<P> Probation first developed in the United States when John Augustus , a Boston cobbler , persuaded a judge in the Boston Police Court in 1841 to give him custody of a convicted offender , a `` drunkard , '' for a brief period and then helped the man to appear rehabilitated by the time of sentencing . Even earlier , the practice of suspending a sentence was used as early as 1830 in Boston , Massachusetts , and became widespread in U.S. courts , although there was no statutory provision for such a practice . At first , judges , most notably Peter Oxenbridge Thatcher of Boston , used `` release on recognizance '' or bail and simply refrained from taking any further action . In 1878 the mayor of Boston had hired a former police officer , the ironically named `` Captain Savage , '' to become what many recognize as the first official probation officer . By the mid-19th century , however , many Federal Courts were using a judicial reprieve to suspend sentence , and this posed a legal question . In 1916 , the United States Supreme Court , in the Killets Decision , held that a Federal Judge ( Killets ) was without power to suspend a sentence indefinitely . This decision led to the passing of the National Probation Act of 1925 , thereby , allowing courts to suspend the imposition of incarceration and place an offender on probation . Probation developed from the efforts of a philanthropist , John Augustus , who looked for ways to rehabilitate the behavior of criminals . </P>
<P> Probation first developed in the United States when John Augustus , a Boston cobbler , persuaded a judge in the Boston Police Court in 1841 to give him custody of a convicted offender , a `` drunkard , '' for a brief period and then helped the man to appear rehabilitated by the time of sentencing . Even earlier , the practice of suspending a sentence was used as early as 1830 in Boston , Massachusetts , and became widespread in U.S. courts , although there was no statutory provision for such a practice . At first , judges , most notably Peter Oxenbridge Thatcher of Boston , used `` release on recognizance '' or bail and simply refrained from taking any further action . In 1878 the mayor of Boston had hired a former police officer , the ironically named `` Captain Savage , '' to become what many recognize as the first official probation officer . By the mid-19th century , however , many Federal Courts were using a judicial reprieve to suspend sentence , and this posed a legal question . In 1916 , the United States Supreme Court , in the Killets Decision , held that a Federal Judge ( Killets ) was without power to suspend a sentence indefinitely . This decision led to the passing of the National Probation Act of 1925 , thereby , allowing courts to suspend the imposition of incarceration and place an offender on probation . Probation developed from the efforts of a philanthropist , John Augustus , who looked for ways to rehabilitate the behavior of criminals . </P>
the concept of probation began in 1841 in
the concept of probation began in 1841 in
Boston
Boston