Asheville Citizen-Times: State has to keep a close watch on problems in the probation system

Editorial
February 2, 2010

Gov. Bev Perdue entered office with a full plate of neglected issues that needed to be addressed, a plate that immediately became much more complicated by budget woes brought on by a free-falling economy.

One area of state government crying out for improvements that fell under the governor’s attention was the probation system.

Problems with the system were painfully highlighted in March 2008, when UNC Chapel Hill student body President Eve Carson was killed by two men who were on probation. One, Lawrence Lovette, never had a meeting with his probation officer. The other, Demario Atwater, hadn’t been contacted by probation officers for almost a year. Lovette was also charged in the death of Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato.

Last year, more deadly glitches in the system were revealed as Patrick Burris, who was on supervised probation, killed five people in six days in a terror spree around Gaffney, S.C. Burris had been cited for curfew violations and had missed meetings with his probation officer. A decision to revoke his release had been reached, and a warrant for his arrest was issued June 12, but he remained loose and started his deadly spree. Police killed Burris on July 6 while investigating a Gastonia break-in.

Finally, there was the tragic case of the abuse and death of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis. According to police, Davis was sold into sex slavery by her own mother. The man facing rape, kidnapping and murder charges in the case, Mario Andrette McNeill, had a rap sheet a mile long but seemingly enjoyed a swinging door from prison to supervised and unsupervised probation despite charges that included shootings, drug crimes and assaulting a police officer.

A News & Observer of Raleigh series in late 2008 showed 580 probationers had been convicted of killings from 2000-08 and that the state probation system had lost track of 14,000 convicted criminals. …

Budget crisis or no, this is something the state has to get right. Too many people are simply slipping through the cracks of the system, and the results are intolerable.

The roll call that includes Eve Carson and Shaniya Davis is unacceptable. We certainly can’t let it get any longer.

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