GA- More than 500 people have been banished from Houston County

Banishment, good punishment or bad? Did you ever really think about it, what does banishment do? Well, it forces the offender to stay away from your community, or said another way, it forces the offender to go commit crimes in another county! In other words, the offender is left with no one to monitor them, no one to make sure they are not committing further crimes. Finally, should a county force their problems on someone else? You decide....Is not in my back yard a good way of handling an offender?

4-3-2009 Georgia:

WARNER ROBINS — More than 500 people have been banished in Houston County since 1998 when the District Attorney’s Office started tracking this sentencing option.

Still, that’s about one out of every 60 cases, comparing the 500 banishments to more than 30,000 cases for the same time frame, said Houston County District Attorney Kelly Burke.

That’s important, Burke said, because banishment isn’t designed to push off Houston County’s criminals to other counties, or it would be used all the time.

Instead, it’s only used in Houston County when it makes sense, he said.

For example, the 500th person to be banished from Houston County was 38-year-old Michael Denton from Atlanta who drove down to forge a check, Burke said. Denton was sentenced to five years probation in addition to being ordered to stay out of Houston County, the prosecutor said.

“He actually came down here to do the crime,” Burke said. “That’s why he was banished.”

Keeping a person out of the county where the crime was committed during the probationary period may actually help the offender, Burke said.

For example, banishment disrupts the network of a drug abuser or dealer, breaking the cycles of addiction and the criminal activity of buying and selling, Burke said.

“I believe banishment really works,” Burke said. “It provides a chance to get your life straight while on probation.”

A USEFUL TOOL

In the case of domestic violence, often the victim doesn’t want the abuser to go to jail but to simply be left alone, Burke said.

Banishment gives the victim peace of mind that they can safely go to a restaurant or to a child’s soccer game without the offender showing up and claiming they didn’t know the victim was at the restaurant or the game — a common scenario that plays out in restraining orders, Burke said.

The offender is simply not allowed to be in Houston County, and ignoring that order can violate an offender’s probation and send them to jail, the prosecutor said.

Also, in many cases, the offender may be responsible for child support, Burke said. Locking the offender up prevents the offender from earning a living, which isn’t beneficial to the offender or the victim, Burke said.

In Houston County, a system was set up through 911 in which a banishment restriction pops up on an individual much like an outstanding warrant when an officer runs a criminal history, Burke said. Although banishment is a condition of sentencing imposed by the judge, most cases in Houston County are resolved through a negotiated plea among prosecutors and defense attorneys in which banishment is a part of that deal, Burke said.

UNIFORM GUIDELINES?

Jim Rockefeller, a criminal defense attorney in Warner Robins, said banishment can be a useful tool with someone who is involved in some sort of network of gang activity or drug dealers.

However, wholesale use of banishment would result in simply shuffling people around the state, he said.

Also, if wrongly used, banishment can set up a person for failure by cutting them off from positive networks such as families and jobs, Rockefeller said.

Rockefeller said he believes it would be appropriate for the state General Assembly to develop uniform guidelines on the use of banishment.

Another option that judges might consider would be requiring banishment consideration to be part of arguments during sentencing hearings, rather than part of negotiated pleas among prosecutors and defense attorneys, Rockefeller said.

RARE IN BIBB

In neighboring Bibb County, banishment is rare.

“We have done it a few times since I’ve been in office but not a whole lot,” Bibb County District Attorney Howard Simms said. “Some of our judges don’t like it.”

Simms said he also has problems himself with the enforceability of banishment and other issues it creates, such as with child custody.

Superior Court Judge S. Phillip Brown said there are some practical considerations of why banishment wouldn’t work on a broad-based approach or as a routine matter.

What about doctor’s appointments, for example?, Brown said.

His concern is that banishment may set up an offender for failure when the justice system should encourage success.

Banishment could actually restrict a person from keeping his life together, Brown said.

For example, if a truck driver couldn’t drive in Bibb County without breaking his probation, that would restrict his employment, or if a carpenter worked for a contractor who took a job in Bibb County, the carpenter would have to violate his probation or lose his job, Brown said.

“You’re really putting someone at a severe disadvantage,” Brown said. “We’re not there to make it unnecessarily rough.”

Former Superior Court Judge Bryant Culpepper, an attorney in Macon, agreed that enforcement would be difficult.

A person who is known in Bibb County is easier to keep track of than if that same person moves to another county where law enforcement and the courts aren’t familiar with him or her, he said.

“Just the management of people’s time and where they go gets to be a burden after a while,” Culpepper said. ..News Source.. by Becky Purser