Shock probation is the US legal policy by which a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

orders a convicted offender to

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

for a short time, and then suspends the remainder of the sentence in favor of

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

. It is hoped that the initial experience of prison will provide an effective deterrent to

recidivism Recidivism (; from 'recurring', derived from 'again' and 'to fall') is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been trained to Extinction (psycholo ...

. In shock probation, a convicted offender is sentenced to prison and starts serving their sentence. After three to six months, the judge re-sentences the prisoner to probation, and the prisoner is released under supervision. Shock probation is usually considered when a

prisoner A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...

is a first-time offender and a judge believes, given the circumstances of the case, that the prisoner has a chance at reform which may be enhanced by being released. Shock probation is not used in all

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

s. In states where it is used, shock probation is at the discretion of the

References

See also