Inequities in Administrative Probation

• In Event: Mass Probation and Inequality: The Purpose, Form, and Effects of Probation

Abstract

Probation has historically served as a means by which convicted individuals who would otherwise be prison-bound are held accountable by, and given the opportunity to benefit from, community-based services and supervision. Increasingly, however, probation has come to serve a second function: that of providing a mechanism for ensuring the collection of restitution and fees from convicted individuals whose risks of recidivism are deemed low enough not to warrant supervision or justify the provision of services. For these individuals, probation serves as a collection agency with the power to incarcerate. Drawing on what is known about the characteristics of those most likely to be placed on administrative supervision, this paper considers the risks of class and gender-based inequities that arise when probation agencies are permitted to exclude some categories of individuals from both the opportunities and obligations that attend traditional probation supervision.

Author

• Cecelia Klingele, University of Wisconsin Law School