Delaware’s 2003 Probation Reform Law
Impact on Administration of Justice

The Problem …
Over the past 20 years in Delaware …

Evolving sentencing practices
resulted in changes in
the ways that probationers can be
violated and sanctioned
yielding
a very large increase in probation populations and the number of probations being violated for jail and prison terms.

“Probation terms were so long that too many offenders were being violated for ‘technical’ violations.”

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A Planned Solution …
The 2003 Delaware Probation Reform Law

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Compliance
with the Probation Reform Law is High

Compliance
With the Probation Reform Law is High

Wishful Thinking and Spurious Results Initially, the decrease in the probation population was attributed to the Probation Reform Act

The association between the Probation Reform Act and the decrease in the immediate probation population is spurious because…

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