Probation Profiteers
In Georgia's outsourced justice system, a traffic ticket can land you deep in the hole.
Welcome to Americus, Georgia. Located 10 miles east of the peanut farm where Jimmy Carter was raised, the town has a charming city center with broad streets, a diner that still sells hot dogs for 95 cents, a Confederate flag that flies conspicuously on the outskirts of town, railroad tracks that divide white and black neighborhoods, chain gangs that labor along the roadways, and, on South Lee Street, right across from the courthouse, its very own private probation office. Middle Georgia Community Probation Services is one of 37 companies to whom local governments have outsourced the supervision of misdemeanor and traffic offenders. It's been billed as a way to save millions of dollars for Georgia and at least nine other states where private probation is used. But to its critics, the system looks more like a way to milk scarce dollars from the poorest of the poor.
Here's how it works: If you have enough money to pay your fine the day you go to court for, say, a speeding ticket, you can usually avoid probation. But those who can't scrape up a few hundred dollars—and nearly 28 percent of Americus residents live below the poverty line—must pay their fine, as well as at least $35 in monthly supervision fees to a private company, in weekly or biweekly installments over a period of three months to a year. By the time their term is over, they may have paid more than twice what the judge ordered.
In his courtroom, which doubles as the Americus City Council's chambers, Judge J. Michael Greene issues a rehearsed warning about these additional charges, though he doesn't point out that they go to a private company; instead, he compares them to "taxes we all pay at the grocery store." When I was there in April, he admonished the African American defendants before him, "Don't fuss at the court clerks. If you do, you are going to jail. They have no more power over it than the nice lady at the checkout counter."
Carla, a 25-year-old single mother who lives in public housing, has been on probation for more than three years. "I never see myself getting off of it," she told me. "I could get off of it this year if they let the fines stay what they is and don't increase them. But every week and every month, they go up."
Carla's current case is a traffic violation, issued after she rolled through two stop signs. Judge Greene placed her on probation and ordered her to pay a $200 fine plus Middle Georgia's supervision fees. In January, she prematurely gave birth to her second child. The staples from her cesarean ripped, and she was placed on bed rest. "I couldn't even take my baby to the doctor," she says. Carla called her probation officer every Tuesday trying to report. "After a while I received a letter saying I ain't reporting or calling or doing nothing I was supposed to do. And she issued a warrant." One letter she got from Middle Georgia read, "Probation is a priviledge [sic] not a right. Probation did not levy a fine—the courts did." She was, the letter said, $245 behind. Two months later, thanks to various penalties, that amount had shot up to $525, and her total remaining balance was $690, more than three times the original fine.
By the time I met Carla, her sister had helped her get a minimum-wage job at the local dollar store. But she'd stopped contacting Middle Georgia because she feared going to jail (and losing her kids) if she showed her face. Her friend Erica, who also has a warrant out because of probation fees, told me she worries every time she goes outside. "You be scared to walk to your mailbox, because that's what the law do—they ride around and try to find you. You're scared to look for a job. But unless you get a job you can't pay your fine. So either way, you're just stuck."
No one at Middle Georgia returned my calls, so I stopped by the company's Americus office; there, I watched a female probation officer instruct a toothless man about the additional fees he needed to pay for improperly storing scrap tires at his auto shop. "Y'all know this ain't right," he shouted. "You railroading me!" Eventually, another Middle Georgia employee noticed me. I told her I was a reporter. "We don't talk to reporters," she said coolly.
Middle Georgia, along with the rest of the state's private probation industry, owes much of its business to Bobby Whitworth, who was Georgia's commissioner of corrections until 1993, when a sex-abuse scandal involving female inmates forced him out. Gov. Zell Miller promptly reassigned him to the Board of Pardons and Paroles, which positioned him nicely for a side job consulting with a private probation company called Detention Management Services. Three years later, in December 2003, a jury found Whitworth guilty of public corruption for accepting $75,000 from the company to draft and lobby for legislation that dramatically expanded the role of private probation companies. Whitworth was sent to prison for six months, but the law remains on the books, and the private probation industry—led by Georgia's two most powerful Republican lobbyists—has lobbied to be given felony cases as well. That plan has run into opposition from law enforcement: One sheriff told lawmakers last year that among his peers, private probation was seen mostly "as a moneymaking fee-collection service." Another said there is generally "not a lot of emphasis on supervision as much as there is on collection."
Lawrence Holt, a thin, 24-year-old African American man, is a supervisor at a mattress factory in Americus. He's held the job for three years, but lives in the projects and, like every member of his family before him, hits the bottle hard. He's been on probation since November, because of an arrest for driving under the influence a few days after his brother died of diabetes. By April, he had paid his original $600 fine, but had $645 to go to cover Middle Georgia's fees. He told me he wouldn't mind paying if his probation officer would only help him get treatment. "I throw up blood," he said. "I just can't stop drinking because I got so many problems in my head. I have asked, 'Can y'all find somebody to help me with my alcohol problem?' 'Sir, we can't do that. We don't do that.'"
1 in 2 federal prisoners is doing time for drug charges.
"These are not cold, hardened criminals," local naacp chapter president Matt Wright, a 57-year-old caterer, told me. "These are just people struggling, trying to make it. The probation officers know it's hard for a poor person to come up with that money. They trick 'em into getting back in the system. They go back before the judge and the judge fines them again, puts them on probation again. And the cycle repeats itself."
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The probation story is the norm for Atlanta and other parts of Georgia, not just Americus.
I work at a homeless shelter in Albany Ga, not far from Americus and I see the probation system as a huge factor in the rate of recidivism, incarceration, homelessness and helplessness.
The locals refer to prison as "chain gang" and indeed, the chain gang system was designed to re-enslave newly freed blacks in Georgia and other parts of the south. Probation is part of the system that continues this tradition by setting unrealistic requirements for payment of fines, maintenance of a dwelling anf procurement of approved employment for individuals who are homeless for all practical purposes. One young man came through here 2 months ago after serving a short sentance in the northern part of the state. He had procured employment through work release and a commitment for transitional housing. But since he committed his crime here in SW georgia, he was required to quit his job and move back here. No family. No support system. No jobs. He is waiting to be violated so that he can be sent back to prison and hopefully won't receive probation. The whole system seems to me a trap to keep warm bodies flowing through the courts, jails, prisons chain gangs of the state. Yes, America eats its young.
Great article. Damning. This sort of thing has been going on since the end of the Civil War. Check out Douglas Blackmon's new book, Slavery By Another Name for the disturbing back story...
Unfortunately this is not limited to Georgia, it is the entire justice system's function to [deleted] people over and generate revenue from it. It makes examples out of people by destroying them, then using their destroyed lives to "prove" that if you break the law, its because your [deleted]ed up. And you know what? Nothing will ever change, as long as money or limited resources is involved, you can bet "good people" will murder and defile "bad people" for their resources.
You have taken the words right out of my mouth. The article made me think of Blackmon's book, as well.
Debt slavery has control of most American lives at this point in our history. We are accepting the most egregious violations of the social contract as normal. We will never unite to throw off the yoke because we are conditioned not to admit the country is corrupt from the White House down.
I don't even know what to say, how is this even legal?? I don't understand why these laws could be instituted by a calous criminal that obviously had no regard for the type of people this system deals with, and yet continue after his character is revealed. It is so obviously taking advantage of those people that have little or no recourse. WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP CHANGE THIS???? This is horrible.
free market, baby! 30% credit card rates and for-profit justice. usually i'm able to recognize that i have politically and philosophically different sensibilities from republicans and we all need to work together...other times i'm just filled with hatred for the right and the horrible, unconscionable things they do.
The only thing I could come up with is to write Georgia's Governor Perdue and express my complete outrage over such an unjust system that is penalizing the poor. It is shameful. His comment link is below if anyone else would like to contact him. http://gov.georgia.gov/00/gov/contact_us/0,2657,78006749_94820188,00.htm...
But we swear, theres no racism in america. I'm disgusted and speechless. I agree with nmc - i want to try and resolve my differences with the right, but when I express contrary viewpoints I'm called a 'liberal', 'communist', 'socialist', '', 'unpatriotic' etc. - theres no debate just name calling and distortion of information.. I'm still waiting for proof that socialists liberals communists and people who are unpatriotic are necessarily bad people?
It started with traffic tickets. Now it's probation and traffic offenses. Once the entire legal system is privatized, and most people have guns, we will have totally ceded the stable society our grandparents built. I'm beginning to hate liberalism. I feel like to oppose conservatism lends strength to it. Maybe we should all be conservatives in order to re-balance a nation that is faltering quickly at the hands of profiteers before the Wild West is not only ushered back in, but enforced.
Oh by the way. Mother Jones. Good job on reversing that draconian comment policy. You get your progressive title back. Kudos.
This is sickening but not surprising. If the past 20 years have taught us anything its that sometime, immoral though it may be in the end, you have to fight fire with fire. Some progressively minded (already loaded) attorneys need to run down there and start hauling these backwoods, hick oppressors into federal civil courts and hit them where they live. In the pocketbook
Capitalism must be destroyed. For profit corporations must not be allowed to exist.
We can not have institutions running the country whose only concern is profit.
When faced with a choice, corporations are mandated by law to choose the course of action that makes the most money.
Profit vs. Sympathy - Profit wins
Profit vs. Environment - Profit wins
Profit vs. Community - Profit wins
Profit vs. Morality - Profit wins
Profit vs. Sustainability - Profit wins
How much longer are we willing to tolerate this? At what point will we collectively wake up and realize that this is a flawed, corrupt system that must be destroyed.
Welcome to Georgia: The land that time and ethics forgot.
There are four boxes used in the defense of liberty:
1. Soap
2. Ballot
3. Jury
4. Ammo
I can see how the people are justified to go to step 4 in this case.
This is an outrage. I had no idea a scam as immoral and egregious as this exsisted in America, tho since cronyism is the current law of the land I shouldn't be surprised. Where is the ACLU? Can't they do something to help these people?
A fine example of southern hospitality, uh, stupidity,uhhh, greed, that's it, greedy Repugnants.
Scabs on societies ass, one and all.
Man's inhumanity to man, Southern style. Is Georgia really part of the United States of America?
Where's the ACLU or somebody? What the hell has happened to equal justice before the law?
Are y'all kidding? My son was caught in what he called a "speed trap" in that area (going 101mph) I too was a poor single mother of two sons. He did not have the money to pay his fine in court. So guess what? He had to break his neck paying all HIS fines for doing something wrong...speeding. Hard lesson learned and not repeated! My comment to both of my sons has always been;
Control yourself or someone else will.
This kind of unjustice has been going on since the days of reconstruction. These Jayhawkers should be put to the sword...metaphorically speaking
This isn't America, it's the gulag.
You all read a story like this, similar stories, and the impact these incredibly high for profit fuel prices, and I wonder "Why aren't we out protesting?!?" Why aren't we all surrounding our representatives offices and demanding an end to for-profit essential services (ESPECIALLY fossil fuels)? I guess the masses just shrug their shoulders saying "what can I do" and go browsing at walmart.
Where's the ACLU in this fray? I can't believe they wouldn't be actively involved in defending these poor people. Its a national disgrace.
I've never posted anything before, but this story is so disturbing that I want to do something. Is there anyone or any group to whom I can write and offer support?
Why aren't the majority of American jounalist talking about these issues and others like them instead of Paris Hilton, the latest celebrity affair, funny preachers, or which campaign commercial has done the most damage this week in light of the public's stupidy? I think I know why. The American Media is too dim witted to even recognize a real issue if it bit them in the ass. God forbid they read a white paper, or analyze a solution or press the powerful to actually detail and debate a solution. They just ask shallow silly questions and let the politicians yammer on and say nothing because journalists don't know enough about the issues to ask the right questions. They are too busy buying expensive suits and latte's or traveling around the world on their network's dimes (that came from the public's goodwill and rich stockholders and advertisers who give them their talking points)to get involved with the lowly uninformed public. So we stay uninformed victims of our TV addictions and we whine and nothing ever changes because we are whining about the wrong things!
Welcome to Amerika where making money is the only "value" that is really revered and upheld. Corporate Capitalism is Amerika's state religion and none dare challenge it too much, and our political system and those "elected" to "represent" us are so much a part of that corrupt system that it is surprising that any of us can actually still be surprised by any of it. The 19th century French Traveller, writer and philosopher, de Toqueville, wrote after touring the US that nowhere else on this earth did he know of any place where making money was so important. The Puritans who, unfortunately, settled the current US originally were very intolerant and materialistic people. They believed that is you were poor it was because you were a bad person and therefore God didn't love and bless you, and if you were rich the reverse was true. This perverted belief system, along with their "Puritan (or Protestant) Work Ethic" has warped US values until the present. They are specifically behind the Social Darwinism that forms the basis of social and economic policy of the Republican Party and the right-wing evangelicals that make up a scarey 34% of the US population. Europe was lucky to see the tight backsides of these creeps and now have much more humane social policies (like universal healthcare etc.) and are much more liberal minded compared to the puritanism that pervades everywhere in the US because these intolerant bigots fled to the New World to establish their New Jerusalem where they could prohibit everything they opposed (just about everything of a sexual nature, anyway, and Catholicism et al). Australia was truly the "Lucky Country" (as they like to refer to themselves) because they got the convicts and the US got mainly the Puritans, hopeful aristocrats and other loonies.
Oh, Sonny Purdue won't help you any. He's as crooked as they come. You don't get to be the first republican governor in Georgia in 140 years because you care about the people. Ol' Sonny is being talked about as a potential VP for McCain, which should tell you everything you need to know.
Tried to get on the Georgia "gov" website but it's "temoprarily out of service for repairs." Sounds like the MJ article may have gotten them some comments--I hope.
I am a private probation provider, but not in Georgia. It sounds, to me anyway, that Americus should re-bid their contract. While we do charge for our services and the article is right the person paying does not have a choice, unless they want to go to jail, I would hope that most of us use sliding fee scales, we do, and do not look at the client as dollar signs and truly provide a service. While there are bad apples in every industry there are also several that truly care about what they do and the lives that they touch! To call it probation for traffic offenses, for those that cannot pay, is not exactly acurate, it is collections, that the courts don't want to mess with. Most of the clients that we have at this firm are Misdemeanor Assault, Misdemeanor Domestic Assault, and DWI 1st or 2nd - though we have a few misdemeanor drug and stealling cases. These are cases that our state probation and parole agency will not supervise, which our state agency charges about $30.00 per month also. Our cases for passing bad checks and traffic offenses, which are primarily collections, are on a different "case load". If we had Carla's case in our firm we would have worked out a payment plan, that she could LIVE with, furthermore, we always grant extensions for verified medical situations. Finally, while we do charge in these situations, it is only 15% of the amount, in Carla's case $30.00. So, if she would have been able to pay $25.00 per month in roughly 9-months she would have been done.
If this is the norm in your area demand that your county officials, when they bid out these contracts, include clauses to cover such situations. Sliding fee scales, treating all people with respect and dignity, and doing their jobs - working WITH people. I am sorry that there are so many bad experiences with such businesses, this should not be the norm. Maybe standards would help, require college degrees, like my firm does, and so many years of experience. Sad! It really is.
While this is unacceptable! What other options do they have, when people can't or don't pay the fine? I feel for Carla, but what was she thinking when she ran the two stop signs? If they don't put them on probation then they are going to put them in jail, which means our taxes will become outrageous! I like how Jim's company does it, just charging a flat percentage for these type of cases rather than increasing it every month by 35bucks!
First of all. Jim, you shouldn't be in "business" doing what you do. Where does this so-called "privatization" stop? What is the point of having government if all it does is administer contracts for every service under the sun that it used to perform?
The situation in Georgia is nothing but loan sharking, pure and simple, which used to be a crime in this country, but apparently is now regarded as a virtue and a business opportunity.
I have seen the dysfunctionality and abuses going on in the "Prisons for Profit" sector of the economy, not that the old system was any better. Problem here is it is the weakest, most vulnerable segment of society that has to deal with the "system," so who cares?
Are we as a society eating each other alive, particularly the most disadvantaged members. You bet, buddy. Ever ask yourself why a speeding ticket can be as high as $250-$300? Of course, everyone speeds, and anyone that tells me they don't, I will call a sure liar. Apprehension becomes a random lottery system for municipal income and jobs for people like you. The same is true for eighty percent of the DWI convictions, only those are incredible cash cows, literal bonanzas, to be milked for all they are worth. And are, no matter how minor or silly the violation. Just contemplate all those bars everywhere you go with all those big parking lots. There must be a helluva lot more disignated drivers running around than I thought--if not, just random vicimization and extortion.
Sorry, Jim, I really don't like people like you.
Roland,
I am truly sorry that you feel that way. Privatization has saved governments a fortune and usually operate better, providing better services, and much more effectively. Of course those are studies that have been conducted by univesities and governments, organizations you may not trust. Furthermore, we, all probation services doing their jobs right, can help people turn their lives around, Not all persons have a positive roll model or had anyone that could help thme establish or pursue their goals. While I do agree that a speeding ticket that with fines of 250 - 300 is high, you are right, we all still make the CHOICE to speed. However, I must disagree with you about the DWI's, and I am sure the millions who have lost loved ones because of a drunk driver, would disagree as well. But, no need for apologizing to me for not liking people like me, which only shows how narrow minded you are as you know nothing about me but that I choose to make make a living helping people, because I do not like negative, closed minded, pessimistic people as you.
The bottom line is this is a government responsibility and as such it should not be privitized.
well,,all I have read here is enough to make your hair stand on end,my mother is 73 years old,,and the ga probation managment service in warner robins made her wait out in the office for hours on end,and when I called and complained that she shouldnt have to wait for such long peroids of time,given her age etc;I was told she shouldnt have broke the law,she had a fender bender and didnt have her insurance cards updated,NO PROOF OF INSURANCE,and I cant even begin to tell you the charges she paid out of her 565$ ssi ck every month for 6 months,,,,,
Is it in Ga. law that a Judge can "try" a person on probation, for an offense that he is charged with in another jurisdiction, even though he has not gone to court for that charge? When he has already paid his entire fines and probation fees?
This is a national disgrace. It's just as bad in Ohio. Probation never ends. Post sentencing restrictions are intrusive. Judges don't understand proportionality. They are arrogant and need to be restrained.
People please stop bringing racism into the discussion and address the actual problem.
Fines need to be income based not flat-fee and the convicted should be able to opt for community service in the number of hours that GDP would pay for the fines.
extortion,plain and simple and it's happening in a lot of places.
Welcome to GA!
Come for vacation, leave on probation!
It started with traffic
It started with traffic tickets. Now it's probation and traffic offenses
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What can I say except, dont
What can I say except, dont break the law!! It gets me how people act like the victims here. If you break the law you will pay with either your time (jail) or money. There are consequences people. You can't get placed on probation unless you were convicted of a crime. Stop blaming others for the consequences of your own decisions.
What can I say except, dont
What can I say except, dont break the law!! It gets me how people act like the victims here. If you break the law you will pay with either your time (jail) or money. There are consequences people. You can't get placed on probation unless you were convicted of a crime. Stop blaming others for the consequences of your own decisions.
Another thing I fogot to
Another thing I fogot to mention is probation officers have to eat too. They are working that 9-5 like everyone else. The extra fees paid goes towards the salaries/operating cost/etc. I mean, I understand that people have their financial situations and all but if you commit a crime (no matter how small it might be) there you will always have to pay $.
