Families of Prisoners Support Group
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Parole is an process in which an inmate in prison is released from confinement in prison early when he is approved by the Pardon and Parole Board in his state. For instance, let's say a guy has a 30 year sentence and he has served 10 years and he goes before the parole board. If he can make parole, he can serve the rest of his time outside of prison reporting to his parole officer. Thus he will have served 10 years in prison and would be on parole for the rest of his sentence, which would be 20 years. 30 year sentence = 10 years in prison + 20 years on parole.
Parole ALWAYS follows a period of time actually spent behind the walls in prison.
Probation is a period of time an inmate does INSTEAD of being in prison. If a guy was convicted and received a 20 year sentence, but the plea stipulated that the 20 years were to be spent on probation, the inmate would never go to prison, but serve his entire sentence on probation. In this instance the inmate NEVER serves a day in an actual prison.
Sometimes a defendant receives a sentence which is a split sentence. If a guy received a 20 year sentence and the judge ruled that he had to spend 10 years in prison followed by 10 years probation, he would be incarcerated for 10 years, then would do the 10 years probation outside prison. 20 years = 10 years in prison + 10 years suspended.
Probation is often referred to as "paper time" or part of a "suspended sentence."
In each case the offender will be supervised by a PO and subject to all the rules of the Department of Corrections while on parole or probation.
On parole or probation is exactly like being in prison as far as the rules are concerned, but the offender is just serving his time at home.
As a result, a PO can enter his home at any time and search without a search warrant. He can also make stipulations and rules just like the ones in prison.
Actually parole and probation are very much alike.
There is no parole in the federal system, only the state system. In the federal system, an inmate must do 85% of his sentence before release. Parole in the federal system was abolished in the mid-1980's under the Reagan administration.
Both the federal system and the state system allow for probation.
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If he, say, had a five year prison sentence followed by three years probation, then yes, he could serve two years in prison, make parole and serve three years parole, then followed by the three years parole. Does that make sense?
The original five year prison sentence was shortened to two years behind the walls when he made parole, which left him to do three years on parole. But after parole, he still has the three years probation after that.
2 years in prison + 3 years parole = the five year prison portion of his sentence, then he still has the three years probation to serve after that.
rewdiazepam
Yes, the amount of probation is set at sentencing and is part of the actual sentence. The amount and length of probation is pre-determined at sentencing, whereas the period of parole---if the offender even makes parole---can vary.
They don't always call it probation at sentencing unless the entire sentence is to be served on probation. Sometimes instead of saying the defendant received probation, they will say he received a "suspended sentence." Both terms mean that no amount of time will be spent in an actual prison UNLESS the offender messes up and then he can be sent to prison to finish the rest of his sentence there.
Usually, if a probationary period is imposed at sentencing, they will say "the defendant received 20 years with 10 years suspended." What this means is that the actual sentence was 20 years, but only 10 or those years are to be spend in prison. The suspended portion of the sentence, in this case 10 years, are to be spent not in prison but on "paper" in the form of probation.
Hope this helps.
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APPEARANCE is everything. Make sure to be clean, facial hair neatly trimmed or clean shaven, tattoos covered, with clean clothes. Most parole board members are older folks who are conservative and they don't really like tattoos and long hair very much. It might not seem important, but you want to use every advantage you can to make parole.
ACTIONS. Speak confidently, but clearly. Answer any question with a "yes sir" or a "yes ma'am." Parole board members are not supposed to be swayed by little things like this, but they are human and it affects them. Do not appear menacing. Do not give dirty looks. No loudness.
The "SPEECH"---an inmate will not have but a few minutes to speak, so he must used his time wisely. ABOVE ALL, TAKE FULL-----FULL AND COMPLETE---RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CRIME. If you do not, you can kiss your parole changes good-bye. Be very contrite.
Don't blame a bad divorce or that you needed money or that you were on drugs or that the system was not fair. If you do that, you will not make parole.
They may ask about the crime. It is best to tell them that you made a terrible mistake and have learned from that mistake. Make NO excuses. They HATE that. It might sound as if you have to "kiss ass" here, but you better be prepared to if you want parole.
You must convince the parole board that you have learned from your mistakes and have made the effort to correct your behavior to make yourself a better person so that this will never happen again. The parole board is not likely to release anyone if they have an inkling that they will re-offend.
You might have your guy tell them the programs he has taken in prison to better himself---vo tech, GED, etc. They like programs.
Impress upon them that you have a family waiting, a job waiting, and a place to stay. That is very important for a parole consideration. They will not parole someone who will be homeless with no family. That is just how the system works.
If an inmate does these things, he has done just about everything he can to give him the best chance for parole.
rewdiazepam
If I remember correctly, Adam was sentenced to a MAXIMUM of 2 1/3 to 7 years.
No, Adam had no probation set at sentencing. Any "paper" time he serves will be on parole.
Since he is in the Shock Program, I am not sure how New York handles that, but I will try to find out for you. Give me a few days, and if you don't hear from me, message me to remind me.
rewdiazepam
I never went before a parole board, but I have a good idea what an inmate must do to make parole.
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