Parole Rules in the United States: Conditions of Parole in Historical Perspective, 1956–2020

Abstract

This article reports the results of our census of standard conditions of parole throughout the United States in 2020. Using in vivo qualitative content analysis, we coded standard conditions of parole for each of the United States’ 52 jurisdictions into categories that follow the model of the previous five censuses. Comparing our census with the previous five, we outlined the ways the standard conditions of parole have expanded significantly across the last 7 decades. Through this analysis, we identified four trends in the evolution of parole: the ever-expanding reach of technology in parole management, the increasing prevalence of fees and restitution imposed upon people on parole, a dramatic rise in the overall number of standard conditions, and an emergence of conditions related to reentry and rehabilitation.