Noting state efforts to reform probation sentences and practices

Though considerable attention is now given the the two million plus individuals incarcerated in the United States, much less attention is typically given to the significantly larger population subject to probation.  (This latest BJS accounting details that at year-end 2015, an estimated 2,173,800 persons were incarcerated, while 3,789,800 were on probation.)  But this new lengthy Stateline article, headlined "Doing Less Time: Some States Cut Back on Probation," reports that some states are starting to give more attention to this important part of criminal punishment practices. Here are excerpts:

In Georgia, one in 16 adults is on probation. That’s almost four times the national average.  And offenders there spend more than twice as long on probation as in the rest of the country, sometimes as long as 20 years or life.  Meanwhile, probation officers juggle as many as 400 cases at a time.  The state is looking to change all that.

At the behest of Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, who has focused his efforts on revising the state’s criminal justice system, Georgia lawmakers passed a probation reform bill in March. The bill would, among other things, shorten probation sentences and reduce the caseloads of probation officers who are spread thin.  If Deal signs the bill as expected, the new law will go into effect July 1.

Georgia joins several other states that are looking for ways to reduce the time that offenders spend on probation or parole, as they’ve sought to reduce sentences for lesser crimes, and reduce jail and prison overcrowding.  The idea is to ease burdens on probation officers, devote resources to monitoring more dangerous offenders, help offenders re-enter society, and reduce recidivism rates.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, last month signed into law a package of bills that will, among other things, minimize punishments for “technical violations” of probation and allow judges to shorten probation time for good behavior.  Meanwhile, South Dakota, which has worked to update its probation system since 2014, last month enacted a law that allows people convicted of lesser crimes to be discharged from probation after a year for good behavior.

Minnesota lawmakers proposed bills last month that would reduce probation time for certain offenses such as misdemeanors and give courts the power to end probation terms early. Oklahoma and Louisiana have bills pending that would cut the time offenders spend on probation or parole.  Since 2012, Alabama and Hawaii have shortened probation terms.

Changing probation laws is popular with many lawmakers, from fiscal conservatives worried about the rising costs of criminal justice to social justice advocates concerned that too many people are locked up. The bills typically pass with overwhelmingly bipartisan support — measures in Georgia and Michigan, for example, passed unanimously. “It benefits the state as a whole, no matter who you are and what perspective you come from,” said Republican state Sen. John Proos, who sponsored the Michigan bill.

The moves also are favored by probation officers, who monitor people on probation or parole.  “I see this as a good thing. Shorter terms and fewer conditions for probation allow people to become more productive citizens,” said Marcus Hodges, president of the National Association of Probation Executives.

Too often, he said, people on probation are saddled with too stringent conditions, which make it more likely that they will violate the terms of their probation and end up back behind bars.  “I’ve got to ask the question, ‘Are we setting them up for failure?’ ” Hodges said.  “This whole notion of the probation to prison pipeline is something that we’ve got to look at.”...

Most states cap the amount of time that a person can be put on probation.  But in Georgia, felony probation can stretch on indefinitely, said Marissa McCall Dodson, the policy director of the Southern Center for Human Rights who helped craft the Georgia bill.  That’s one of the contributing factors that make Georgia the state with the highest probation rate in the country.  Under the new law, probationers will have the right to ask to have their probation terminated after three years. And for certain low-level offenses, probation officers will automatically put in a request for early termination of probation after three years. Probationers still have to meet the terms of their probation....

The push to overhaul probation comes in the wake of efforts to reduce jail and prison populations by reducing sentences for lesser offenses and moving many offenders to probation instead of serving jail or prison time.  “Probation has been touted as a better option than incarceration, particularly for states struggling with unsustainable prison growth,” said Rebecca Silber of the Vera Institute, a research organization that advocates for changes in the criminal justice system.  “But it doesn’t come without costs.  And one of those costs is that probation can keep people in very serious legal jeopardy for very minor violations.”...

One approach that states have used to reduce their probation populations is using “earned discharge,” which allows probationers to earn time off for complying with the conditions of their sentences, such as completing a drug treatment program.  Missouri started using this approach in 2012, and in three years, 36,000 probationers and parolees were able to reduce their probation terms by an average of 14 months.  Caseloads dropped by 18 percent, with no increase in recidivism rates.