If Maine wants to help prevent violence against women while potentially reducing the cost the state’s jail system, it should consider legalizing electronic monitoring devices that track offenders as they move about their community.
If instituted responsibly, the ankle bracelets would give judges an additional option besides making someone pay a fine or serve jail time. Depending on the situation, the devices could be ordered for people who otherwise would be in jail as they await their trial, have been convicted or are still considered a threat after serving their sentence.
States differ on how they implement their electronic monitoring laws, but having the option is key. Maine should take seriously its current opportunity to review the benefits and drawbacks of the rules elsewhere and then develop its own law. The devices are worn by about 100,000 people in the U.S. and 60,000 people in the United Kingdom.
Gov. Paul LePage recently agreed to match with contingency money an $18,000 donation in order to fund a task force to look into electronic monitoring devices, bringing the total for the study to about $36,000. The private donation came from the proceeds of a 5K race in Dexter held in memory of Amy Bagley Lake and her children, Coty and Monica, who were murdered by Lake’s estranged husband.
The outpouring of local support for the research of tracking devices should be a signal to lawmakers that people want meaningful change. Input from a number of groups and state departments will be needed, including the Department of Public Safety, Department of Corrections, Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, Maine Civil Liberties Union, the attorney general’s office and Maine State Police.
Ultimately Maine will need to decide what type of device will work best in urban and rural areas, whether offenders should have to pay for the devices, in what circumstances they should be offered, how much work will be created for surveillance officers and how anticipated savings will impact jail staff. It will be important to ensure that the system does not create a false sense of security for victims, who should be fully educated about how the process works.
Electronic monitoring can be paired with home detention to reduce or eliminate the amount of time certain offenders spend in jail. They may be allowed to work and therefore contribute to society. A 2006 study found the devices also avert additional crimes, with monitored offenders 94.7 percent less likely to commit a new offense than offenders who were not monitored.
The overall cost of the devices will depend on how many are used, but they are a cheaper alternative to jail. The price per person per day to have a monitor is $4.50, according to Houston-based Satellite Tracking of People LLC, which sells devices in every state but Maine and three others. It costs roughly $150 per day to house one general-population inmate.
Rep. Ken Fredette, R-Newport, proposed a bill to legalize electronic monitoring last session, but it was defeated in committee when LePage’s bill to amend the bail code was introduced. But Fredette plans to submit another bill, based on the findings of the task force’s study. It’s a worthy effort.
It’s not just violence against women, although the majority of reported instances are. We have had a number of cases of brutal violence against men in Maine, and certainly much more that never gets reported because ” real men don’t report that stuff ..” Let’s eliminate the sexist assumption that men are the root of all domestic evil and just work to stop domestic violence of all stripes.
Looks like an “equal opportunity” policy to me. Granted, not all domestic violence is committed by men, but most of the cases are. Don’t have the stats off-hand, and they’ll vary somewhat from place to place, but several times more are committed by men.
Oh, and many women often don’t report violence against them, tragically until it’s often too late.
That would be a great idea if it wasn’t unconstitutional. No court should be permitted to deprive a suspect of their right to privacy or their liberty to move about without Due Process of Law. This IS what the jails are for. To keep violent offenders off the streets.
Recent trends in higher bail amounts have already demonstrated its ability to keep violent offenders in jail as they await their trials. Let’s refine that idea before we go chipping away at the Constitution.
Bad idea. Penalizing the accused is supposed to come after conviction, not before. If he/she is a clear danger to someone else, keep him/her in jail at the state’s expense: that protects the endangered party but gives the state an incentive not to abuse the practice – and to provide a speedy trial.
“Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law” can certainly be overdone – strictly applied, it would keep anyone from being held before trial – but that hasn’t been the tendency lately and this proposal, presuming guilt as it does, looks like more of the same.
I have to agree with the statements below. Women abuse men to. But most men just feel stupid if they go to these angencies complaining about the abuse. Then in some cases the women just flat out make up abuse and file for protection orders to try hand get what they want out of the guys. I know my ex-wife is trying to do it right now in Bangor,Maine. Funny thing is that the places like Spruce run speed money before they actually find out the true facts wether the women was actually abused.
Brilliant idea folks, the piece of paper that says restraining order does nothing to prevent anything. Putting someone out on bail does nothing.
Harsher sentences and keep them in the cell period and serve their time.
Go ahead Maine, waste more time and money.
Can’t believe most of the comments. Hopefully, isolated anecdotes. Got a gripe against Spruce Run? I wonder why.
Check out the statistics in an article in the print edition of today’s BDN (couldn’t find it online). Victims of domestic violence: 85:15 women:men. Every 9 seconds a woman in the US is beaten by an intimate or former partner. More on percentage distribution of both female and male victims. Medical care stats. Buy one and read.