed space for housing the more violent criminals 
     (who would not qualify for these programs) and for those people who 
     preferred going to prison...



Women too; or, just men men?
          Women too...  Any sentencing which is predicated upon gender is not 
     only wrong; but, could result in constitutional arguementss, as well.  The 
     only differences between the way men and women would be handled in 
     these programs are relatively minor ones.  Whenever possible, female 
     staff will be used and, when this is not possible, at least one female 
     staff member will be in very close proximity whenever a male staff 
     member is working with the inmate.  Also, a female inmate would be 
     given a garment closely resembling a one-piece swimsuit (fastening 
     across the back of her neck) to wear.  This garment has "pockets" 
     in the area of the outer breast, in which she is allowed to insert 
     rather thick protective pads, prior to the sentence being carried 
     out.  Otherwise, no distinction is made based upon gender.



What do you mean by "working with" an inmate?
          These programs involve FAR more than JUST corporal punishment....  
     During the (approx.) 24 to 72 hours before and (approx.) 24 hours 
     after the sentence being carried out, a specially trained staff 
     member would be giving the inmate written assignments, related to 
     their crime, to complete and spending a considerable number of hours 
     talking with them.  The goal of this, combined with the punishment 
     and any appropriate, court mandated, follow-up rehabilitaion programs, 
     is to effect a change in inmate's attitudes and views regarding their 
     crime / criminal lifestyle.



Why the strong emphasis on rehabilitation programs?
          Because, when the inmate is sufficiently motivated (which these folks 
     WOULD be) rehabilitation programs really DO work!   Punishment 
     alone, for many of these people, would not be sufficient.  Many 
     of them have tried desparately, sometimes for years, to escape 
     things such as substance abuse problems.  Once they are willing 
     to really apply themselves to rehabilitative programs, they should 
     have access to them.  The goal is to effectively assist them in 
     becoming productive members of our society -- a goal which would 
     more than pay for itself in the long run...



Why the back, instead of the buttocks?
          Aside from the fact that this could make staff screening an 
     absolute nightmare (because it would be more likely to attract 
     people with very questionable motives), there are numerous other 
     problems involved.  Other than caning, most methods of inflicting 
     corporal punishments upon the buttocks simply would not be painful 
     enough to be all that effective on an adult.  Caning is FAR more 
     damaging than the methods which I advocate and could pose a signif-
     icant risk of internal injury to females (especially if they were 
     pregnant.)  Also, being forced to bare ones buttocks in the presence 
     of strangers is inherently humiliating and humiliation tends to be 
     extremely counter-productive when dealing with people who already 
     have very low self-images.  On a less significant note,  using the 
     methods which I do greatly reduces problems relating to witnesses 
     and simplifies staffing (since gender becomes less of a factor.)


What is this SPT-3, 14/2 utility cord;and, what does it do to the person?

          SPT-3, 14/2 utility cord is the heavy, well insulated, flat 
     wire which is used to connect landscape lighting.  It resembles 
     flat, household extension cord; but, it's considerably heavier 
     and has a higher rubber insulation to wire ratio than the house-
     hold cord does.
          If any of you want to see what I'm referring to, stop by your 
     local building supply store and go to the aisle where the landscape 
     lighting materials are sold.  It is usually sold in either 50 or 
     100 foot packages.  There are two different types -- only one of 
     which is suitable for use...  The "polarized" variety, which has 
     small ridges on one of the two strands is too likely to tear   The 
     type I advocate is smooth on both portions, with only the single 
     "channel" down the center.  One possible exception I might make, 
     is in the case of violent criminals; but, since I don't know how 
     much damage the polarized variety would do, I'm not prepared to 
     endorse it, even in that context.  If the right circumstances 
     presented themselves (in an "unofficial" situation), I might be 
     open to the idea of trying some of it, and basing any later 
     decisions about it upon that.
          Some people (over)react emotionally when they first realize 
     what it is that I'm talking about using.  They should bear in mind 
     that this reaction is something which will be shared by the criminal 
     who is facing being the prospect of being whipped with this material.  
     Part of "the idea" behind the use of corporal sentencing is the fact 
     that it's INTENDED TO scare the daylights out of the person who is 
     contemplating committing a crime...  Just how much deterrent effect 
     would something have if, when this person contemplated its effects, 
     they came to the conclusion of, "It won't be all that bad..."  It's 
     far better to have them think, "THAT, across my back?!?!? YIKES!!!  
     Maybe I want to reconsider doing what I was thinking about doing..."
          When this choice is looked at with the emotional factors removed, 
     it really is the logical choice...  Anything porous not only has a 
     tendency to "grab and rip;" but, also, would be virtually impossible 
     to sterilize.  These problems eliminate a lot of the other choices.  
     More standard "light cord," isn't as heavy; but, has a lot more of a 
     tendency to cut the person's skin.  It would also be harder for the 
     person applying the punishment to adequately control. Anything heavier 
     and / or wider (such as the 12 gauge) would be too heavy and could 
     cause injury (besides, like the polarized variety, I don't know for 
     certain what it would do; so, I'd rather stay away from it.) 
          From the perspective of "effectiveness," this material causes 
     an extremely painful, "burning type" of stinging, as it welts the 
     person from the beginning.  From there, it "gets worse," as the 
     earlier, very tender, welts are crossed back over.  Even though the 
     "damage" is superficial, this experience is painful enough to cause 
     even the "toughest" person to have a real aversion to having to go 
     through such an ordeal again...
          The "bottom line" for my advocating this material is that it 
     produces a lot of (temporary) pain for the lowest possible "cost" in 
     terms of longer-term damage.



Are you accepting waiver cases at this time?
          Whether we agree to accept a case depends on a number of 
     variables, including just how good a "test case" it would make, the 
     sincerity of the candidate, the circumstances of the case, locale, 
     availability of staff and facilities, and other such variables. 
     There is more information posted on the  "Charged with a crime?" page.



You're hiring right now?
           Not "hiring", per se; but, I am in the process of screening and training 
     people to work the occassional waiver cases we take, in the meantime.  
     There is more information posted on the TRAINING APPLICATION page.
           I get quite a few inquiries about the possibility of using 
     waivers; but, a shortage of staff has caused me to turn down some 
     of the cases which I might, otherwise, have accepted.  Also, we 
     are pretty well limited to very "low profile" cases until I have 
     enough people trained to handle the additional cases which accepting 
     a high-profile case would bring.



Do I have to have a college degree to train?
           No, you do not; although I do require at least a high school 
     diploma or a G.E.D. and I do prefer some college.  I'd rather take 
     a person with a lot of life experience and no college over a person 
     who has all sorts of degrees and very little time spent out in the 
     real world, any day of the week!  The primary requirements are that 
     you have good people skills, can work with all sorts of people in 
     stressful situations, and are motivated by a desire to help, rather 
     than to hurt.  A strong pragmatic attitude and an ability to see 
     beyond the short-term / to see the larger picture is also very 
     helpful.



How much does this training cost?
           I don't charge anything for my part of it; however, if you 
     have not already completed a Red Cross approved "Community First 
     Aid and Safety" (formerly called "First Responder") course and a 
     self-defense class, you will need to arrange to take these in your 
     own community, at your own expense.  Both of these are very useful 
     to have, anyway; so, I don't feel as though it's an imposition to 
     require them...  If you have already completed either of these, 
     let me know.  If they are reasonablly current, that requirement 
     will be waived.



What if I initially escaped justice;but, now, the guilt feelings are destroying my life???
          In certain situations, we will occassionally agree to work with 
     what we refer to as "guilt clients."  These are considered on a very 
     case-by-case basis; so, it's easier to specify what will NOT even be 
     considered.  If the guilt is not directly related to a specific event, 
     over which the person had significant control over an outcome which 
     resulted in serious harm, we will NOT even consider it.  This off-
     shoot program is not intended to be a substitute for therapy with a 
     licensed professional, it is NOT intended for use with depression 
     related feelings of guilt, and it is ABSOLUTELY NOT any sort of bdsm 
     or fantasy fulfillment!  It has simply been added as the result of 
     the numerous inquiries we've had from people who were sincerely 
     desperate for a bridge between their past and their future.  We 
     require all of the same written work from our guilt clients which 
     we expect from our court-related clients.  The page with more 
     information is on a seperate site, since it is not an official 
     sponsored CFEJ program. GUILT EXPIATION PROCESS INDEX PAGE