Government laws and regulations are put in place to protect members of society, benefit and advance society. Nevertheless, some policies do not seem to serve the intended purpose and are misused. Private Probation can be an example of an unjust policy that benefits a few members of society while putting others at a further disadvantage. Thus, private Probation is an unfair policy that should be reviewed.
Private Probation is a criminal sentence that does not include incarceration. It can be defined as a sentence “in lieu of jail time.” It is often considered an alternative to imprisonment in the United States of America (Human Rights Watch, 2020, para. 5). Probation is rehabilitation focused on ensuring that the offender does not commit further crimes and is deterred from the path of crime (Human Rights Watch, 2020). Probation is typically assigned to offenders committing first-time offenses and misdemeanors. For example, a person convicted of driving on a suspended driver’s license or disorderly conduct is likely to be assigned Probation (Human Rights Watch, 2020). Overall, Probation is a criminal sentence that provides supervised rehabilitation instead of incarceration.
Probation can be viewed as the most commonplace criminal sentence in the United States. The federal courts were granted permission to suspend sentences and put perpetrators on Probation in 1925 after the Probation Act was passed (Chlarson, 2020). Although judges could sentence defendants to Probation before that, sentences were often suspended instead. Such decisions were often deemed lenient and were likened to pardon. Thus, the Killits decision of 1916 made by the Supreme Court prohibited the federal courts from suspending sentences and requested proper legislation to be developed for probationary services (Chlarson, 2020). Private Probation became possible in 1976 after Florida allowed private entities to supervise offenders put under the terms of Probation (Human Rights Watch, 2020). The decision to privatize Probation is often explained by budget constraints experienced by courts and the growing number of probation sentences. Today, most states allow for private supervision of convicted felons and offer offender-based probation programs.
Although the policy allows the court system to save funds, the burden of financial responsibility for Probation was shifted from the judiciary system onto the persons convicted of misdemeanors. According to Human Rights Watch (2018), the policy is unfair to impoverished offenders while benefiting those with financial means. Thus, private probation companies do not offer reduced fees or waivers to poor individuals, leading to offenders accumulating debt and being forced to sacrifice other expenses such as food and health care (Human Rights Watch, 2020). Human Rights Watch (2020) notes that many defendants opt for a plea deal and choose Probation without explanation that they will bear the financial burden for it. Thus, in Kentucky, almost a quarter of adults between the ages of 18 and 64 are below 125 percent of the poverty level (Human Rights Watch, 2020). As private companies accept few pro bono cases, most persons convicted of misdemeanors pay unreduced fees for Probation, adversely affecting their financial situation.
Overall, private Probation is an unfair policy that disproportionately affects poor individuals while benefiting the more affluent ones. Reducing fees for adult offenders below the poverty line is a viable option for amending the policy. Although the cancellation of private Probation would be advantageous, it is unlikely to happen. Thus, Probation of persons below the poverty line and those making less than the defined living wage should automatically be assigned to public entities such as county attorney’s offices or sheriff’s offices. In summary, private Probation is an unfair policy that needs review to promote the rehabilitation of offenders below the poverty line.
References
Chlarson, C. R. (2020). Probation and parole statistics. Criminal Defense Lawyer Utah – Salt Lake City Criminal Defense Attorney. Web.
Human Rights Watch. (2018). US: Private probation harming the poor. Web.
Human Rights Watch. (2020). “Set up to fail”: The impact of offender-funded private probation on the poor. Web.