What is home confinement, what does it entail, and when is it available as a sentencing alternative?
Home confinement is an alternative to incarceration in certain cases where an offender must remain at his or her residence during specified hours. The three forms of home confinement are: 1.) curfew, under which the offender is restricted during certain specified hours, usually at night; 2.) home detention, under which the offender remains at home at all times except for approved leave for employment, education, medical attention, or correctional treatment; and, 3.) home incarceration, under which the offender is restricted to his or her residence at all times except for approved leave for religious or medical reasons. Probation officers monitor this special condition by telephone contacts, unannounced home contacts, and/or electronic signaling devices. In all such cases, the U.S. Probation Office in this District prefers to monitor such special conditions via electronic monitoring. For such a program to be feasible, the offender must: have a telephone line available, as well as a tele
