Gov. Rell's Parolee Moratorium

I somehow think Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell is coming down too hard on the wrong people. After reading the article in The Hartford Courant, I wonder if it is not the Parole Board and Governor Rell herself that deserves censuring?

She made reference to the triple murder in Cheshire, as being part of the events that led to her decision. But as I recall that two parolees working together committed that crime, and that is in effect a reason they should not have been out of jail to commit that crime. Part of the conditions of a parole is to refrain from habituating with other known criminals, and apparently nobody, including the Parole Officers was paying attention to that fact.

Another event mentioned in the Courant was the crime trail of another parolee named James Biggs. According to the Courant, James Biggs was paroled three times in two years. The article states that Biggs was paroled after serving 11 years of a Twenty Year Sentence, and broke his parole and was sent back to prison, and was paroled again in six months. I had always thought if you broke parole you were sent back for the remainder of your original sentence? That fact in itself negates the idea of their being a Revolving Door for Parolees, but in fact would constitute a Roman Archway instead, as some of the Parolees might get hit by the Revolving Door and sue the Governor.

The Courant mentioned that fact that the Parole Board is so understaffed that each parole Officer has to deal with 60 parolees. Wouldn’t the state be better served if Gov Rell were to hire and train additional staff to get the situation under control, rather than penalize the existing parolees by canceling their earned rights and privileges?

To gain parole status most all prisoners have to have served a greater part of their sentence and conduct themselves in a manner that justifies their parole, and prove to the board that they are trying to better themselves and return to a law abiding way of life, and by taking that away from them, Gov. Rell is basically kicking them while they are down and convincing them that the “Outside World” does not care if they ever get a break.

I personally know of one such parolee, who since his parole has been holding a job, and is attending a Community College, (and recently had the highest test score in the class) to regain his place in society, but with the restrictions that Gov. Rell has placed on them, he will not be able to continue his strife towards a better way of life, and now looks at the possibility of a return to prison.

It seems to me that each case should be judged on it's own merit rather than everyone suffering for what one or in this case two have done. In the case of the person you mentioned in the last paragraph it appears that this person is trying very hard to make up for whatever they did and now make a life for themselves. From what i have read returning this person to prison would be cruel, unnecessary and would serve no good purpose.

On another subject what is the Governor's stance on the illegal immigration that is going on in this country. Is the Governor paying as much attention to the illegals that are certainly breaking the law as is being paid to parolees that are trying to make a life for themselves? If a person has served time and proven themself worthy of parole they had to be doing something right. I can not say the illegals are ever doing anything right because they broke our laws when they entered the country. Sounds like the Governor is letting the wrong group (illegals) walk the streets.

Gov. Rell's action puts today's problem off until tomorrow.
By halting paroles, prisoners will be released from incarceration and put on  probabtion, whereby law enforcement will have an address and perhaps a phone number and nothing more.

 Any opportunity to closely monitor a convict's reentry into society will be lost. Recidivism, or the pattern of returning to crime after lock-up, is closely related to the convict's ability to adapt to a productive life, i.e., convict's with GEDs and real job prospects are less likely to return to petty crime. 

 Also, depriving convicts of rewards for good behavior is a short sighted recipe for low moral and prison riots!