Effective 9/1/13, state boot camps as a sentencing option are gone. Will you miss it? How often did your office recommend it?

I think the only thing Boot Camp was good at was teaching guys to say, "Sir, yes, sir" for a few months after they returned from it. We had a very high rate of probation revocations after Boot Camp. I don't know if that was a problem inherent to the Boot Camp program, or more indicative of the kinds of offenders we sent there. Usually burglars and young guys headed down the wrong road already, and a few months of discipline wasn't enough to fix them.

The problem with boot camp is that it ignored the full "recipe" that the military uses.

It is not only to teach discipline and conformity to the rules but to teach the Soldier that he/she is a part of something bigger than themselves. Without that part, then the person is just a well disciplined selfish person.

This may be part of the problem.... or not....

I agree with Jane and John. I used to use the Boot Camp option often. Most kids ended up never coming back for a hearing. For the ones that did, there was a high rate of failure, but some learned at least a little discipline, and I think it helped with their probation. Like John, I think the program didn't go far enough in instilling the "bigger than" philosophy. I am not sure, too, whether they taught enough about the meaning of personal responsibility. Seems like many young offenders (now, more than ever), see themselves as victims. Being a victim is very popular in America. And we buy off on it, and let these little bastards get away with everything (said in my best crotchety old man voice).