Single Father Suing For Three Weeks Unlawful Imprisonment for Violations of a Probation That Had Already Ended
Has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit
According to Department of Justice statistics there were more than four million American adults on probation as of 2010. Here's what that looks like sometimes, via the Albuquerque Journal:
[Francisco] Franco was sentenced to a year of probation in 2012 after being convicted of a misdemeanor attempted breaking and entering charge and a petty misdemeanor criminal damage to property charge, according to court documents.
His probation was then ended March 7, according to the documents, but no one apparently bothered to tell Franco, who continued showing up for supervision and drug tests, Dixon said.
"Somebody tells him to show up, he shows up," Dixon said.
Franco then possibly tested positive for cocaine during a June 5 drug screening, and police also arrived at a Portales home in response to a domestic dispute allegedly involving Franco and his brother. Both Franco and his brother were drunk when police arrived, according to a police report, and no one was arrested.
Both the positive drug test and the domestic dispute are grounds for revoking probation, so probation officer Peel, who had also signed off on his probation discharge, asked for a bench warrant to send Franco back to jail.
The fact that Franco, the single father of a five-month-old girl, was no longer on probation only came to light at the arraignment hearing after he'd spent three weeks in jail and lost his job. Franco's filed a federal civil rights lawsuit for the alleged unlawful imprisonment.
Why jail people when you can "supervise" them and then send them to jail for violating the terms of their probation instead of committing an actual crime? That employs a lot more people.
