My question is, is this an [explicit and implicit written stipulation] in the courts orders sentencing the person?

Both have their pro's and con's but, and depending on individual aspects involved, it would appear that going back to prison is the lesser of two evils.

I would definitely look at all the pros and cons of that decision. Rew has stated that he opted to stay in prison, so when he was released, he wouldn't be subject to parole.

My fiance is on lifetime probation, and I asked him what his response to this would be.

He said he would do it. He was in for a year and a half, and since he's already been in once, another two years would be worth not dealing with probation any more. The hassles he deals with, the being constantly checked up on, the job insecurity (due to field/home visits, taking time off for meetings), the monthly cost for probation is worth the two years. Because those two years would suck, but he would have more of his life back.

My fiance is young as well. He may be able to get off of probation eventually (our hopes aren't high), but two years would be worth not having to spend the rest of his life dealing with this.

I had 3 years of probation (supervised release), I violated for breaking a rule after 1 year. The judge offered me 6 months in prison (then being free of all obligations) or 3 more years of supervised release. I chose prison. I was pretty happy with my choice.

I would go back to prison for a few years to avoid any kind of lifetime supervision.

In two years he would be out of prison and would only have the registry to contend with.


If he goes back to prison------------------

He would have no monthly probation or parole fees. No court ordered therapy fees either. He would still have to pay his court ordered fines and restitution, but no therapy fees.

He would also receive some good time credits and would not serve the entire two years anyway.

No more surprise visits by a PO at odd hours where he can come into your house and do a search without a warrant. Nor a PO that is an egomaniac and attempts to make life unbearable.

No longer living under the thumb of a PO.

No more polygraphs or therapists to deal with.

Certainly no GPS to worry about.

No silly parole or probation restrictions. If there are no state residency laws after his release he can live where he wants and there will be no probation officer to tell him he cannot live with his children.

No curfews or weekly itineraries to fill out.

With just two years to go he would be at a minimum security prison, which is much like just being in the Army. Nobody gets hurt at a lower security prison since everyone is close to their release date; nobody is willing to risk getting their release date pushed back up to a year for assaulting another inmate. So there is no fear of being hurt.

I could go on and on.......

Prison at a minimum security prison is not difficult at all. Yes, the food is barely edible; yes, the other inmates are filthy and unpleasant to be around; yes, your freedoms are taken away; yes, you will lose personal contact with your family.

The trick is getting in there, getting a job you like, building up a daily routine, and minding your own business-----and make your own happiness.

People have this idea that prison is like you see on TV and in the movies with inmates running about stabbing and raping each other 24/7. Yes, that CAN happen at a medium, but not on a daily basis. And I NEVER saw anything like that at a minimum security facility.

I talk to mothers, wives, and GFs who have loved ones on probation. I hear all the horror stories and I think to myself, "My God, that is worse than prison."

A two year trade off to be fee of lifetime supervision should not even be a question. I would do it in an instant.

Two years is only 730 days; lifetime supervision is FOREVER.

rewdiazepam

Before I actually went to prison, it was the scariest thing in the world. I could do it again if I had to, I don't want to mind you. But, if the trade-off was no life-time supervision I could do it again.

I agree with rew wholeheartedly. Probation isn't tough if your PO is decent. But god forbid you get a jerk PO and they can make your life miserable. The problem when I was on probation is I kept on getting different POs for one reason or another. Some were okay, some were terrible. All it takes is one PO to take a bad interest in you and they will try and ruin you.

If it's a low security prison id do it.

I want to thank everyone for their input, more than a few people in group have told him the same thing. He had spent 7 years in prison, he said he was just so ready to get out that he took the probation which I am not really sure how they did that to him. He came from out of state, when I am in group this week I and the others including the therapist will speak more about this to him. He seems that is what he might do per our phone conversation. I would just hate to tell someone the wrong thing, but in the end it will be up to him. Thanks again.

Regards

buildingupslow

I knew a young man that did this exact thing. He struggled for several years with all the probation crapola in FL - got technical violation (the GPS, losing his job, etc.) - he had to see a judge (who always tossed the violations but it was always very stressful) - so the judge offered him a deal like this and he did it .... he is now off probation and things seem somewhat stable ....

Would anyone say the same if it were 15 years instead of life?

I accepted a plea bargain because my public defender advised me to never gamble more than I was willing to lose, and was I willing to lose months of my life to prison? Part of my plea bargain was 3 years of probation. Not unlike a previous poster, my first PO worked with me well enough. Then I got a new one. I managed to last 3 months before I went back to court and asked for my suspended sentence to be overturned. Probation was that awful with the new PO. So, in my case, prison seemed a better option at the time - but, I really think that the new PO would have found a way to violate me anyway. I simply took the option away from her before she could get it done.

Probation can be incredibly difficult or not so bad. The only thing that changed with mine was the PO. There is no easy answer to this question.

Can you find out how much time out of the 2 years he would actually have to serve? I think that would be my deciding factor. If it is 50%, it seems like a no brainer. Like man y said here, with lifetime probation, you are bound to get a bad PO who will try to violate you, and you would end up doing your time anyways. Even with a decent PO, the constant hassles, meetings, visits, ploys, etc would become unbearable. Would he be eligible for early termination of probation? Maybe your attorney can chime in. Ultimately, it will be up to the person who will do the time either in prison or in the virtual prison (probation). Let us know what he decides to do.

The question was asked, "What if the probation was for only 10 years instead of life. Would you go back to prison for two years in that situation?"

I would, but I am in a much different situation than most folks. I have already been to prison once and know my way around, so that would help. Prison does not bother me.

But there are other variables other folks would have to consider. If I were in a relationship, I would not be as agreeable to go back to prison to erase the probation or parole. If I was married that would be a HUGE factor, as I would be hesitant to voluntarily go back to prison and leave a wife to struggle on her own, and if I had small children, I don't know if I would EVER go back to erase a lifetime parole. In fact, if I had small children or children at home, I almost know I would not volunteer to go back to prison. I would try to make parole work.

Also, if I had a great job, which paid well and I liked out here, I would be much more likely to ride out the parole rather than go back to prison

If I had children, I would probably stay on parole and find a way so that I could either get the parole or probation modified at some point in the future or hope that I could do so well on parole that I only had to report once a month with the minimal restrictions.

There are a lot of factors to consider and the offender would have to take his loved one's situation in consideration if he decided to go back to prison.

The reason it would be an easy decision for me is that my kids are grown, I am not married or in a serious relationship, and both of my elderly parents passed on recently.
It would probably be different for most folks here.

rewdaizepam