How has the historical development of probation influenced its modern operation?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The idea of community supervision began in medieval times with the practice of judicial reprieve that allowed judges to suspend punishment so that convicted offenders could seek pardon, gather new evidence, or demonstrate that they had reformed their behavior. Another practice called recognizance enabled convicted offenders to go unpunished if they agreed to refrain from further criminal behavior. Sureties were certain people who had to make themselves responsible for the behavior of the offender after they were released. The modern probation concept originated with John Augustus, who began to supervise offenders released to his custody by a Boston judge in 1841. Over the course of 18 years, he treated more than 2,000 offenders and enjoyed a high success rate. In 1878, his work inspired the Massachusetts legislature to pass a law authorizing the appointment of a paid probation officer. In 1925, the federal government established a probation system for the US district courts. Soon, probation became the most widely used correctional mechanism in the United States.