Closing Session: Slowing Down the Revolving Door
Overview:
Growing consensus among practitioners, policymakers, and the public suggests far too many people are under correctional control in the United States. While many large-scale initiatives have targeted the reduction of jail and prison populations, there remains a significant gap in reform related to community supervision. Community supervision is designed as an incarceration alternative, yet revocation rates among people are alarmingly high, with revocations a significant driver of jail and prison admissions.
This session will examine the reduction of revocations from both the practitioner and the judicial perspectives. Judge Karen Friedman (ret.) will share scenarios that will address who needs and does not need to be revoked. Probation chiefs from three agencies that are participating in an Arnold Ventures initiative referred to as “Reducing Revocation Challenge” will discuss specific revocation reduction strategies they have implemented within their jurisdictions to reduce revocations based on technical violations. Judge Pat Sebesta (ret.) will look at the reduction of revocation on a national level.
Learning Objectives:
As a result of attending this session, participants will:
• Recognize the roles practitioners and judge’s play in the revocation process
• Recognize the need to examine their agency’s practices on technical violations that lead to revocations
• Consider internal agency-specific policy modifications that may impact clients being revoked
Closing Session Speakers
Judge Karen Friedman (ret)
Karen Friedman joined the Bureau of Justice Assistance as a presidential appointee to the newly created position of Director of Criminal Justice Innovation, Development, and Engagement.
Karen comes to the BJA after serving over 20 years as a member of the Maryland judiciary sitting in Baltimore. In that capacity, she served on every level of trial court and completed her service on the Baltimore City Circuit Court, the highest trial court in the state. She headed Baltimore’s Drug Treatment Court and sat on the judiciary’s Equal Justice Commission’s Sentencing Subcommittee.
Karen is known in Baltimore for her expertise on the intersection of criminal justice with behavioral health as well as for her innovative approach to sentencing and probation. She is looking forward to using the wealth of knowledge gained on the bench in Baltimore to help improve the lives of those affected by the criminal justice system.
Fernando Giraldo
Fernando Giraldo is the Chief Probation Officer for the Santa Cruz County Probation Department and has been with the Department since 1995. He oversees Adult and Pretrial Services, Juvenile Services, and the Juvenile Institution. Mr. Giraldo has a master’s degree in Social Work from San Jose State University, California and holds a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies from The University of California, Santa Cruz. Fernando is the son of immigrant parents, who came to U.S. from Colombia, South America.
Throughout his career at Probation, Fernando has led collaborative efforts to bring nearly $30 million dollars in competitive grant funding to the County of Santa Cruz to improve services for the criminal justice involved population. These dollars have helped transform service delivery and led to the development of success centers, expanded collaborative courts, diversion opportunities and supervision and pretrial services.
Fernando currently serves on several local and state Boards. In 2016, Mr. Giraldo was appointed by California State Governor Jerry Brown to the California Sex Offender Management Board and currently serves as the Chair. Fernando also serves on the Board of United Way, Santa Cruz as the Chair.
Troy Hatfield. M.S.
With over 25 years of experience in community supervision, Troy Hatfield currently serves as Deputy Chief Probation Officer for the Monroe Circuit Court Probation Department in Indiana. He oversees adult and juvenile probation, the court alcohol and drug program, and coordinates research activities for the department. Hatfield is the current President of the Probation Officers Professional Association of Indiana and in this capacity serves as a member of Indiana’s Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council. He is also a member of the National Institute of Corrections Pretrial Executive Network and participates as a member of the Pretrial Release Committee for the Judicial Conference of Indiana, where he chairs the Pretrial Data Subcommittee that establishes pretrial performance and outcome measures for the State of Indiana.
Edward Hauck
Edward Hauck is the Research and Evaluation Supervisor for Ramsey County Community Corrections. With twenty years of experience in the government and non-profit sectors, he provides expertise in the areas of program evaluation, data collection, quantitative and qualitative analysis, performance and outcome measurement, and data systems. He manages multiple criminal justice related research and evaluation projects both within his department and throughout the county. He holds a master’s degree in political science from Fordham University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Puget Sound.
David F. Sanders
David F. Sanders is currently the chief probation officer for the Adult Probation Department of the Superior Court in Pima County, Arizona, having been appointed to the position in January 2003. From 1992 - 2003 he served as chief probation officer for the United States District Court, District of Nevada. Mr. Sanders also has two decades of experience as a case-carrying probation officer, and he holds a master’s degree in corrections. He has represented Arizona probation departments as a member of the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission since 2007.
Judge Pat Sebasta (ret)
Pat Sebesta is the retired Judge of the 239th Judicial District Court and the former Judge of County Court at Law No. 2 of Brazoria County, Texas.
Judge Sebesta is the founding member of the Pat Sebesta Law Firm, PLLC. where he continues to make his imprint on the practice of law – both as a highly regarded lawyer, a seasoned counselor, and a credentialed mediator/arbitrator – in the service of clients and the community at large. During his 24 years as a trial judge, he presided over 700 jury trials, hundreds of non-jury matters, and thousands of ancillary matters in Brazoria County — both civil and criminal, that covered all areas of law from simple to complex litigation.
Judge Sebesta entered the practice of law in 1993 as a prosecutor with the Brazoria County District Attorney’s office, and for several years thereafter worked as a trial attorney in private practice in Angleton. In 1999, he was elected as Judge of the County Court at Law No. 2 and Probate of Brazoria County, Texas, a position in which he served for four years. In 2003, he was elected as Judge of the 239th District Court of Brazoria County, Texas. He was re-elected to five successive terms serving 20 years as a District Judge.
Judge Sebesta’s practice is concentrated in complex litigation, litigation management/consulting, commercial litigation, personal injury, toxic tort litigation, and products liability. He is a credentialed mediator, arbitrator, and special master.
