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A humble Boston boot maker nicknamed the ‘Father of Probation’, John Augustus was a pioneer in his efforts to campaign for convicted criminals to receive more lenient sentences based on backgrounds. (Jones and Braswell) His attempt at rehabilitating the criminal was so successful that even today’s standards do not match it. Because of his noble efforts and high success rate, numerous Boston organizations and philanthropists aided and devoted themselves to his cause. He became the first probation officer, lasting eighteen years in helping convicted criminals gain a second chance. He helped almost 2,000 people with only 4 criminals proving unworthy of probation. (Jones and Braswell)
Back when probation was not practiced in the United States, criminals had no real chance at rehabilitation. This is because the United States Criminal Justice System had adopted a British means of handling criminals via applying to the king for a pardon. While the kind of ‘second chance’ worked in England, in the United States, it made no sense. “The problem was that offenders could be under the purview of the court for an indefinite period. The indefinite sentence allowed the judge to suspend the sentence and punish the reprieved offender if he or she violated...
“Augustus convinced the judge to allow him to ‘stand bail’ for the offender who was later released into his custody. When Augustus returned within the three weeks with the ‘reformed’ drunkard, the judge was so impressed that he reduced the fine and suspended the man’s sentence of incarceration.” (Jones and Braswell 159) With just three weeks Augustus not only changed the drunkard in a positive way, but also showed that he could be rehabilitated to an extent where no longer proved a threat to society. This is the kind of initiative lacking in the current American Criminal Justice System.
This initiative allowed offenders to maintain family ties and fulfill important community, family and work obligations. (Hess, et al.) Currently, while there is probation, the kind of people responsible for the rehabilitation of offenders’ leaves little in terms of connection and communication. Augustus helped each individual he put in his care. He was a prosperous shoe maker that had not only the compassion, but the ability to connect with the people he helped. This is…
Works Cited
Hess, Karen M, et al. Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. Cengage Learning, 2016.
Jones, Mark, and Michael C. Braswell. Exploring Corrections in America. Anderson, 2010.
In 1841, Augustus bailed out a 'common drunkard', and became the first probationer. "The offender was ordered to appear in court three weeks later sentencing. He returned to court a sober man, accompanied by Augustus. To the astonishment of all in attendance, his appearance and demeanor had dramatically changed" ("A Brief History"). This would eventually evolve into today's probation system. Examples of Probation: sentence ordered by a judge instead of, or
Immediately, the number of probation violations dropped. The Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska imposed a similar program in 2000 for misdemeanor cases and also saw immediate positive results in probation completion and reduced recidivism (Boyd, 2010). When probation was first used the idea was to try and give certain criminals a second chance to redeem themselves and prove that they could be law abiding citizens without having to spend time in
History Of Probation and Parole The modern day probation and parole has its roots in the English criminal law during the middle ages. During this time, harsh punishments were handed down to offenders indiscriminately; both adults and children were punished alike. There were cases of flogging, mutilation, branding, and even execution as forms of punishment. These were deemed too harsh punishments and created discontent hence other alternative methods like buying Royal
Community Corrections as a Social Service With around 2 million Americans incarcerated in the nation's prisons and jails at a cost of tens of billions of dollars each year, policymakers are scrambling for alternative solutions and many have identified community corrections as a viable option. Using parole and probations programs, community corrections provide a valuable social service to the country by giving juvenile and adult offenders the opportunity to rejoin mainstream
There are, for example, great differences among states regarding the way in which these systems are managed and the rights and responsibilities of officers for both sectors of the legal system. In New Jersey, the goal of probation is to promote the reintegration of offenders into the community, while encouraging a responsible, law-abiding lifestyle for such a person (New Jersey Courts, 2013). In total, probation officers are responsible for more
Ladow. Similar boards were provisioned for federal prisons not in the penitentiary category. Each prison was also provided with a parole officer to supervise parolees during their community corrections phase. Inmates became eligible for parole after serving a third of their total sentence -- by 1915 this was expanded to mean fifteen years for inmates serving life sentences -- contingent on the decisions and good graces of the local