How this Senate bill would reform parole, probation in Delaware

The Delaware Senate will likely vote this month, if not sooner, on a bill first introduced over a year ago that would reform the state’s parole and probation.

Senate Bill 4, first introduced by Sen. Marie Pinkney in March 2023, aimed to make parole and probation rules more lenient to reduce arrests and give greater access to records for people in prison.

Discussions among legislators last session resulted in a revised bill that was recently placed in the Senate Finance Committee, titled Senate Substitute 2 for Senate Bill 4, which enacts various reforms centered on creating a parole and probation system “more focused on helping people meet the conditions of their court-ordered state supervision than imposing unjustly punitive and arbitrary rules most likely to result in additional prison sentences.”

The revised bill includes a baseline requirement in Delaware’s criminal code directing the courts, the Board of Parole, and probation and parole officers “to impose the least restrictive conditions and minimally intrusive reporting requirements necessary to achieve the goals of community supervision,” according to the Senate Majority Caucus.

Pinkney, who chairs the Senate Corrections & Public Safety Committee, said most people think that once someone completes their prison sentence, they can “walk out free.” The reality is, she said, the “last day of detention is often just the start of a lengthy maze full of complicated hurdles and inflexible rules that many people feel are impossible to navigate.”

BACKGROUND: Delaware's probation system is making reentry harder, activists say. Here's their fix

There are about 4,500 people incarcerated in the state of Delaware and roughly 10,000 people are under probation supervision, according to the state Department of Correction’s annual report from 2022, the latest available.

Pickney said in a news release that the current system is returning 1 out of 3 people on probation to incarceration, mostly for minor rule violations rather than new crimes committed.

“The legislation we are introducing today will help restore sanity to Delaware’s probation and parole system by recognizing a difference between petty infractions and willful violations, by preventing excessive fines from being used as a tool of retribution, and by giving community corrections officers greater flexibility to use their judgment and offer second chances to people facing circumstances beyond their control,” she said.

What else would the bill do?

The bill prohibits courts and probation and parole from banning a person on probation “from using or possessing alcohol or drugs, or requiring an individual on probation to be subject to testing for alcohol or drug use” unless use or possession is “reasonably related to the criminogenic needs of the individual.”

It also removes the requirement that people on probation and parole get permission before getting married.

READ THE LATEST VERSION OF THE BILL

The bill was revised during last year’s legislative session and was placed in the Senate Finance Committee on April 29 for consideration.

Reform bill gets ACLU support

Members of the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware's Smart Justice campaign applauded the legislation and called for lawmakers’ support of the bill.

The advocacy organization stressed that Delaware’s current probation system does not consider the “varied circumstances each individual faces” after release, which results in many people failing to complete their probation sentences.

MORE: Despite stark disparities for Black prisoners, Delaware leaders say change is possible

“Repeatedly incarcerating people for small technical violations creates a revolving door between probation and prison that undermines rehabilitation efforts and increases Delaware’s high incarceration rates,” said Vonda Smack, ACLU-DE campaign manager, in a news release. “People who are doing their best to get back on their feet shouldn’t be sent back to prison when they have already served their original sentence and haven’t committed any new crimes or posed any risk to anyone.”

Supporters also noted how the bill will address racial disparities in the probation system. Black Delawareans make up only 23% of the general population, but make up 48% of those on probation, according to ACLU-DE.

“We want to see more people successfully reenter our Delaware communities, but that requires a system that actually sets people on probation up to succeed,” said Javonne Rich, ACLU-DE policy & advocacy director, in the release.

Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries at afries@delawareonline.com, or call or text her at 302-598-5507. Follow her on X at @mandy_fries.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware Senate to consider revised parole, probation reform bill