Probation and parole: a broken systemThe Post and Courier
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Julianne Blakeley did what many do when they need their homes painted. She hired a contractor. And, as with most homeowners, she knew almost nothing about the painters she invited in. On the morning of Sept. 26 last year, firefighters rushed to Blakeley's Litchfield Beach home after neighbors saw smoke coming from the house. They found the 63-year-old woman dead, partially clothed in her bed. She had been stabbed in the neck and raped. Fires were set in several places. A week later, police arrested Shane Earl Lawshe, a 33-year-old convicted felon with a record of assault and burglary. Just two months earlier, state officials had released him on parole. It was the third time in five years he had been freed on probation or parole in a connection with a series of crimes, a string prosecutors characterize as an upward spiral of danger. Blakeley's murder sent shock waves through her community, but it was no anomaly. Criminals free on probation or parole kill, rob and rape all too often in a state where judges routinely release repeat offenders into a system under-manned and ill-equipped to maintain control. The series Law and Disorder starts Sunday in The Post and Courier. |
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Posted by KnowAllSeeAll on August 23, 2008 at 10:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There's really no one place you can point the finger. The primary blame lies on the criminals themselves, who make the conscious decision to rape, rob, murder, sling dope, carjack, etc. etc. while on supervision. The system could do a better job of things, but unfortunately with things the way they are, the State often is ill-equipped to deal with this phenomenon (again, no easy answer).
The original probation officer got to hand-pick an individual that he would mentor, and with whom he got very hands-on with his supervision. He was responsible to the Court for his charge. Now, the State uses probation/parole/Community Supervision/Supervised Furlough/(take your pick) as a dumping ground for people they think aren't worth incarcerating.
In South Carolina, probation officers with no prior state employment are paid $25,000.00 annual. The State requires new Agents to have at least a bachelor's degree and law enforcement certification. Caseloads are stretching toward 200 per officer, which means each officer is able to give only the minimum amount of supervision. A lot of these criminals placed on probation have been on supervision before, and the judges around here won't think twice about putting them on probation again.
When it comes time to hold the CONVICTED CRIMINALS accountable, judges at the General Sessions level are impotent. Case in point: a magistrate will sentence someone to nearly 10 years for bouncing checks (120 checks x 30 days per check = 120 months), but I've also seen a young woman sentenced to only 2 years for shooting someone execution style. The judge felt more sympathy for the young lady that nearly killed someone than he did for the young man that thought for sure that his life was over. What a joke!!
Federal judges will lay the hammer down more often than will State judges, because they have to. Federal sentencing guidelines, by the new regulations, are not rigid and can be deviated from but only if the judge can justify it. If the criminal in federal court blows off his sanctions after the judge gave him a break, the judge can be held accountable if he goes against the sentencing guidelines. The State needs to enact something more rigid to take sentencing authority away from rogue State judges because they have demonstrated that they will abuse it.
Posted by ThinkAboutThis on August 23, 2008 at 8:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Posted for the unfair justice in the system!!!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/seans-b...