The Problem of the Electronic Prison Bracelet

The electronic bracelet is the size of a large diving watch, and most people opt for an ankle strap. For the sake of discretion, women abandon dresses and skirts, and men forego shorts. At home, a telephone line is needed to install the monitoring box. And for each day of their sentence, they are bound by the timetable defined in the judge's order. Subway, work, sleep for the week, and on Saturdays and Sundays, in most cases, the person has three hours in which to leave the house.In France, the electronic bracelet is intended for people sentenced to less than a year, for prisoners with less than a year left on their sentence and, since June 2000, for certain remand prisoners. "It's a static measure: you have to be at home at certain times. Consequently, it's not a question of controlling the person's movements", stresses Sylvie Marion, head of the "insertion and probation" department.