A proposed philosophy of corrections and its implications for release are reviewed. The paper discusses both current and proposed objectives of conditional release, with attention to their benefits and disadvantages. Objectives considered include offenders' reintegration into the community, protecting the public, mitigating sentence disparity, reducing prison populations, rewards for good behavior, and reconciliation between the offender and victim or community. Key issues in the conditional release debate are examined, such as visibility and accountability, the relationship between sentencing and release authorities in determining how much time the offender serves, and differences between federal and provincial systems. Also discussed are violent recidivism among released offenders, costs of incarceration in Canada, and the adequacy of procedural safeguards surrounding decisions in conditional release. For related documents see NCJ 110655-56 and 110658-60. 26 footnotes.