THE PROBATION DEPARTMENT
Dallas County Texas

I believe that any man who takes the liberty of another into his keeping is bound to become a tyrant, and that any man who yields up his liberty, in however slight the measure, is bound to become a slave."  ~H. L. Mencken

PROBATION and PAROLE
And the Climbing Recidivism Rates
Particularly in Texas

The probation departments, their employees and their policies, is an area that needs more scrutiny than it's receiving.  Ex-Felons are being returned to prison at a rate of over 65% nearly everywhere in this nation.  The great majority of times it is not for committing another crime, but for simply failing to follow one of the myriad of rules and restrictions a person on probation or parole has to live with. 

I've seen people returned because their car broke down on the way to work and they weren't where they were supposed to be.  I've seen people sent back for no other reason than that they couldn't find a job or housing.  One man finally found a place to live, but it turned out to be a few yards on the other side of the county line. A definate no-no. One man was returned because he was sitting in his truck in his driveway mourning his little daughter's death with a beer.  A lady I met was sent back to prison because, when she sat in a vehicle in her driveway, it interfered with the signals from the monitor she wore on her ankle.  Even though she proved to the probation officer that's what happened, the PO returned her to prison. 

I'm working with a gentleman right now who did 4 years for a non-violent offense. He's been out 10 years now, made a home with land where he has trailers for homeless people to live, animals, crops, he's been a huge asset to his community, but the law came knocking on his door recently because his wife has a 22 rifle that she uses to run off wolves etc. He's not allowed to live in the same house with a gun. He faces 5 years.

These cases are just examples of the foolish waste of tax-payer money and an unforgivable waste of human lives directly attributable to the probation system, their employees and their methods.

The world is not black and white: There's so many shades of gray. Laws that don't take this into account can and do destroy good people. Probation officers without comprehension of the day-to-day problems in an ex-felon's life just add to the misery of the world while the cost of our prison systems continue to skyrocket.

The case we are going to follow on this site is that of a gentleman who was arrested for parole violation because the Dallas County Probation Office made a typo. If there was any justice, Sharif would be back home by now. Instead while his family languishes, his job disappears, his schooling is jeopardized, he is being transferred back and forth between the Dallas County Jail and the State Hospital.

Kind of scary to think that your whole life can be changed for the worse because someone in a position of authority over you made a mistake.
Kay Lee