Marc Levin has this new Hill commentary under the headline "Our justice system must reward success." Here are excerpts:
Given that 4.5 million Americans are on community supervision, the question of how many of them no longer require government control has far-reaching implications, both from a government fiscal standpoint and societally. Fortunately, policymakers are increasingly focused on creating standards for whether continued supervision is needed that focus not on the past, but on the future. Since 2007, 18 states have implemented policies allowing individuals on probation to earn time for exemplary performance.
Robust earned time and early termination policies for community supervision have proven effective for both public safety and taxpayers who fund probation and parole agencies. In 2008, Arizona enacted a law giving people on probation 20 days credit for each month they make progress on their treatment plan and avoid new arrests. In the subsequent two years, the number of people on probation convicted of new crimes substantially declined.
This is not surprising given that research reveals that most recidivism occurs during the initial part of the supervision period. Multiple studies show that people are most likely to recidivate right after being released than at the end of their supervision. Similarly, after New York City early terminated low-risk people on probation, they were less likely to be re-arrested for a new felony during their first year off supervision than similar individuals who had remained on supervision.
Moreover, removing people for whom monitoring isn’t likely to improve public safety from the supervision rolls frees up probation and parole officers to supervise those who are at greater risk of committing a new crime. This means these officers can do more than shuffle the files of 100 people on their caseload and instead provide interventions such as motivational interviewing that addresses the attitudes and behaviors of those most at risk to recidivate.
Despite the progress some jurisdictions have made in providing incentives for success and focusing supervision on those who need it, many others do not allow earned time or early termination. Additionally, excessive supervision periods remain, ranging from up to 40 years on probation for some in Minnesota to lifetime parole sentences in Nebraska.
When it comes to community supervision, we must focus on how well the system achieves rehabilitation, not on maximizing its duration. Let’s reward success by allowing people to demonstrate they are not a threat and earn their way off supervision. Intensive supervision has a place for those most at risk of going back to their old ways, but in many cases, government can accomplish more by doing less.
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