The Shadow
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Prisoner advocates are hopeful that Gov. Bob McDonnell’s decision to replace Virginia’s parole board will increase the number of inmates who are granted early release.
With an average of 6 percent, Virginia has one of the nation’s lowest rates of parole approval.
Lawmakers abolished parole in 1995, but about 6,000 of Virginia’s more than 30,000 prisoners were incarcerated before then and are eligible for parole.
While most of the new appointees announced late last week are former prosecutors and law enforcement officials, advocates hope McDonnell’s focus on prisoners returning to society will translate into more favorable rulings, especially those who have been model inmates for decades.
“I think the proof will be in the pudding,” said Steve Northup, a Richmond attorney who filed suit against the parole board last year. “There are a lot of people in the system right now who should have been sent home a long time ago.”
Northup filed suit on behalf of 11 inmates who have been eligible for parole for more than a decade, each with exemplary prison records despite the violent nature of their crimes. The lawsuit accused the board of unfairly denying parole based solely on the crime.
A federal judge dismissed the case in October, saying there is no constitutional or inherent right for someone to be released from prison early. Attorneys for the prisoners asked the judge to reconsider, but that request was turned down Tuesday.
About three out of four parole-eligible inmates are serving time for violent offenses. From 2002-2008, the parole rate for those convicted of violent offenses ranged from 3.7 percent to 2.1 percent.
Advocates argue the state is spending more than $150 million each year to house parole-eligible inmates – money that could be better spent on helping them start a life outside of prison.
McDonnell, a Republican and former prosecutor and Attorney General, has made prisoner re-entry one of his top priorities since taking office last year. McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said the governor chose members who understand that philosophy.
“The governor believes in justice for all, second chances and the rule of law,” Martin said.
Bill Muse will replace Helen Fahey, a former federal prosecutor, as chairman of the board. Muse had worked in the attorney general’s office since 1985 and was a senior assistant attorney general in the correctional litigation section handling lawsuits from prisoners.
Karen Brown, a former prosecutor in Newport News and Chesapeake with a focus on child abuse and sexual assault cases, will serve as vice chairman. Brown is the board’s mandated victim representative. Her brother was murdered in 1993.
McDonnell also appointed two part-time members: Minor Stone, a former longtime police officer who owns a Virginia Beach tourism business; and Rita Angelone, a former Department of Criminal Justice Services employee and wife of former corrections chief Ron Angelone, who was the source of many of the system’s get-tough policies of the 1990s.
Trudy Harris, a retired state trooper and police science professor, will serve as a part-time investigator. Michael Hawes, an environmental consulting and real estate company president, will remain on the board during the transition.
Muse and other board members did not want to comment for the story, and parole board officials referred all questions to the governor’s office.
Jean Auldridge, head of the Virginia chapter of Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants, said advocates are concerned about the makeup of the board, but have been pleased so far with McDonnell’s efforts.
“We hope and pray that these law enforcement people will understand where the families of prisoners are coming from, that they’ve been in a long, long, long time,” she said.
Advocates would like to see the board do in-person reviews with the prisoners. Currently, an examiner interviews the inmate and reports to the board, which never hears from the inmate directly.
Janet Taylor has worked with prison advocates for years and had signed numerous petitions seeking changes to the board. She was optimistic.
“I’m going to think positively about it,” she said. “But I’m not above saying I told you so.”
