How would a "halfway house" benefit a wealthy, white collar criminal with a relatively short sentence?

Easy – - getting him to break bad habits, just like all other residents of half way houses.

He hasn’t finished his sentence. He is being allowed to finish it at the halfway house.

Wealth has it’s privileges. The fact that the case even went to trial is rather surprising since we don’t normally even take white-collar criminals in for questioning.

A halfway house could introduce them to the very people they prey on (as a white collar). They should spend their time concentrating on what makes those around them happy then attempt to spread the happiness that they learned among those who work under them when they get out but unfortunately most criminals.. be they white, blue or non-workers, mostly concentrate on how they went wrong and got caught so it won’t happen as easily the next time they want to get back on the world.

Individuals are frequently unprepared to deal with changes in society that occurs during the passage of time during their incarceration. Halfway housing helps them adjust when they return.

The few convicted wealthy people are usually sent to “country club” institutions and seldom are sent to halfway housing after they are released.

Actually, @jerv – it’s not a privilege thing. We have a LOT of half-way houses near our closest commuter train stop. (I’d say over a dozen. They are all single gender – meaning women only in one, men only in the other.) The residents are expected to work a job and/or complete their court-required community service (like picking up garbage along the highway). Many are being closely monitored for mental illness and/or addiction issues.

A few of the people I talked with (two women and a men) were working at Panera (one that was downtown – so they had to commute and were provided commuter passes) that had a Prison-to-job transition program. It was really interesting to me that this particular location/business took on these folks who would otherwise have trouble getting employment. It seemed like a win-win situation.

Each time I talked with one of the halfway house folks they told me they have VERY tight schedules with required check-ins, and some aren’t even allowed out for jobs/community service. (Learned a lot about this by talking to a few guys at the train stop and the nearby Cub.) They can’t drive. Have to rely on public transit. It’s still prison in a sense – just on step out of a big concrete building to a shared room in a place that looks like a crappy house.

This is a common way to alleviate over-crowding in our prisons and it’s for non-violent offenders and typically they are there for at least 6 months.

Many receive treatment (like Dialectical Behavior Therapy) to help them transition and make better choices. It’s not for privileged inmates – it’s for nearly ALL inmates that qualify.

@geeky_mama I am aware of halfway houses; I’ve known quite a few who went to one.But the people I know who have been in halfway houses were there for things that the son of a prominent political figure wouldn’t even get a verbal warning from a police officer for.

Also, people who aren’t already privileged who take $750,000 would spend their entire term behind bars…. and you know that that term would be a bit longer than 2½ years.

If getting a dramatically reduced sentence and getting to serve part of it in a halfway house isn’t privilege, what is?

Considering who his father is, they probably just dont want to be liable for anything that happens to him in prison. Solitary confinement could be considered “racist” and it’s not always safe in protective custody. A halfway house sounds like a better choice than having his dad come after the state.

@jerv, actually the only “privileged” offender I know (white collar crime – massive multi-million dollar fraud) was sent to a “cushy” Federal Prison (some are better than others) and his sentence ended up being cut from 10 years to 2.5 years and probation. And his father is a farmer and has no political clout or money.
He was a non-violent, first-time offender AND a white male—which all worked in his favor…but he wasn’t even required to go to a half-way house. So, how was he privileged?

Granted, he ended up losing his wife & family (their four kids) and future earning potential…but they didn’t divorce until he came out and didn’t get his act together.

I’m still friends with his wife – and she and the kids came out of this whole thing better off than anybody. She grew strong and independent, the kids & their nearby family rallied around her and the kids are smart, well-rounded and despite not having close contact with their Dad—they’ve no doubt learned from his mistakes.

@jerv & @geeky_mama: Rod Blagojevich is, amazingly, in his 4th year of incarceration.