ABSTRACT
Probation is a sentencing option under both state and federal law that allows a defendant convicted of a criminal offense to avoid incarceration. Probation allows the probationer to remain in the community but requires the probationer to comply with conditions set by the judge at the time of sentencing. In United States v. Knights, 534 US 112, the Court held that probationers who accepted probation with such a condition had a diminished expectation of privacy and could be subject to searches based only on reasonable suspicion. Innovative programs aimed at probationers diagnosed with substance abuse and mental illness has encouraged judges to impose additional conditions of probation directing a probationer to cooperate with substance abuse or mental health treatment. A probationer's probation may only be modified or revoked after a judicial hearing. Probationers also have challenged, with mixed success, participation in treatment programs that required the probationers to state agreement with program goals.
