Pubdate: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL) Copyright: 2004 St. Petersburg Times Contact: http://connect.sptimes.com/contactus/letterstoeditor.html Website: http://www.sptimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419 Author: Robert Batey Note: Robert Batey, professor, Stetson University College of Law, St. Petersburg and leader of local FAMM chapter. PROBATION HAS SUCCESS STORIES, TOO Re: The problem with probation. The group of articles published on June 13 on probation in Florida was edifying, but one-sided. Your coverage, especially the three sidebars on specific offenders, emphasized repeat probation violators with a history of violent crime. These cases surely represent failures of the probation system. But your own statistics indicate that of the nearly 200,000 men and women on probation in Florida, about 120,000 have no violations. These cases are the arguable successes of Florida's probation system, people who made a serious mistake but are trying to mend their ways. More mention of them would have balanced your reporting. As a lifelong student of criminal justice, I fear that such one-sided stories will fuel a simplistic wish to "get tough" on probation violators, by passing draconian legislation that ties the hands of sentencing judges. This kind of legislation might prevent cases like those you featured in your coverage - but how many of the 120,000 success stories would it also prevent? Robert Batey, professor, Stetson University College of Law, St. Petersburg - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin