[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 

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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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