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Judge seeking employment options for felony probationers

Austin District Judge Charlie Baird believes probation works better than prison for many offenders, but says the key for their success is getting and keeping a job. Reports Steven Kreytak at the Austin Statesman ("Judge takes active role in lives of probationers," Aug. 13):Judge Charlie Baird says that for the more than 1,800 people on probation in his court to turn their lives around and stay out of jail, they need a job. But getting one is not easy for people with criminal records, said Baird, a second-year state district judge in Travis County who thinks, sometimes to the dismay of prosecutors, that probation, and not prison, is appropriate in many cases. Baird last week began the county's first in-court effort to link people on probation with counselors who could help them find jobs...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on August 13, 2008 (boomark / email).