Parole
Terms And Conditions Of Parole
Parole might be considered as serving the sentence outside of prison. It is totally different than house arrest, but it does not mean that you are free, even if you are “outside”. Many times people compare parole with probation and see parole as a higher obligation and lesser level of freedom. It is well known that many prisoners who suffer serious medical problems get paroled on medical grounds.
Conditions of parole
Once the Orange County prisoner gets released on “parole”, many conditions will be set in the place. First and foremost, a parole officer will be assigned to an individual. Conditions can be different for each case, but the most common ones would be related to obtaining employment, attending rehab classes assigned by the Court as well as not contacting the victims(if any). An individual will have to report to the parole officer according to a set schedule. After all, any further violation of the law would void parole and send an individual back to prison.
Different types of parole
There are a few different types of parole and they depend on the type of conviction, sentence, the State in which the crime was committed and the level of justice system (State or Federal). One of the frequent parole releases related to the Federal system would be “supervised release”, which is usually a part of the sentence that comes in place right after the prisoner serves the prison sentence. During this phase, many inmates choose to be represented by an Orange County DUI lawyer; often it is the same attorney who they first contacted after they were bonded out by their Santa Ana Bail Bonds agent. Some states have “mandatory supervision”, which consists of an inmate release before the sentence was served all the way through and it comes due to technical reasons which put an obligation on the justice system to free the prisoner. In many states, inmates would be compensated for their good behavior, also known as “good time”, which will count as the time served. It is known that “State time” is 50% of the sentence, so if someone gets sentenced to five years, he is going to serve only two and a half years in prison (fifty percent), while the other half would go towards his “good time”. This might not happen if the prisoner is considered a threat to society or he might not get this type of earlier release due the nature of his offense. Recently, some jurisdictions decided to abolish this practice of “good time”, so it is no longer applicable towards the majority of prisoners the way it use to be until now.
Parole as a privilege
Parole should be considered a privilege, which not all the prisoners can get by default. So, the board will decide if the prisoner will be eligible or not. One of the things that play a part, besides the nature of the offense, is that the prisoner is aware and admits his crimes. The Parole Board is looking into approving prisoners that have clear perspective of what they did wrong and know how to get on track with a normal life ones they get released. The prisoner who is in constant denial would be considered as “not rehabilitated”. All the small steps which prisoner took would be considered before the decision on parole takes the place. Some of them would be programs available in prison, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (12 step), vocational training or any other type of school. Prisoners also get tickets for violating the prison rules; the tickets would be classified as: more serious (major) or less serious (minor).
Criteria for parole
Each State has different criteria, but most common one would be the question of if the prisoner will repeat the crime. Boards are especially strict when it comes to (not) releasing sex offenders and many States(including California) have a practice not to grant parole to these type of prisoners at all. The sentence itself would directly apply towards the length of parole. For example, if the prisoner got sentenced to a life time sentence, even if the board decides to release him, he is going to be paroled for a life time. In such a case, the prisoner would have to serve at least fifteen (in some states twenty) years before he can request parole.
What if the terms of parole are violated?
For minor violations, a parole officer might work the things out with the defendant, but for more serious or repeated parole violations, the defendant might need to spend some time in facilities that are specially used for parole violators. These facilities are not available in all states and they are used only when the board prefers not to send the defendant back to prison, if the violation is not at a high level. Another crime and conviction would definitely put the defendant back into prison and parole will be canceled or postponed until the new conditions are met. Typically, if parole is violated, the defendant will not have the option to use a Santa Ana Bail Bonds agency to get released.
How far can parole conditions can go?
Similar to house arrest, the defendant might get an electronic monitoring device that allows his assigned parole officer to monitor movements and report any violations. On many occasions, the defendant will not be allowed to contact or associate with other criminals. If his case had drugs or alcohol involved, testing might be done on regular basis. One of the terms of parole in this case would be that the defendant needs to attend counseling or might even need to obtain psychiatric treatment. The conditions might go as far as search of the parolee’s residence, especially if there is a reasonable belief that the defendant is engaged in illegal activities. Permission to move and change the job might be needed. Most of the time, the defendant is not allowed to leave the state while on parole. Additional permissions have to be issued and they are usually just for the short term for the purpose of visiting and helping a sick family member or attending a relative’s funeral. There might be an option that the parolee moves to another state and in that case his parole will continue in another state, while he will be reporting to Department of Corrections relevant to his case in the new state. Once the inmate has been paroled, he can begin to attempt to get his criminal record expunged.