Uncle Sam's Parole System
Convict Getting "Another Chance" Faces I
Maximum Re-Sentence for Violation
By THADDEUS A. DAVIS
Chief Parole Officer of the
Southern Federal Pacific
Coast District
(as told to Gerald B. Burtnett)
WITH the blind goddess Jus
tice sharpening her teeth
for another bite into the golden
apple of crime and racketeering;
with the United States Depart
ment of Justice not content to rest
upon its laurels but going out to
earn new ones; with states and
counties and cities looking upon
their law enforcement agencies
in a new light; it looks like a hard
spring and summer and fall for
crime..
But after they have caught the
jriminals, what then? Will they,
In the words of the old song,
"walk right in and turn around
and walk right out again"?
In some states the parole and
probation laws have become crea
tures of political jobbery that
have made honest lawyers, prose
cutors and judges shudder with
dismay.
The cop on the beat has made
his arrest, the district attorney
has gained his conviction and the
judge pronounced his sentence
only to see a hardened criminal
slide out from under payment of
the penalty by the machinations
of underworld politicians in ca
hoots with special pleaders before
conniving parole boards.
It is a fact that in the Pacific
Coast states some henious crimes,
including wanton murder of peace
officers, have been committed re
cently by paroled criminals. No
person of humanitarian Instincts
has a quarrel with the principles
of probation or parole. Many do
question the practices as they read
in daily papers of paroled crimi
nals of the most vicious type
turning back to their old ways a
few days after leaving prison
with terms but partly served. .
BUT there Is a new side to the
parole story today. The Fed
eral government, which has shown
the way to strict enforcement of
kidnaping and anti-racketeering
laws, has also shown that it is
possible to make probation and
parole a new deal and a fair deal
to both the defendant before its
courts and the public.
Only two per cent of the men
and women who were granted pro-'
batlon. in the Federal courts last
year violated their trust. Just 31
persons went back on their agree
ment out of 1413 on the proba
tioners' list. Parolees, of whom
there were'about 200 under super
vision of our office in the South
ern district of California, also
kept to the two per cent record.
Compared with figures for cities,
counties and the state this record
Is phenomenal. It did not just h ip
pen, either. It came about throigh
the most systematic method of
investigation and constant check
ing in use anywhere today.
The secret of Fedcml probation
and parole success in our district
lies in a newly-devised "rehabili
tation committee" which began to
function this year. The only one
of iU kind in the country, this
committee plan was worked out
by myself and assistants, Mrs.
Alice Allen, second woman to be
appointed probation officer in the
Federal system; Calvin H. Mea
dor. and Fred T. Purdy, well
known in Los Angeles for his 20
years of relief work direction for
Masonic lodges.
Practically every city, town and
village in the counties from the
Mexican line to Mono, Mariposa,
Merced and San Luis Obispo on
the North has one or two mem
bers of the rehabilitation commit
tee living in it. They have been
selected, after rigid investigation,
to look after the welfare of proba
tioners and parolees in their com
munities. They are not paid, in
money, but they are repaid in
human values for devoting their
time unstintingly to the restora
tion of men and women to a self
respecting place in society.
THE professional criminal
dreads facing a Federal "rap."
He knows from long observation
that violators of Federal laws pay
the full penalty for their crimes
True there is time off for good be
havior, as much as three months
a year if he lives up to the letter
of the law in the penitentiary and
he may get a "210" or good time
parole.
But there is a Joker in the Fed
eral probation laws that appears
when the probationer signs his
papers. A very succinct sentence
reads, "At any time within the
period of your probation, OR
WITHIN THE MAXIMUM PE
RIOD FOR WHICH YOU MIGHT
ORIGINALLY HAVE BEEN
SENTENCED FOR THE OF
FENSE FOR WHICH YOU
WERE CONVICTED, the Court
may, for cause, Impose the sen
tence which it might have im
posed in the first Instance."
In other words, If a man might
have been sentenced for 50 years
but was sentenced only for 10 and
actually served only 5, in prison
with B years probation to follow,
at any time in the next 35 years,
even though he fulfills his pro
bationary period satisfactorily, he
is subject to the sharp teeth of
the law should he re-enter crimi
nal pursuits.
To have a Damoclean sword
like that hanging suspended over
you by the slender thread of keep
ing on the straight-and-narrow
path is a crime deterrent that has
proven eminently satisfactory.
THE Federal probation officer
handles two distinct types of
offenders, the one who has paid
and the one who has earned an
other chance from the judge. In
1934 the Judges for the southern
district listened to the plea. "Give
me another chance," and granted
it 410 times.
These probationers go back to
their home towns where they are
visited frequently by members of
the rehabilitation committee and
probation officers from Los An
geles. No cursory visit, these fre
quent Inspections make sure that
the offender is employed, living
In good surroundings and asso
ciating with the right persons.
The story of the probationer Is
checked and re-checekd through
disinterested sources.
It is seldom that one hears of
a Federal parolee being picked up
for committing another crime. In
the first place, application for
parole from a Federal peniten
tiary are probably mora closely
scrutinized than those of any
other penal Institution. Not only
a man's prison record but every
known fact of his previous life
is studied. Special Investigations
are made to bring the data up to
fey?l ,x . :;
Under a new system of constant
per cent has been set. These photos show two of the Federal prisons but from Alcatraz Island,
In San Francisco Bay, upper left, there Is neither escape nor parole. McNeil's Island, Puget Sound,
shown In the upper right, Is not so severe, however, and men frequently are granted probation.
But it's probation with a grim joker attached, according to Thaddeus A. Davis, chief parole officer
of the southern Federal Pacific Coast district, shown In the upper center photo.
WHEN the iron doors clang shut behind a prisoner on bleak Alcatraz Island, the fed
eral penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, they close for the duration of his sentence.
For only the most vicious of Uncle Sam's convicts are condemned to Alcatraz the Al
Capones and the "Machine Gun" Kelleys and others of their ilk and the chances of
parole are slim indeed. However, with his less desperate criminals, those who are quar
tered at McNeil's Island, the other federal island prison in Piget Sound, and in Leaven
worth and Atlanta, Uncle Sam gives them opportunity to gain their freedom ahead of
the expiration of their sentence if they are model prisoners. The. remarkable record of
this federal parole system a system that is 98 per cent efficient and the method by
which it operates, is told in this story by Thaddeus E. Davis, the man who heads the
work in one of the federal districts of the Pacific Coast.
date. Then, provided everything
is in order, the parole is granted
when it has been earned by serv
ync the Camera Caught It!
One of a Series of the World's Most Unusual News Photographs
Hi!"
n
L
Luckily the cameraman wss "on deck" to estch a wsttr-speut as It swooped dramatically out of
the tea less than 500 yards from tht U. . . Pittsburgh, orulscr of the United StaUs fleet
checKing of paroled Federal prisoners, a new high mark of
ing the required period of time.
The type of criminal sent to
Alcatraz Island in San Francisco
'I , '"I -
Proves
98
Bay has little or no chance of
parole. Only the moat desperate
and vicious types filter through
98 Efficient
Federal Committee Keeps Constant Check
On Those Released; Job Is Necessary
the Federal penal system to Al
catraz and there they will serve
their full sentences. But from Mc
Neil's Island, Leavenworth and
Atlanta come many parolees.
One of the conditions of parole
la that a man have a job.
There are several business In
stitutions that prefer paroled
men and men on probation to the
ordinary man they might pick up
anywhere. They reason, these em
ployers, that a man who has
made a first mistake is not so
liable to make a second one.
Henry Ford is one of the largest
employers of parolees and has
had uniformly good results with
them.
THE depression period was very
hard on paroled men who
were trying to make good. Many
lost their jobs.
Fewer paroles are granted from
Federal Institutions than others.
Only genuine merit rates a Fed
eral parole. Politics, or having
friends in the right places, gains
no paroles from Uncle Sam. Un
der the southern district system,
with its far-flung network of su
pervisors in every municipality,
Federal offenders are the most
closely supervised of all, and due
to the stringent terms of parole,
violations are made certain of
bringing prompt punishment.
The parole and probation office
here is one of the biggest jobs of
Its kind in the United States. Our
district embraces 90,000 square
miles with 3,500,000 inhabitants.
In these 17 counties thore are
parolees in almost every commu
nity. A veritable melting pot of the
world, this district includes almost
every nationality. The Mexican
border offers rlchewards for the
smuggler of aliens, liquor and
narcotics. The many Indian res
ervations encourage Illicit gains
from the sale of liquor to the red
man. The mountains and desert
offer splendid hideaways for
criminal activities. But the proba
tion officers carry on, beating the
handicap of the great area to be
covered by the new committee
system.
FOR the man who reasons with
figures here is some convinc
ing proof of the way probation
and parole save money for the
taxpayer. It coats 325,000 to
transport 100 Federal prisoners
from Los Angeles to McNeil's
Island and maintain them for one
year. '
If they possess salvage value,
that same 100 can be supervised
and made into self-supporting
and law-abiding citizens under
probation or parole at a coat of
14000.
Nationally, Federal probation
has salvaged more than 00 per
cent of those entrusted to Us
care. In this district the record
was 97 per cent in 1933 and 98
per cent In 1934.
My philosophy in the handling
of the first offender who la placed
In my care after serving a prison
sentence, or before Incarceration
If the Judge so decides, u! summed
up In this way:
There are no first offenders in
real truth. Few of tis have not at
soma Urns violated some section
or statute of law. The only reason
we are not now In the felon class
Is that ws wots not caught
It is we!! In dealing with the
other fellow not to lose sight of
some of our own misdeeds.
Federal probation is still in its
Infancy. It has been an activity
of the Department of Justice only
since 1929. Yet so rapid has been
ita growth and so startling Its
success that those who were Its
chief opponents are now loudest
in Its praises.
Just Some Old
SpanishCustoms
BACK from a three-year trip
that took him Into all quar
ters of the globe, Fred Weybrot,
former Salinas, Calif., publisher,
says he found In Spain the Ideal
place to live. He spent two win
ters there.
"Of course," he adds, "there
are some things about Spanish
customs that are a little difficult
for an American to get used to.
The elevators, for example, only
run up. If you want to get down,
you walk. As near as I could find
out, there Is no good reason tor
It merely habit
"By no stretch of the Imagina
tion could a Spanish elevator
operator be inveigled into carry
ing baggage or deliveries of any
kind on his elevator. No, sir! If
you came home with a package
from the grocery, or a ton of
coal from the coal-yard, you had
to pack It up the stops.
"And the markets! Spain cer
tainly has gone the limit in the
trend toward specialization. One
market may carry beef, but If
you happen to want pork for din
ner, you will have to go to a pork
market. Chickens are handled In
still another market and, by the
way, every part of a chicken ia
used for the trade. Chicken blood
is a high delicacy, and the fowl
are very carefully held over a
bowl to catch the blood when they
are killed."
Weybrct found that nobody In
8paln breaks his neck in hla
hurry to accomplish things. "U
not today, tomorrow or the naxt
day" seems to be the national
motto.
"Movies and the opera do not
begin until 10 or 11 o'clock at
night," he said. "Practically the
whole country sleeps late In the
morning. At noon they close their
shops for lunch, after which they
take a siesta, or nap. Probably
three hours later they will re
open their places for the after
noon's business If any.
"In the apartment we had
rented, a water faucet sprung a
leak. I notified the portier that
we vould like to have It fixed im
mediately. " 'I will notify the manager as
quickly as possible,' she replied.
'But tomorrow is a holiday, the
next day Is Sunday, Monday Is
another holiday, and so he will
get my letter on Tuesday. He will
notify the plumber on Wednesday
and the plumber will be here
promptly on Thursday to fix it
for you!" As a matter of fact, the
plumber did not arrive for eight
days. In the meantime I had gone
out and purchased a pair of
cheap pliers and fixed it myself
In about ten minutes."
Yes, Weybret says he likes
Spain. But he came back to the
United States to live.
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