The criminal justice system in the U.S. is composed of mainly three arms that is, the police, courts and the prisons or corrections. For the purpose of this paper I will discuss the difference between parole, probation and pardon as ways of punishment under criminal law in United States, which are applied to various offenders. The judge orders sentence to a criminal offender accordingly as per the nature of crime. When the crime committed is not very serious, the judge orders the convict to serve in the community for a specified period of time until he or she is convinced that the prisoner is reformed (Begnaud). This is probation. The convicted offender under probation is always under the observation of a probation officer who reports to the judge about the progress of the convicted person. Parole, on the other hand is release of a criminal after serving part or whole of the jail term (Joan 3). The release is conditional and the convicted individual is allowed to interact with community members for a specific parole period. The criminal is under supervision until the recommended period is complete. In many states Parole is granted only under the permission of commission or board of parole. The convicted person must observe the conditions of parole failure to this result to revocation of the offer and the person is re-imprisoned (Joan 3).
In addition, the judge may decide to pardon fully the convicted person of all his or her criminal offences. The convicted person is forgiven fully of the crimes committed and set free (Weihopen 51). Pardon is only given by the governor of state where the person has been imprisoned or in the state where his case occurs. The only other person who can give pardon to a prisoner is the president of United States (United states Department of Justice). Constitution in many countries gives the president the power to pardon prisoners under what is referred to as presidents prerogatives of mercy. It happens to those who have served jail term for a long period of time and the president is convinced of their reformed behavior. This was just an overview about the three elements of criminal law and the following paragraphs discuss each intensively.
Probation
Probation as described above is one of the ways through which a person who has committed simple crime can be punished so that he or she cannot repeat such mistake at a later time (Weihopen 54). The court in its capacity through judges may decide to place a person who is convicted of doing crime under probation for a given period. The defendant is put under probation instead of been sent to serve jail term. Probation officers in United States are found at various the city, state, county or federal level in a place with court or jurisdiction. One difference between probation and parole is that a criminal who has been released on parole must have served jail term even if it is for a period of one day. During probation period the convicted person is deemed to be out of trouble because he or she does not face harsh treatment in prison. The offenders under probation are observed by probation officers and other correctional specialists who monitor the behavior of such person (Dean 41). The observation or monitoring of the offender is to prevent them from doing crimes while under probation.
The convicted party is allowed to meet members of the community through serving light tasks that are given by probation officers. The officers live in the community to supervise the work been done by the offender. The officers must report the progress of the individuals to their seniors so as to recommend on their release (Dean 46). In probation there are officers who are concerned with monitoring of convicted person behavior during probation period. These officers are known as case managers and offer counseling services to the offenders in addition, they help to rehabilitate the offenders through creation of rehabilitation plans that are followed by offenders when out of prison. The difference between probation officers and parole officers is that, where as probation officers supervise offenders who are under probation sentence, parole officers supervise offenders who are from prison.
To work efficiently, probation officers work in conjunction with the families and close friends of the convicted persons. This will help to give details and information about the progress and success of the offenders. The officers work by meeting the offenders at their homes, work place or rehabilitation centers instead of the offenders meeting the officers in their offices. Working in conjunction with community organizations such as religious groups, local residents and social groups will provide enough information that will help in monitoring of offenders behavior (Joan 13). In United States some offenders under probation are allowed to wear electronic gadgets that will make monitoring easy. Their location and movement is monitored very well by probation officers. Some probation officers encourage offenders to enroll in any institution that will help to train in particular areas such as carpentry, masonry, tailoring or any other technical field. Those who had been convicted of substance abuse are encouraged to attend substance rehabilitation centers. This will help them to stop drug abuse and be reformed. Probation officers work closely with adults and juveniles as a way of promoting common understanding about the effects of crime in the society. In some localities and states, there are special departments headed by surveillance officers who have full authority to arrest and are sometimes armed to protect them from harm.
The officers work as representatives of courts in rural areas through investigation of the convicted background. They write reports about the observations made and recommend sentence where it is applicable (Begnaud). The best thing about probation sentence is that the probation officer negotiates with family members of the accused to review the sentence. The officers are required to testify in court about their findings and recommendations. Probation officers give updates to the judge about the offenders compliance with probation sentence. This will help the court to make recommendations about the offenders progress.
Probation officer can handle a number of probation cases and the capacity of the officer to handle such cases depends on the needs of the offender and the risk associated with probation sentence (Dean 56). For instance, offenders who have committed higher risk offences makes the probation officer to spent a lot of time in handling their situations. In addition, those who need more time for counseling consume a lot of case managers time. In United States a probation officer can handle between twenty to more than one hundred cases at a time as a requirement of jurisdiction.
Information technology has made the work of probation officers to be easy and they can handle higher number of cases by working from home. Use of computers, fax machines and telephones has made it easy for probation officers to handle probation monitoring from home at any time. Technology advancement such as use of drug screening machines has helped probation officers to assist offenders who have been convicted of substance abuse. The use of electronic devices by offenders has also made it easy for probation officers to monitor the movements and location of offenders. Since probation officers deal with criminals who are under probation they are allowed to carry firearm or any other weapon that is used for protection. They are allowed to meet court deadlines and this means a lot of travelling and thorough supervision. It is a very demanding job and time consuming that needs a lot of commitments.
Parole
Parole is another criminology term which is almost related to probation but it is different from b probation in some aspects. Legally, parole is the early release of a prisoner after serving jail term for a specified period of time (Joan 18). The released prisoner is under continued monitoring by parole officer to ensure that he or she complies with certain parole terms. The release is supervisory and it is more of rehabilitation than retribution because the offender has already served his or her jail term. Parole should not be confused fro probation because in parole the offender is given the chance of serving the reminder of sentence out of prison.
In criminal terms parole means supervised release of a prisoner before completion of jail term. The offenders under parole are considered to be serving their sentence. This is one area that makes it different from probation. The offenders under parole are made to follow parole conditions otherwise they risk been returned to court. A specific form of parole is medical parole or compassionate release which is made on humanitarian grounds. The release of offenders under parole is made as a way of compassion from the judge while under probation the convicted person is under observation (Dean 18). There are conditions to be met for a parole to be given. The offender must show that he or she is in a position of obeying the law, is willing to work, can maintain the required rules for parole and he or she is in a position of refraining from drugs. Parole aims at making the offender get reformed by serving the community for the remaining time of sentence. It is a good form of punishment because the offender is made to feel guilt for the crimes he or she committed in the society.
In United States some states practice mandatory supervision other than parole. Mandatory supervision means that an inmate is released before completion of sentence due to legal system that does not allow criminals to be freed. For instance in Texas a prisoner who has been jailed for ten years and during the first five years he or she shows signs of reforms is set free under mandatory supervision (Joan 20). This is in a way a form of parole because the offenders have not finished his or her sentence but he or she is set free. Parole board has the authority of determining whether an offender is going to be paroled or not. The board interviews a prisoner who is deemed to be paroled if the board is convinced about the good conduct of the offender he or she is put under parole. Some crimes cannot qualify for parole such as murder, espionage or death penalty sentence. The offender under parole is required to meet with parole officer unlike in probation where the probation officer meets with the offender under probation. The officers monitor the progress of the paroled convict behavior such as being at home during specific set time, refraining from drug use and maintaining his or position in employment.
The convicted person who is under parole is supposed to observe some requirements as set by the court and the parole officer must ensure that the offender abides by these guidelines. When the offender fails to abide by these rules an arrest warrant is issued and immediately the warrant has been issued parole period is stopped (Dean 57). The parole board may decide to terminate the parole period before the end of the specified period by the court when they see that parole restrictions are no longer needed by the society. These are some elements that differentiate parole from probation and pardon.
Pardon
This is pure forgiveness of crime and any penalty that is associated with the crime. The only person who is allowed to pardon a crime is the president or high profile church leaders (Weihopen 67). This factor differentiates pardon from parole and probation. Many countries are practicing pardon and those who are forgiven are offenders who have been falsely convicted. In United States the constitution gives the president power to pardon offenders who have committed federal crimes. The president is empowered to pardon crimes against United States but not cases of impeachment. He is empowered to grant conditional pardons, remissions of fines, communication of sentence and amnesties. The president in his capacity can grant or deny granting petition. Office of pardon Attorney must recommend for any case of pardon and the n the president is entitled to accept the pardon or deny.
Pardon has been a controversial issue and many critics say that pardon has been as a way of political gain rather than administration of justice. For an offender to be pardon he or she must serve at least five years (Weihopen 68). This is the requirement of Justice Department but the constitution empowers the president to pardon an offender at any time. However, the offender is only pardoned when he or she shows good signs of a reformed person or he is in a position to lead a changed life in the society. He president is convinced by the office of pardon Attorney that a specific prisoner is in apposition of being pardoned. Although the president may refuse to give pardon there is nobody who should question about his action and the courts must comply with presidents actions. The offender must be guilt of some mistakes so as to be pardoned.
The president can only pardon an offender for only offences that are recognized by federal law. The president can however, out of his mercy forgive some offenders who have served long term jail term and the offender shows sign of reformation. Governor who is in charge of fifty states can also pardon offenses that are of criminal nature. Pardon is different form parole and probation because the power to pardon is only vested to one individual b y the constitution while in the other circumstances the court is overall (Joan 21).
The court in pardon only does what the president commands and cannot oblige. Pardoning has received a lot of objections because it is believed that justice does not prevail in any criminal offence. This is because a criminal is set free to interact with society members and the chance of such a person committing crimes is very high. However, it is a good way of reducing the stigma of the convicted especially when it was false accusation.
The pardoned offender must disclose that he or she has been pardon from prison so that if it was a matter of false imprisonment the plaintiff is given the chance to find for justice by finding the real offender. Those who have been pardoned have the right of enforcing procedures that will enable them to restore their civil rights in the society (Weihopen 69). The legal systems in many countries that practice pardon has been in the forefront to make sure that justice is found for those who have been convicted and those who feel they have been wronged because if it does not do so some individuals suffer innocently. To pardon needs a lot of consultation between the concerned parties because sometimes this is considered as abuse of power since most legal systems argue that there is nobody who is above the law.
This paper examines the differences between parole, probation and pardon in United States and it has clearly outlined the major differences through elaboration of how each works the parties concerned and how it should be done. The legal systems in United States are concerned with execution of such principles and their rulings must be respected. The most practiced is probation and parole although in few cases is pardon recommended.
In addition, the judge may decide to pardon fully the convicted person of all his or her criminal offences. The convicted person is forgiven fully of the crimes committed and set free (Weihopen 51). Pardon is only given by the governor of state where the person has been imprisoned or in the state where his case occurs. The only other person who can give pardon to a prisoner is the president of United States (United states Department of Justice). Constitution in many countries gives the president the power to pardon prisoners under what is referred to as presidents prerogatives of mercy. It happens to those who have served jail term for a long period of time and the president is convinced of their reformed behavior. This was just an overview about the three elements of criminal law and the following paragraphs discuss each intensively.
Probation
Probation as described above is one of the ways through which a person who has committed simple crime can be punished so that he or she cannot repeat such mistake at a later time (Weihopen 54). The court in its capacity through judges may decide to place a person who is convicted of doing crime under probation for a given period. The defendant is put under probation instead of been sent to serve jail term. Probation officers in United States are found at various the city, state, county or federal level in a place with court or jurisdiction. One difference between probation and parole is that a criminal who has been released on parole must have served jail term even if it is for a period of one day. During probation period the convicted person is deemed to be out of trouble because he or she does not face harsh treatment in prison. The offenders under probation are observed by probation officers and other correctional specialists who monitor the behavior of such person (Dean 41). The observation or monitoring of the offender is to prevent them from doing crimes while under probation.
The convicted party is allowed to meet members of the community through serving light tasks that are given by probation officers. The officers live in the community to supervise the work been done by the offender. The officers must report the progress of the individuals to their seniors so as to recommend on their release (Dean 46). In probation there are officers who are concerned with monitoring of convicted person behavior during probation period. These officers are known as case managers and offer counseling services to the offenders in addition, they help to rehabilitate the offenders through creation of rehabilitation plans that are followed by offenders when out of prison. The difference between probation officers and parole officers is that, where as probation officers supervise offenders who are under probation sentence, parole officers supervise offenders who are from prison.
To work efficiently, probation officers work in conjunction with the families and close friends of the convicted persons. This will help to give details and information about the progress and success of the offenders. The officers work by meeting the offenders at their homes, work place or rehabilitation centers instead of the offenders meeting the officers in their offices. Working in conjunction with community organizations such as religious groups, local residents and social groups will provide enough information that will help in monitoring of offenders behavior (Joan 13). In United States some offenders under probation are allowed to wear electronic gadgets that will make monitoring easy. Their location and movement is monitored very well by probation officers. Some probation officers encourage offenders to enroll in any institution that will help to train in particular areas such as carpentry, masonry, tailoring or any other technical field. Those who had been convicted of substance abuse are encouraged to attend substance rehabilitation centers. This will help them to stop drug abuse and be reformed. Probation officers work closely with adults and juveniles as a way of promoting common understanding about the effects of crime in the society. In some localities and states, there are special departments headed by surveillance officers who have full authority to arrest and are sometimes armed to protect them from harm.
The officers work as representatives of courts in rural areas through investigation of the convicted background. They write reports about the observations made and recommend sentence where it is applicable (Begnaud). The best thing about probation sentence is that the probation officer negotiates with family members of the accused to review the sentence. The officers are required to testify in court about their findings and recommendations. Probation officers give updates to the judge about the offenders compliance with probation sentence. This will help the court to make recommendations about the offenders progress.
Probation officer can handle a number of probation cases and the capacity of the officer to handle such cases depends on the needs of the offender and the risk associated with probation sentence (Dean 56). For instance, offenders who have committed higher risk offences makes the probation officer to spent a lot of time in handling their situations. In addition, those who need more time for counseling consume a lot of case managers time. In United States a probation officer can handle between twenty to more than one hundred cases at a time as a requirement of jurisdiction.
Information technology has made the work of probation officers to be easy and they can handle higher number of cases by working from home. Use of computers, fax machines and telephones has made it easy for probation officers to handle probation monitoring from home at any time. Technology advancement such as use of drug screening machines has helped probation officers to assist offenders who have been convicted of substance abuse. The use of electronic devices by offenders has also made it easy for probation officers to monitor the movements and location of offenders. Since probation officers deal with criminals who are under probation they are allowed to carry firearm or any other weapon that is used for protection. They are allowed to meet court deadlines and this means a lot of travelling and thorough supervision. It is a very demanding job and time consuming that needs a lot of commitments.
Parole
Parole is another criminology term which is almost related to probation but it is different from b probation in some aspects. Legally, parole is the early release of a prisoner after serving jail term for a specified period of time (Joan 18). The released prisoner is under continued monitoring by parole officer to ensure that he or she complies with certain parole terms. The release is supervisory and it is more of rehabilitation than retribution because the offender has already served his or her jail term. Parole should not be confused fro probation because in parole the offender is given the chance of serving the reminder of sentence out of prison.
In criminal terms parole means supervised release of a prisoner before completion of jail term. The offenders under parole are considered to be serving their sentence. This is one area that makes it different from probation. The offenders under parole are made to follow parole conditions otherwise they risk been returned to court. A specific form of parole is medical parole or compassionate release which is made on humanitarian grounds. The release of offenders under parole is made as a way of compassion from the judge while under probation the convicted person is under observation (Dean 18). There are conditions to be met for a parole to be given. The offender must show that he or she is in a position of obeying the law, is willing to work, can maintain the required rules for parole and he or she is in a position of refraining from drugs. Parole aims at making the offender get reformed by serving the community for the remaining time of sentence. It is a good form of punishment because the offender is made to feel guilt for the crimes he or she committed in the society.
In United States some states practice mandatory supervision other than parole. Mandatory supervision means that an inmate is released before completion of sentence due to legal system that does not allow criminals to be freed. For instance in Texas a prisoner who has been jailed for ten years and during the first five years he or she shows signs of reforms is set free under mandatory supervision (Joan 20). This is in a way a form of parole because the offenders have not finished his or her sentence but he or she is set free. Parole board has the authority of determining whether an offender is going to be paroled or not. The board interviews a prisoner who is deemed to be paroled if the board is convinced about the good conduct of the offender he or she is put under parole. Some crimes cannot qualify for parole such as murder, espionage or death penalty sentence. The offender under parole is required to meet with parole officer unlike in probation where the probation officer meets with the offender under probation. The officers monitor the progress of the paroled convict behavior such as being at home during specific set time, refraining from drug use and maintaining his or position in employment.
The convicted person who is under parole is supposed to observe some requirements as set by the court and the parole officer must ensure that the offender abides by these guidelines. When the offender fails to abide by these rules an arrest warrant is issued and immediately the warrant has been issued parole period is stopped (Dean 57). The parole board may decide to terminate the parole period before the end of the specified period by the court when they see that parole restrictions are no longer needed by the society. These are some elements that differentiate parole from probation and pardon.
Pardon
This is pure forgiveness of crime and any penalty that is associated with the crime. The only person who is allowed to pardon a crime is the president or high profile church leaders (Weihopen 67). This factor differentiates pardon from parole and probation. Many countries are practicing pardon and those who are forgiven are offenders who have been falsely convicted. In United States the constitution gives the president power to pardon offenders who have committed federal crimes. The president is empowered to pardon crimes against United States but not cases of impeachment. He is empowered to grant conditional pardons, remissions of fines, communication of sentence and amnesties. The president in his capacity can grant or deny granting petition. Office of pardon Attorney must recommend for any case of pardon and the n the president is entitled to accept the pardon or deny.
Pardon has been a controversial issue and many critics say that pardon has been as a way of political gain rather than administration of justice. For an offender to be pardon he or she must serve at least five years (Weihopen 68). This is the requirement of Justice Department but the constitution empowers the president to pardon an offender at any time. However, the offender is only pardoned when he or she shows good signs of a reformed person or he is in a position to lead a changed life in the society. He president is convinced by the office of pardon Attorney that a specific prisoner is in apposition of being pardoned. Although the president may refuse to give pardon there is nobody who should question about his action and the courts must comply with presidents actions. The offender must be guilt of some mistakes so as to be pardoned.
The president can only pardon an offender for only offences that are recognized by federal law. The president can however, out of his mercy forgive some offenders who have served long term jail term and the offender shows sign of reformation. Governor who is in charge of fifty states can also pardon offenses that are of criminal nature. Pardon is different form parole and probation because the power to pardon is only vested to one individual b y the constitution while in the other circumstances the court is overall (Joan 21).
The court in pardon only does what the president commands and cannot oblige. Pardoning has received a lot of objections because it is believed that justice does not prevail in any criminal offence. This is because a criminal is set free to interact with society members and the chance of such a person committing crimes is very high. However, it is a good way of reducing the stigma of the convicted especially when it was false accusation.
The pardoned offender must disclose that he or she has been pardon from prison so that if it was a matter of false imprisonment the plaintiff is given the chance to find for justice by finding the real offender. Those who have been pardoned have the right of enforcing procedures that will enable them to restore their civil rights in the society (Weihopen 69). The legal systems in many countries that practice pardon has been in the forefront to make sure that justice is found for those who have been convicted and those who feel they have been wronged because if it does not do so some individuals suffer innocently. To pardon needs a lot of consultation between the concerned parties because sometimes this is considered as abuse of power since most legal systems argue that there is nobody who is above the law.
This paper examines the differences between parole, probation and pardon in United States and it has clearly outlined the major differences through elaboration of how each works the parties concerned and how it should be done. The legal systems in United States are concerned with execution of such principles and their rulings must be respected. The most practiced is probation and parole although in few cases is pardon recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment