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The first veto of the governor of the governor shows an obligation to reform the judiciary

The first veto of the governor of the governor shows an obligation to reform the judiciary

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Bill Lee's first veto follows his commitment to the reform of justice about the re -entry success of 2021, which limited the consideration of “seriousness of the crime”.

Ben Raybin
| Guest columnist

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  • The governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, made against a legislative template that would have made it possible for the board of probation to refuse the release exclusively on the “seriousness of the crime”.
  • The legislation would have reversed the progress of the Reentry Success Act of 2021, which limited the “severity of crime” to the most hideous crimes.
  • The refusal of probation, which is based on the seriousness of the crime, is superfluous and punishes inmates unfairly with proven rehabilitation and low risk of relapse.

Governor Bill Lee should be welcomed for his courage to spend his first veto with a small bill that could have had great consequences.

The proposed law would have allowed the board of probation to refuse the release for legitimate occupants exclusively due to the “seriousness of the crime” and regardless of their rehabilitation or risk of recurrent. This would have increased state expenditure on housing mats without public security benefiting.

The seriousness of the crime should only be considered when convicted

As a lawyer, I represented clients in probation listings and in court when punishments are imposed. Most people expect the authorization to be granted if they stay out of difficulties and take all classes and programs they can while being detained. But the “severity of the crime” factor enables the probation committee to refuse the release, regardless of how well the person did in prison.

This “counts” twice the facts of the underlying crime. After all, this information informed the perpetrator's sentence and a possible permission to probation. Criminals can be entitled to probation at a certain point in time Because the relative seriousness of the crime, not anyway.

But if the “severity of the crime” factor is part of the reasons listed from which the probation can be rejected, the probation authority must observe it. I saw how offenders contested probation, although they have had no disciplinary problems since their last hearing, which is completely at the discretion of probation at the discretion of probation.

More: Probation in Tennessee less and less often than grants, the number of hearings falls again

The Probation Act previously aimed at probation law took the “seriousness of the crime” into account in the event of probation decisions for all convictions, including non -violent drug crimes. Under the leadership of governor Lee, the factor was adequately restricted by the re -entry success of 2021 and was only allowed to apply for the most hideous crimes such as murder and human trafficking. The proposed change would have led us back by removing this restriction.

The refusal of probation of the deserved occupants costs money and discourages rehabilitation

If the legislator believes that some crimes are too serious after a few years to earn the publication of probation, you can change this through increasing length or probation authorization or refuse to authorize overall. You have done exactly that in recent years.

We all want to see a reduction in crime and relapses. It makes sense that the reward of good behavior in prison will promote these goals prematurely, since most of the legitimate criminals are released anyway. In contrast, I have not seen any evidence that criminals will probably commit new crimes if they serve more time in prisons based exclusively on previous facts and regardless of a proven improvement.

Through his veto, Governor Lee has once again reflected his commitment to being “intelligent in relation to crimes”. In his last term I hope that the legislator will work with him to further promote public security.

Ben Raybin is a lawyer at Raybin & Weissman, PC. He mainly practices in criminal defense, Gnüsen and civil rights right.

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