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Article: House Arrest
- Article from:
- West's Encyclopedia of American Law
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HOUSE ARREST
Confinement to one's home or another specified location instead of incarceration in a jail or prison.
House arrest has been used since ancient times as an alternative to criminal imprisonment, often imposed upon people who either were too powerful or too influential to be placed in an actual prison. Hereditary rulers, religious leaders, and political figures, whose imprisonment might spur a revolt by loyalists, would be confined to their homes where they could live comfortably and safely but without any influence. House arrest does not always lessen its victims' influence, however. Aung San Suu Kyi, a political leader from Myanmar, was placed under house arrest from ...