The importance of probation and parole in the US CJ system (FOR SOLUTIONS PRO.) DUE TUESDAY NIGHT JULY 19TH

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The Evolution of the Federal Probation System

The following timeline highlights key historical events related to the federal probation system.

1925 President Calvin Coolidge signs the Probation Act of 1925, establishing probation as a sentence in the

federal courts.

1927 The first federal probation officer, Richard McSweeney, is appointed in the District of Massachusetts.

1930 Congress creates the National Parole Board and amends the Probation Act to give the responsibility of

supervising federal parolees to officers.

1937 The first issue of the scholarly journal Federal Probation is published.

1943 The first policy monograph, The Presentence Investigation Report, tells officers how to conduct

presentence investigations and prepare reports.

1946 Officers take on the duty of investigating the parole plans of Army and Air Force prisoners and

supervising them following their release from disciplinary barracks.

1950 A national training center is established in Chicago to provide officers with orientation and refresher

training.

1955 Officers form their own professional organization, the Federal Probation Officers Association.

1963 The Judicial Conference of the United States forms a permanent committee—the Committee on the

Administration of the Probation System—to address probation system issues.

1975 Pretrial services agencies are established as an experiment in ten districts. The Judicial Conference of

the United States adopts a policy that allows each district court to decide whether officers should carry

firearms.

1978 Congress gives the Director of the Administrative Office of the US Courts the authority to provide

contract aftercare treatment services to drug-dependent persons under probation system supervision.

1982 President Ronald Reagan signs the Pretrial Services Act, which authorizes expansion of pretrial

services to each district court.

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1984 The Bail Reform Act allows judges to consider danger to the community as a factor in deciding whether

to release or detain persons awaiting trial.

1986 The Sentencing Reform Act fundamentally changes the sentencing process in the federal courts.

1986 US Probation Officer Thomas Gahl (Southern District of Indiana) is killed in the line of duty.

1986 The home confinement program is launched in the federal courts.

1989 Most persons under supervision of federal probation officers are not sentenced to probation, but

sentenced to prison terms to be followed by community supervision.

1999 The Judicial Conference of the United States adopts a policy requiring updated background

investigations for officers and officer assistants.

2000 The Judicial Conference of the United States adopts a workplace drug testing program for officers and

officer assistants and a zero-tolerance policy for the use of controlled substances.

2001 Officers take on the responsibility of obtaining DNA samples from persons under their supervision who

have been convicted of certain crimes.

2002 The Judicial Conference of the United States adopts medical requirements and guidelines for officers

and officer assistants.

2005 A national training academy for new officers is established at the Federal Law Enforcement Training

Center (FLETC) in Charleston, South Carolina.

Reference: United States Court. (n.d.). Probation and pretrial services. Retrieved from http://www.uscourts.gov/federalcourts/ProbationPretrialServices/History.aspx

The Evolution of the Federal Probation System