Human Rights Watch finds private probation practices abusive | The Augusta Chronicle

The kinds of allegations of abuse and civil rights violations leveled at the private probation firm Sentinel Offender Services and the Richmond County State Court aren’t unique to Augusta or even Georgia, according to a study by an international human rights organization.

A 31-page report released today by Human Rights Watch contends that the same complaints raised in Augusta by civil lawsuits are common across states that allow courts to contract with private, for-profit probation companies.

The group’s study included 75 interviews with people in Ala­bama, Georgia and Mis­sis­sippi in the second half of 2013.

Human Rights Watch says the study “shows how some company probation officers behave like abusive debt collectors. It explains how some courts and probation companies combine to jail offenders who fall behind on payments they cannot afford to make, in spite of clear legal protections meant to prohibit this. It also argues that the fee structure of offender-funded probation is inherently discriminatory against poor offenders, and imposes the greatest financial burden on those who are least able to afford to pay.

“In fact, the business of many private probation companies is built largely on the willingness of courts to discriminate against poor offenders who can only afford to pay their fines in installments over time.”

via Human Rights Watch finds private probation practices abusive | The Augusta Chronicle.