Dear Miss Lohan, thank you for all the legal
lessons your social life teaches the general public. The latest from Lindsay Lohan: she has been released from rehab and will now be under strict probation in an
outpatient rehab program that includes therapy and drug testing multiple times
per week—a break from the inpatient rehab program she was currently serving. If
Lohan violates any of the terms of her probation, the judge in the case warned
her that she
could be sent back to jail for up to 30 days. This will be the 5th
trip to rehab for the actress that has only been legal to drink for 3 years. Of
course never one to miss out on a business opportunity, before beginning the
jail sentence that started the rehab chain reaction, La Lohan signed a seven-figure
tell all about her life.
Now for the everyday legal lesson at play
here....why you shouldn’t violate the terms of your probation. Probation is
a form of sentencing that allows the offender to avoid (or lessen) jail
time but still remain under legal supervision. In the case of Lohan, moving
from an inpatient to outpatient rehab will allow her to continue working as
well as regain some of her personal freedom. LegalMatch offers some scary consequences
for probation violation, including: modifying the terms of probation to reflect
a stricter sentence, fines, or a reinstatement of the original jail time. In
addition to getting into some major trouble for a probation violation, the
violation itself is often a separate offense that can carry its own punishment.
Some probation violations can be appealed, as can the terms of the probation if something comes up; but the bottom line is that probation is a favor that a judge does for an offender and they do not take the violations very lightly. I think that probation is an excellent way for the courts to let an offender assimilate back into society and still maintain supervision of the individual. Hopefully the good behavior that a probation sentence demands of an individual will continue long after the terms have been fulfilled. As for Lindsay Lohan, let’s hope the fifth time is a charm!
By: Violet Petran
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