What is the reason behind "probation"

[BlancoNino]

My mom works at our local jail and said that they get more people coming back to jail because of probation violations more than anything...and the jail is understaffed and slightly overcrowded (sometimes they have to let guys out early that have committed serious crimes to make room).

Why are we throwing guys back in jail because they had a beer after they did their time? No wonder our jails are crowded...

 

[herbiehancock]

Probation, usually given for less serious offenses and is typically used in combination with a fine and community service, is an alternative to jail, so someone who gets probation had never been to jail (not to be confused with parole......getting out of jail before your complete sentence is done.)

Probation has a lot of restrictions on the person serving probation......no alcohol, firearms, no other offenses, etc., etc. Do anything that violates your probation's rules and that lands you in jail, sometimes to serve the original length of the jail sentence. Such as you're convicted of a crime, sentenced to three years probation. You get arrested 6 months after that for, say DUI, and you can have your probation violated and be sent to jail for the balance of the sentence.....in this case, 2.5 years.

 

[thomsbrain]

the idea is to make sure they are capable of controlling their behavior. if they can't even control themselves when they know someone is keeping tabs on them, you KNOW they won't control themselves when they are fully unsupervised. and yes, many of them go back, because they aren't getting enough support to learn to control themselves. they need more support, definetely. but letting them go free is definetely NOT the answer.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: BlancoNino
Why are we throwing guys back in jail because they had a beer after they did their time? No wonder our jails are crowded...

guys on probation haven't done their time.

if the prisoner is good they'll get 'good time' for each day that they're good. when days actually served + good time = 1/4 sentence or 1/2 sentence or whatever fraction your state sets, the inmate is elligible for parole.

 

[killface]

Being on county (not federal) probation for the next 5 years, I can speak from experience here. A violation doesn't always mean jailtime. I know people who have violated, and only gotten a year added on to their probation.

It's up to the probation officer to decide what *really* constitutes a violation. I don't know of anyone who's been violated for having "a beer." In fact, I know guy who has tested positive for cocaine twice, lied about it, and still hasn't been violated. On the other hand, I also know of POs who have violated people for stupid sh!t like missing NA/AA meetings.

My PO is somewhere in the middle. She's a ball buster, but has let me "slide" after finding liquor bottles in my possesion - though she does hold the violation filing above my head sometimes.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: BlancoNino
My mom works at our local jail and said that they get more people coming back to jail because of probation violations more than anything...and the jail is understaffed and slightly overcrowded (sometimes they have to let guys out early that have committed serious crimes to make room).

Why are we throwing guys back in jail because they had a beer after they did their time? No wonder our jails are crowded...

Topic Title: What is the reason behind "probation"
Topic Summary: When somebody commits a crime...

It's a money scam, what else?

I was banned from using a computer for a year. My wife did all the typing.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: BlancoNino
My mom works at our local jail and said that they get more people coming back to jail because of probation violations more than anything...and the jail is understaffed and slightly overcrowded (sometimes they have to let guys out early that have committed serious crimes to make room).

Why are we throwing guys back in jail because they had a beer after they did their time? No wonder our jails are crowded...

Topic Title: What is the reason behind "probation"
Topic Summary: When somebody commits a crime...

It's a money scam, what else?

I was banned from using a computer for a year. My wife did all the typing.

What did you do? Unless you'd rather not talk about it.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: BlancoNino
My mom works at our local jail and said that they get more people coming back to jail because of probation violations more than anything...and the jail is understaffed and slightly overcrowded (sometimes they have to let guys out early that have committed serious crimes to make room).

Why are we throwing guys back in jail because they had a beer after they did their time? No wonder our jails are crowded...

Topic Title: What is the reason behind "probation"
Topic Summary: When somebody commits a crime...

It's a money scam, what else?

I was banned from using a computer for a year. My wife did all the typing.

What did you do? Unless you'd rather not talk about it.

He misappropriated state-owned computers for distributed computing use.

Dave, how is what BlancNino describing a money scam? It costs the state a lot of money to keep those people in jail.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: BlancoNino
My mom works at our local jail and said that they get more people coming back to jail because of probation violations more than anything...and the jail is understaffed and slightly overcrowded (sometimes they have to let guys out early that have committed serious crimes to make room).

Why are we throwing guys back in jail because they had a beer after they did their time? No wonder our jails are crowded...

Topic Title: What is the reason behind "probation"
Topic Summary: When somebody commits a crime...

It's a money scam, what else?

I was banned from using a computer for a year. My wife did all the typing.

What did you do? Unless you'd rather not talk about it.

He misappropriated state-owned computers for distributed computing use.

Dave, how is what BlancNino describing a money scam? It costs the state a lot of money to keep those people in jail.

Oh, I think I saw that post. It's been awhile though. Thanks.

 

[FoBoT]

we don't have enough prisons

we need to reinstitute corporal punishments for most crimes, that would solve the prison space shortage

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
we don't have enough prisons

we need to reinstitute corporal punishments for most crimes, that would solve the prison space shortage

Honestly, I think more crimes should be punishable by fines - big fines. (Of course Dave would love that, he'd have something to complain about. ).

My reason is, it costs money - a lot of money - to fund police departments, prisons, etc. Why should the taxpayers have to pay for them, why not let the criminals? Violent criminals would get jail time, non-violent criminals would pay for the jails. I think fines are a greater deterent than jail time for many people. For losers who are going nowhere in life, prison time is just a rite of passage. A $5000 fine would hit them where it hurts.

 

[BlancoNino]

I guess my point is that instead of lessening jail-time and giving a year of probation, why not just make them spend that extra year in jail and then let them out with no strings attached? Instead, they let them out and tell them they can't drive or drink alcohol for a year which gets violated (even though drinking or driving doesn't hurt anyone) and then they go back to jail again and get let out with more probation and the cycle keeps repeating.

I understand the point about not being able to control...but I could really care less if somebody who got caught shoplifting decided to have a beer when they go out of jail.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: BlancoNino
My mom works at our local jail and said that they get more people coming back to jail because of probation violations more than anything...and the jail is understaffed and slightly overcrowded (sometimes they have to let guys out early that have committed serious crimes to make room).

Why are we throwing guys back in jail because they had a beer after they did their time? No wonder our jails are crowded...

Topic Title: What is the reason behind "probation"
Topic Summary: When somebody commits a crime...

It's a money scam, what else?

I was banned from using a computer for a year. My wife did all the typing.

What did you do? Unless you'd rather not talk about it.

He misappropriated state-owned computers for distributed computing use.

Dave, how is what BlancNino describing a money scam? It costs the state a lot of money to keep those people in jail.

That's a matter of opinion and mainly a poor one in parts of the States.

They get Federal dollars for every prisoner juts like Schools get money for each student in attendance.