Probation and parole

John McMahon is a 25-year-old man who was recently convicted of possession of cocaine. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison, suspended on the condition that he serves 2 years on probation. Special conditions of probation include payment of a $500 fine, completion of any drug treatment program directed by the probation officer, and random drug testing as directed by the probation officer. During your initial interview with Mr. McMahon, you learn that he has a number of friends who are involved in the criminal justice system, and he has a history of alcohol and cocaine dependence that began when he was 17 years old. His drug abuse resulted in his failure to complete high school (he dropped out during his senior year), and he has never had any form of drug treatment. Mr. McMahon also reported that his father is an abusive alcoholic who has on occasion been physically abusive to his mother. To Mr. McMahon’s credit, he has maintained a job working as a laborer in the construction industry, where he works about 30 hours per week. He scores out as a moderate risk offender using the in-house risk assessment instrument.

Mr. McMahon initially adjusted well to probation under the terms that you established and implemented. Unfortunately, after 8 months of clear conduct, he has now committed several violations of his conditions of supervision. Specifically, he failed to report in as instructed 2 days ago, and his most recent drug test, administered yesterday, was positive for cocaine. He also admitted to consuming about 10 beers on the day that he failed to report, noting that he did not come to the probation office because he was intoxicated.

You have discussed Mr. McMahon’s case with your supervisor, and she agrees on your recommended course of action. She instructs you to inform the court of the violations that have been committed by Mr. McMahon in the form of a violation report, which will also include your recommendations. Your violation report should include the proper headings: “To,” “From,” “Date,” and “Re:.” The docket number and case file number should appear in the “Re:” section. Given what you know about Mr. McMahon, address the following in a Word document that is 750–900 words in length:

Create a formal violation report that provides the court with all of the necessary information. Your report should be addressed to Judge J. Stone of the Lynchburg Circuit Court, and it should include the following sections:

A narrative section for identifying information, which includes the original offense and disposition

A narrative section for the violation information, which will include a listing of conditions violated

A narrative section including your recommendations for the case

For the purpose of this assignment, Mr. McMahon’s court docket number is 12358, and his case file number is 34711. Base the time frame of the violations off of today’s date, and feel free to add detail to your memo, provided that it does not change the character of the alleged violations.

Format your report in the form of a letter to a Circuit Court Judge. Remember this is a legal document to be submitted to the court, so be mindful of your grammar, syntax, and tone.