Check the Monitor: Parole & Probation Technologies in Review

From the Introduction of the report by the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley School of Law:

“The paper proceeds as follows:

• Part I describes current community supervision technologies, including location tracking, alcohol monitoring, and drug testing, and the reliability concerns with each.

• Part II describes and compares the relevant parole and probation revocation procedures used in the selected jurisdictions: the United States Courts, California, Georgia, Indiana, New York, and Texas.

• Part III recommends that jurisdictions codify procedural reforms, such as providing attorneys at revocation proceedings; increasing the standard of proof for violations; allowing discovery rights; limiting hearsay evidence; and imposing stringent reliability requirements for scientific evidence. It also calls for training decision makers on current technologies used in community supervision and limiting incarceration for technical violations.”