Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

Section 3802.

CHAPTER 38.-POST-SENTENCE ADMINISTRATION

Chapter 38 consists of five subchapters which cover the administration of the possible sentences imposed under chapters 21, 22, 23, and 24. Subchapter A provides for the appointment of probation officers and sets forth their duties. In addition, it provides for special probation and expungement procedures for drug possessors. Subchapter B covers the payment and collection of fines which may be imposed under chapter 22. Subchapter C sets forth the procedures governing those persons sentenced to a prison term. Subchapter D provides for parole and the procedures governing parole. Finally, subchapter E provides for the administration of the death sentence in those cases where the death sentence is imposed.

SUBCHAPTER A.-PROBATION

(Sections 3801-3807)

This subchapter, for the most part, carries forward current law concerning the implementation of the sentence of probation provided for in chapter 21. It describes the duties of the Federal courts, probation officers, and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts with respect to the appointment of probation officers and the supervision of probationers.

SECTION 3801. SUPERVISION OF PROBATION

Section 3801 requires that a person sentenced to a term of probation under chapter 21 be supervised by a probation officer to the degree warranted by the conditions of probation. Present law does not explicitly state that all supervision of probationers shall be by a probation officer nor does it specifically permit variations in the degree of supervision.

SECTION 3802. APPOINTMENT OF PROBATION OFFICERS

Section 3802 is largely derived from 18 U.S.C. 3654. Subsection (a) requires each district court of the United States to appoint suitable and qualified persons to serve as probation officers under the direction of the court, and permits the court, in its discretion, to remove a probation officer. Under existing law, the court is authorized, rather than required, to appoint probation officers since the original reason for enacting probation legislation was to grant the courts the power to suspend

Section 3803.

Section 3804.

Section 3805.

sentences and appoint probation officers which the courts had sought to exercise without specific authority.1 Existing law also provides that probation officers be "suitable" but does not include the requirement that they be "qualified" by training or background to be probation officers.

Section 3802(b) carries forward the existing provision concerning the order of appointment of a probation officer.

Subsection (c) carries forward the existing provision permitting designation of a chief probation officer by a court to direct the work of all probation officers serving the court.

The existing provision concerning service without compensation has been omitted as obsolete. The Congress had originally anticipated substantial reliance on volunteers and State probation officers,2 a reliance which is no longer practicable in light of the extensive use of probation officers by the Federal courts.

SECTION 3803. DUTIES OF PROBATION OFFICERS

Section 3803 carries forward the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 3655 relating to the duties of probation officers with respect to supervision of probationers and parolees and the keeping of records and making of reports. The section includes a specific requirement not in current law that the probation officer be responsible for supervision of any probationer known to be within the judicial district in order to clarify supervisory authority over probationers transferred into his district or temporarily present in the district. The section also provides that the probation officers will perform duties with respect to parolees as directed by the Parole Commission rather than by the Attorney General as under current law. This change is made in keeping with the increased independence of the Parole Commission under the new chapter 39 of title 28, United States Code.

SECTION 3804. DUTIES OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF UNITED STATES COURTS AS TO PROBATION

This section carries forward the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 3656 relating to the general supervision and administrative direction of probation officers by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The section amends existing law to require that the Administrative Office make recommendations concerning the probation system to the Judicial Conference of the United States and to the Congress rather than to the individual judges. The requirement for making such recommendations is implicit in 28 U.S.C. 604 (a) (3) and (4).

SECTION 3805. TRANSPORTATION OF A PROBATIONER

This section carries forward the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 4283 relating to a court order directing a United States marshal to transport a person placed on probation to the place where he is required to go as a

1 See H. Rept. No. 1377, 68th Cong., 2nd Sess. (1925), p. 1.

• Id. at 5.

Section 3806.

Section 3807.

Section 3808.

condition of probation. Under existing law, the court may order subsistence expenses for the probationer while traveling to his destination, not to exceed thirty dollars. Section 3805 would not specify a limitation on the amount of subsistence which could be paid, but would permit adequate flexibility in the setting of reasonable subsistence payments.

SECTION 3806. TRANSFER OF JURISDICTION OVER A PROBATIONER

Section 3806 is derived from the provision in 18 U.S.C. 3653 permitting transfer of jurisdiction over a probationer to another district court if that court concurs in the transfer. Under existing law, the court acquiring jurisdiction of the probationer could not change the period of probation without consent of the sentencing court. This restriction is eliminated under section 3806 in order to permit the court acquiring jurisdiction over the probationer to exercise the same functions with respect to a transferred probationer as it could with respect to a person it had sentenced. Section 3806 also relates only to transfers to another district as a condition of probation in order to make it clear that the procedure is required only where the locality in which the probationer resides is made a condition of probation. Nevertheless, under section 3603 (d) a probation officer is responsible for the supervision of any probationer found in his district even if jurisdiction over the probationer lies in another judicial district.

SECTION 3807. ARREST AND RETURN OF A PROBATIONER

Section 3807 continues the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 3653 which authorize the arrest and return of a probationer to the court having jurisdiction over him when there has been a violation of a condition of probation. The Committee intends that any probationer arrested for violation of a condition of probation be returned to the district in which he is being supervised even if the arrest is in a different district. The provisions of 18 U.S.C. 3653 concerning issuance of a warrant, authority of a probation officer to arrest with or without a warrant, and revocation of probation and reimposition of sentence for probation violations are covered in section 3016 (Federal Probation Service) and in Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (Presentence Reports).

SECTION 3808. SPECIAL PROBATION AND EXPUNGEMENT PROCEDURES FOR DRUG POSSESSORS

Section 3807 carries forward the provisions of 21 U.S.C. 844 relating to special probation for first offenders found guilty of violating section 1813 (possessing drugs) if there has been no previous conviction of an offense under a Federal or State law relating to controlled substances. The section also permits expungement of records for persons placed on probation under the section if they were under the age of twenty-one at the time of the offense and did not violate a condition of probation. Technical amendments were made in the section to conform 21 U.S.C. 844 references and terminology to that of the new Criminal Code.

Section 3812.

SUBCHAPTER B.-FINES

(Sections 3811-3813)

This subchapter is designed to increase the efficiency with which the government collects fines assessed against criminal defendants.1 Present law, 18 U.S.C. 3565, provides that criminal fine judgments "may be enforced by execution against the property of the defendant in like manner as judgments in civil cases." Thus, the Federal government is greatly confined by State law, and must litigate in order to collect a fine from an uncooperative defendant. These relatively cumbersome procedures have resulted in less than successful collection efforts by the United States. The consequent awareness by criminal defendants that they may be able to avoid paying fines with relative impunity bodes ill for respect for the law.

Subchapter B attempts to remedy this situation by treating criminal fine judgments as tax liens for collection purposes, thereby making available the summary collection procedures used by the Internal Revenue Service. Foremost among these is the power to administratively levy against the property of the defendant, which permits realization of the amount of the fine without litigation.

SECTION 3811. PAYMENT OF A FINE

Section 3811 provides for the payment of a fine imposed under chapter 22 to the clerk of the sentencing court, to be forwarded to the United States Treasury for credit to the Criminal Victim Compensation Fund established by section 4111. The Committee believes that it is fitting and proper that criminal fines be used to finance the fund set up to compensate victims of crime. Restitution, in whatever form, and even if not done voluntarily, as here, may nevertheless be a step towards rehabilitation.

The section requires either immediate payment or payment by the time and method specified by the sentencing court. This latter provision is in recognition of the authorization granted the court by section 2202(b) to permit payment of a fine in specified installments.

SECTION 3812. COLLECTION OF AN UNPAID FINE

Section 3812 requires the sentencing court to provide the Attorney General with certain certified information regarding unpaid fines. The Attorney General is then made responsible for collection of those fines. This retains the basic current law that vests the duty of collecting fines in the Attorney General.

1 For a comprehensive discussion on collecting and paying fines and penalties, see testimony of William T. Plumb, Jr., Hearings, pp. 1709-1732.

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »