The Star downloaded a copy of a massive database maintained by the Missouri Department of Corrections. It contains names, charges, sentence lengths and other details on criminals who have served time in a Missouri prison or have been under the supervision of probation officers.

The possibility of redemption and reform, without the necessity of prison, has rested at the heart of the U.S. probation movement since its beginning.

U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple made these remarks on Jackson County justice during a sentencing hearing in February 2008.