Michael Lohan is begging Judge Marsha Revel not to send his daughter to jail, but he's acknowledging that Lindsay's condition is desperate -- this according to a letter obtained by TMZ.


The letter, sent by Michael's lawyer, Lisa Bloom, asks the judge to make sure Lindsay's prescription drug use is carefully monitored.  According to Bloom, "Michael desperately wants to avoid seeing his daughter become the next Hollywood statistic."  

Bloom says Lindsay's 84 minutes in jail following her DUI conviction made L.A. County a "laughingstock of our criminal justice system."  Bloom says with the realities of jail overcrowding, jail is no place for someone like Lindsay -- for a misdemeanor probation violation.

Bloom and Michael want the judge to order Lindsay to inpatient rehab, preferably a private facility in New York that also provides family therapy.

In the event the judge does not find Lindsay in violation of her probation, Bloom is asking the judge to keep her SCRAM on.