Congressional Democrats Take Aim at For-Profit Probation, Electronic Monitoring Companies

Source: theappeal.org 7/23/24 A group of nearly 20 federal lawmakers sent letters to two companies this week calling out abusive industry practices and requesting additional information about their profits, policies, and contracts with local governments. In letters sent Tuesday to Sentinel Offender Services, a for-profit probation contractor, and Attenti Group, an electronic monitoring services provider, more than a dozen congressional Democrats excoriated the companies for allegedly abusive industry practices that heap debt onto vulnerable people who are already living in poverty. The lawmakers have given the companies an Aug. 8…

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Electronic Monitoring Is an Extension of Mass Incarceration

Source: vera.org 1/30/24 Craig Caudill had a plan for life after his release from prison. While incarcerated, he completed a commercial driver’s license truck driving program in Huntsville, Texas. He was even entrusted to drive trucks for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison system after completing the program, transporting cotton across the state. Working as a truck driver seemed like a solid option after his release in 2021. He knew there was a demand for truck drivers and that the work paid well. But four days before his…

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OH: From ankle strap to wristband: Warren County pilots ‘smartwatch’ electronic monitoring devices

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Source: wcpo.com 8/23/23 LEBANON, Ohio — Warren County’s judicial system is among the first in the country to pilot a new device that encompasses all the functionality of an ankle monitor in the compatibility of a smartwatch device. The technology, called the VeriWatch, is relatively new but that didn’t give Mike Steele pause. Associate director of electronic monitoring for the Warren County Court of Common Pleas adult probation department, Steele said his team has partnered with Business Intelligence Inc. for roughly 15 years. Whenever they launch new technology, like this…

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The Progressive Case for Ankle Bracelets – Opinion

Source: newsweek.com 11/28/22 Many of the most progressive countries in the world are making use of technology to promote rehabilitation and reduce incarceration. Yet blue states like Massachusetts and left-leaning advocacy organizations remain hostile to use of electronic monitoring (EM) methods. They are overlooking the benefits of EM—even from a progressive standpoint. Progressives’ typically formulated criminal justice goal is laudatory: to minimize incarceration consistent with public safety, and to maximize the rehabilitation of offenders. But achieving these ends has been, to say the least, problematic. Progressives commonly urge more addiction…

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Ireland: Electronic tagging of sex offenders under new legislation

Source: rte.ie 11/10/21 Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has announced legislation that will allow for the electronic tagging of sex offenders in some circumstances. She said the Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill – expected to be published in the coming days – would strengthen the monitoring and management of these offenders. The legislation introduces stricter notification requirements – meaning sex offenders will have to inform the gardaí of a change of address within three days instead of the current seven days. It also explicitly provides for the courts to prohibit sex…

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Other than prison, electronic monitoring is ‘the most restrictive form’ of control, research finds

Source: nbcnews.com 9/23/21 In the past 18 months, as the judicial system has increasingly used electronic monitoring instead of prisons to monitor inmates through the coronavirus pandemic, newly released data confirm what activists and advocates have long argued: Ankle monitors are onerous, and they often subject wearers to vague rules, like avoiding people of “disreputable character.” The ankle monitoring business, the research found, is also dominated by four profit-seeking companies, and it ultimately could drive more people back to prison. The new, comprehensive collection of hundreds of electronic monitoring-related rules,…

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House Arrest Is Touted as a Humane Punishment. It’s Not.

[gen.medium.com – 7/27/20] Electronic monitoring incarcerates people who might otherwise be on probation — and makes them pay for it themselves “If I had just done time, I would’ve been done by now.”— Patricia, under house arrest in Indiana The “crime” Patricia, mother of five, committed was an odd one: She climbed through her best friend’s window to retrieve a bottle of her own medication. She and her friend had “open-door policies” and visited each other’s Indiana homes daily, including when the other wasn’t present — but her friend’s husband…

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GA: Hundreds of Georgia sex offenders off ankle monitors as lawmakers seek legal fix

[tribuneledgernews.com – 7/11/20] A landmark court ruling has led to nearly half of Georgia’s most high-risk sex offenders being released from their ankle monitors over the past year, marking a legal quandary that state lawmakers fell short in addressing during the 2020 legislative session. State officials tasked with recommending how to monitor sex offenders in Georgia say legislation filed in the 2020 session would address the problem going forward by handing final authority to judges, rather than a state-run review board. But criminal defense attorneys argue the proposal does not…

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