Sentinel Offender Services will rue the day it first heard the name "Jack Long."
A judge reversed a woman's conviction and ordered a private probation company to give back $500 but declined to address the constitutional issues in Lisa Harrelson's habeas petition.
Sentinel Offenders Services, a for-profit private company that provides probation services for Richmond County State Court, also lost its counterbid to reopen a default judgment in Ms. Harrelson's petition.
In July 2007, after two days in jail, Ms. Harrelson pleaded guilty in State Court to driving under the influence of alcohol. She was sentenced to one year on probation. The judge also ordered her to pay $651 in fines and surcharges and a monthly probation fee of $35.
In an order signed Wednesday, Superior Court Chief Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet wrote that the state cannot prove Ms. Harrelson's guilty plea was voluntary because the court proceeding was not recorded.
He also noted that Ms. Harrelson's guilty plea to an offense she did not commit was another reason to question the legality of the conviction.
Sentinel was properly served and chose not to answer Ms. Harrelson's allegation, Judge Overstreet wrote. Therefore the default judgment will stand. He ordered Sentinel to return the $500 Ms. Harrelson paid.
Judge Overstreet declined to rule on the constitutionality of the $50 fee to apply for a public defender.
Ms. Harrelson's attorney, John Long, said that she was denied legal counsel because she didn't have $50 to pay the fee.
The judge also declined to address the legality of a private company's ability, through the State Court, to increase its fees by requesting that probationary terms run consecutively instead of concurrently.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
Sentinel Offender Services will rue the day it first heard the name "Jack Long."
I don't understand: "[Judge Overstreet] also noted that Ms. Harrelson's guilty plea to an offense she did not commit was another reason to question the legality of the conviction." How did the judge know that Ms. Harrelson did not drive under the influence?
Her tickets were for DUI of drugs. She pled to DUI of alcohol. The story could have included that information but apparently accurate reporting is just way too much work.
oh my...........
good for her !!!!!
so caslled justice has become a matter of big bucks.....nothing to do with what it should be
Now she can continue to drive drunk oh my!
Sentinel Offenders Services, a for-profit private company. "FOR PROFIT." why is this bunch of illegal legal thugs participating in justice anyway?
guess you better stay out of trouble justus.
All the private company is doing to managing what a JUDGE ruled!! They DO NOT pass judgements. Counties and Cities are too lax and lazy to follow up on the conviction. The money they collect goes to the court that passed sentence. They charge the chriminal a small monthly fee to provide their service to the court. These companies are saving YOU tax dollars.
Justice? hard to find in today's society.
justus4...i will refrain from my usual "beating" up on you, which is just for fun anyway, nothing personal, and agree with you. the problem is anything dealing with a human being is subjective. justice may be blind , but people are not. nowadays,private probation is a money maker. it's just plain wrong when the judge says, " here are my probation girls, they will set you you up to pay your fines and fees....like okay, they are at the court sitting there salivating over the day's receipts.....
I am sure she had to have more than $50 to pay Jack Long's bill...
great job jack long senitnel needs to be shut down anyway
Justass4, make sure you don't get a DUI as obviously, the Courts just don't like blacks, right?
Justass for fun, is Lisa Harrelson black or white? Was she under the influence of drugs or was it alcohol? And since the case, as you put it, wasn't brought by a "minority", how did you arrive at the conclusion it would have been a different adjudication if it HAD been a "minority"? PSST If she's white in Richmond County, she IS a minority. Has been for several years.
What Judge would not record a court case. Was it by accident or intentional? And Sentinel is nothing more than a money pit.
justass- why didn't you make a positive comment on the article about Joseph Conner saving the little girl. You never write anything positve. Seems like you'd have something good to say about Joseph.
Now that is some change we can believe in!!! We need such a liberal mind as his in the Augusta judiciary circuit! NOT... So when does Judge Overstreet retire?
incase you didn't know, the correctional industry is a money making business. from alternative sentencing to privately owned correctional institutions.
The corrupt correctional industry is not the point- it is the premise that justice is reserved for a few and not for the rest of us. Please, don't confuse the two; one is judicial, and the correctional industry is determined by the government (state). Unfortunately, they both seem to be corrupt.
That's part of what's wrong in Augusta. Why hire and pay another company to collect fines? Why are we doing this as a city and using our own employees and keeping all the proceeds from the fines? Same goes for the phone company who bilks families of those in jail by charging exhobitant fees for phone calls. Why are the families monetarily punished for having someone in jail? Who owns these businesses? I bet it is someone with city connections!
Just to enlighten you, justus4, the "black race" is NO LONGER A MINORITY; they are now a MAJORITY...so get off your racist bandwagon and get more in touch with the real world. As for corrections, this department should have never been privitized; many other states have found that private businesses in the correctional field do not work out because they cause more problems. Quite frankly, no government operation should go to the private sector; they are wasteful and, more often than not, more corrupt.
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