A Tennessee appeals court on Tuesday said a key prong of Gov. Bill Haslam's overhaul of the state's probation system was unconstitutional because it violates defendants' rights and encroaches on judicial authority in criminal matters.
Haslam pushed the changes in 2016 as part of the wide-ranging Public Safety Act. That portion of the law, which aimed to shrink the prison population, gave probation officers the power to dole out punishments — like addiction treatment or community service — to defendants who violated probation.
The goal, according to the Haslam administration, was to stop sending people to prison for low-level probation violations like failure to pay fines or missing an appointment. As a result, those probation violations would be considered by probation officers, not the court system.
But the Criminal Court of Appeals said the General Assembly had "impermissibly encroached upon the judicial powers of the courts" by passing the law.
The appeals court also said the portion of the law changing the probation system "falls woefully short" of providing due process for defendants, who would not be able to challenge new punishments in court with an attorney.
