Tom has a serious and expensive drug addiction. He is twenty years old with no prior felony convictions. He committed a string of burglaries and has pleaded guilty to three cases involving burglaries of homes. He now stands before the judge, awaiting his sentence. If you were the judge, what punishment would you prescribe? Probation? Prison? Or something in between?

Tom’s case is a real one. The Alabama judge before whom Tom appeared gave him a split sentence of five years, the first four to be served on probation and the fifth in the penitentiary. At the end of the four-year probation period, assuming good conduct, Tom may petition the court to suspend the remainder of his sentence. As a special condition of his probation, Tom must pay restitution to his victims, continue to participate in the drug counseling he has already begun; complete four hours of community service a week for a year; and obtain a GED (high school equivalency diploma).

By imposing this sentence, which was drafted with the active involvement of one of Tom’s victims, the court stated that it sought to achieve four objectives:

1. place Tom in a position to pay restitution to his victims;

2. allow him a chance to further rehabilitate himself from his drug addiction;

3. test the sincerity of his commitment to live within the law;

4. punish him for the burglaries he committed.