The Judicial Council of Georgia has developed a cheat sheet for judges that outlines recent changes in the law for those times when a private probation company is used to supervise people convicted of misdemeanor or traffic offenses.
Most of the instruction contained on the so-called “bench card” explains changes in state law that took effect in 2014 and last year to address the practice of jailing poor people because they could not pay fines for such crimes as public drunkenness, running a red light or shoplifting.
"It can only be helpful for judges to have this bench card for guidance," said Sarah Geraghty, an attorney with the Southern Center for Human Rights, which has focused on the controversial practices of private probation companies. "Sure, there are still problems out there. But this is a step in the right direction."
For the most part, it's the poor who are in the private probation system because people of means can usually pay fines before leaving the courtroom after their cases are heard. Those who cannot immediately pay, however, are put on probation until the debt is paid.
There have been many times over the years when people have been jailed because they stopped paying their fines and fees or stopped reporting to their probation officers because they did not have the funds to cover their court-imposed financial obligations. That is the basis for the complaint that probation supervision for profit had created a system of “debtors prisons.”
A “bench card” is a multi-page document that judges keep handy for quick summaries of certain laws and related court decisions. In this instance, the Judicial Council’s “bench card” on private probation is four pages and mostly addresses recent changes in the law.
For example, community service can replace a fine if someone is too poor to pay. Also, judges should use the federal minimum wage, at the very least, to calculate how many hours of community service would cover the fine ordered. And if probation is imposed simply because the defendant needs time to get the money, then only three months of supervision fees can be collected, regardless of how long the probationer needs to pay off the fine.
Georgia leads the nation in the number of people on probation and the use of private companies to supervise low-level offenders has becoming increasingly common and profitable. Private probation is sold to local governments with the promise that probationers, not taxpayers, will pay for the program.
But two years ago, the Legislature began addressing alleged abuses by private probation companies that were reported by various news outlets, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"Unfortunately, in Georgia, we have hundreds of judges who handle traffic and misdemeanor cases that have no legal education or who have forgotten what they have learned in law school and have forgotten that courts are not revenue sources but are set up to serve justice," said Augusta attorney Jack Long, who successfully argued before the Georgia Supreme Court a case challenging the use of private probation.
Long pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court long ago said it is unconstitutional to lock up a person simply because they cannot afford to pay a fine.
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