MI- Barbara Levine: Learn the facts about parole process

7-5-2009 Michigan:

With controversial prison closures nearing and more prisoners being released, Derek Melot's June 30 column addressed the importance of telling the public who is being paroled. It noted the Oakland County prosecutor's request for a list of prisoners who will be considered this year. The public's information should include the following points:

• Parole is not "early" release. It can only occur after the minimum sentence, which is commonly the product of plea negotiations with the prosecutor, has been served.

• Roughly 13,000 people were granted parole in both 2007 and 2008. But thousands also were denied for 12, 18 or 24 months at a time (11,700 in 2007 and 9,600 in 2008).

• The parole process is not changing. People who have served their minimums sentences are merely being reconsidered six or eight months earlier than scheduled. Many will still be denied release.

• "Get tough" policies, begun after 1992 and aimed at those convicted of assaultive and sex offenses, have turned our prisons into warehouses for people who have served the sentences judges imposed.

Ironically, we are denying release to the least dangerous prisoners because we confuse the seriousness of past harm with the risk of a future crime. Substantial research shows that assaultive and sex offenders have very low recidivism rates. They rarely return to prison for new crimes against people.

Research also shows that sheer length of time served has no relationship to re-offense rates. Once people have been punished appropriately, keeping them another year or two or three generally has little impact on future success.

Before a prisoner is paroled, the county prosecutor, local police and registered victims are notified. If the board receives new negative information, the parole is stopped.

Even though prisoners can no longer appeal denials of parole, prosecutors and victims can appeal a decision to grant parole to the courts.

The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office has reviewed parole grants for years and voiced opposition to particular releases. The parole status of every prisoner can be viewed online by anyone through OTIS, the Offender Tracking Information System.

Parole decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis. People who have served the minimum term imposed by the courts, conformed to prison rules, completed required programs and score favorably on validated risk assessment instruments should be paroled.

Prosecutors and victims have ample opportunity for input on individual cases if the Parole Board decides to proceed. Giving 83 prosecutors a list of 23,000 prisoners who will be considered each year, so that prosecutors can second-guess the board in advance, would complicate the board's already difficult job, consume a great many resources and add nothing to public safety.

The problem in the past has been too few paroles of eligible people, not too many. Fear-mongering has caused our prisons to grow far larger than necessary, at great cost to both prisoners and taxpayers. It should not be allowed to interfere with responsible efforts to control corrections spending and free up resources desperately needed for other state services. ..Source.. by Barbara Levine