PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Beth M. Huebner
AU  - Sarah K.S. Shannon
TI  - Private Probation Costs, Compliance, and the Proportionality of Punishment: Evidence from Georgia and Missouri
AID  - 10.7758/RSF.2022.8.1.08
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
PG  - 179--199
VI  - 8
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/1/179.short
4100  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/1/179.full
AB  - Probation is the most commonly imposed correctional sanction, is often accompanied by supplementary costs, and can be operated by the state or private companies. Private probation is a unique sanction used in lower courts, most often for misdemeanor offenses, and is managed by third-party actors. We focus on documenting the process and unique costs of private probation, including the rituals of compliance and proportionality of punishment. We use data from interviews with individuals on private probation and local criminal justice officials as well as evidence from court ethnographies in Georgia and Missouri. For individuals on private probation, payment of monetary sanctions is a crucial way of demonstrating compliance. Yet the financial burden of added costs for supervision and monitoring creates substantial challenges.