Are Tennessee Parolees and Probationers Treated Too Leniently?
It’s common when tragedy strikes for the public (and elected officials) to look for someone to blame. High profile criminal cases are a prime example of this. Not only do we want to blame the suspect, but we look to blame a flaw in the system as well, and then quickly change things in the name of “prevention”.
Such is the case in the murder of 22 year old Saret Vit, allegedly murdered and set on fire by a 27 year old parolee she was dating. The case is bringing attention to the state’s parole system and its alleged shortcomings in regards to dealing with parole violations swiftly and severely.
Many are saying the suspected killer should have been in prison, that if the Board of Probation and Parole had done their job, the murder would have never happened. It’s true, the suspect had numerous minor, or “technical” violations on his parole record. But should these violations have sent him back to prison.
The department currently operates under a program called “progressive intervention” according to the Tennessean. This means that technical (non-criminal) violations are first addressed with tighter supervisory sanctions. For instance, if you test positive for a drug test, your parole officer would increase the number of tests you had to be subjected to and perhaps refer you to treatment.
The motivation behind progressive intervention is to reduce the likelihood that an offender will reoffend and end up back in prison on a new criminal charge. It’s designed to assist offenders in reentering the community after serving a prison sentence. A former practice, of zero tolerance, was proven to do more harm than good, leading to this more “lenient” method of supervision.
Critics, however, say the new policies don’t do enough to protect the public. They say that the suspect in Vit’s slaying should have been in prison long ago.
The Tennessean outlines just how many times he violated his parole, with several incidents of failing to pay his supervision fees, removing his GPS monitoring device, failing drug screens, and losing his job after being suspected of selling marijuana. Taken independently of one another, these violations are not incredibly serious and gave the supervising officer no indication that this offender was on the verge of committing a murder.
The story of Vit, a young college graduate, is a tragic one. But one tragic case cannot dictate an entire parole department. Instead, policies and practices must be based on logic, a simple balance of what works and what doesn’t in total, not in one case.
Probation supervision works in much the same way as parole. Technical violations rarely result in prison time. However, if you keep trying your luck, you will eventually hit a brick wall with your probation officer. Furthermore, if you are charged with a new criminal offense, your probation can be revoked and you could find yourself serving the original sentence that got you probation, along with any additional time for the new offense.
When you are facing new criminal charges and are already sentenced under parole or probation supervision, you need an experienced attorney on your side. Contact our attorneys today to discuss the case against you and how we might be able to help.
