The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Statistically it is a not-so-well-known fact that offenders that commit crimes such as murder are actually less likely to return to jail than nonviolent offenders. Nevertheless, after completing their sentences and coming to terms with their crimes, they are still wasting away in New York State gulags. Time and again the parole board fails to weigh all of the relevant statutory factors together with the prisoner's positive accomplishments and productive behavior while incarcerated. Instead, the parole board focuses almost entirely on the nature of the petitioner's crime.
A case in point is the story of John Valverde, a 36-year-old Queens man who recently was denied parole for his third consecutive time. He has already served 15 years of a 10- to 30-year sentence for ending the life of a freelance photographer, Joel Schoenfeld, a 47-year-old West Village photographer with a history of enticing young female models to his studio and sexually assaulting them. In 1991, Schoenfeld raped his 19-year-old model girlfriend. After unsuccessfully seeking help from the police - powerless to act without the brutalized and traumatized victim coming forward - John Valverde, then a 21-year-old student, confronted Schoenfeld. The ensuing argument turned violent and John shot and killed Schoenfeld. The single bullet fired that night changed not only John's life forever but also that of his family. His mother, brother and sister have fought endlessly to free John and themselves from the nightmare of his continuing ordeal behind bars.
John regrets the act he committed ending the life of an individual who took the honor away his former girlfriend many years ago. I know this because I was with John during his time of remorsefulness at Sing Sing prison when I was serving a 15-to-life sentence under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. In 1995, we both graduated from the New York Theological Seminary. Despite the negative environment that surrounded him, John managed to transcend the prison experience by finding purpose in his life through helping others. He taught religion, volunteered as a tutor for men who could not read, and worked with AIDS patients.
The hard time John served in a maximum security prison transformed him from the 21-year-old boy who had made the biggest mistake of his life into a man who now understands the horror of his crime. Apparently all inconsequential in the view of the parole board, which offered the following reasoning in John's case: "The violence displayed in this crime outweighs everything else."
Why are violent offenders, who seem to be ready to return to society, being hit by the parole board on a continuous basis? The answer is simple. Politicians and parole officials are afraid of granting parole to violent prisoners out of fear of falling from grace in the eyes of the public. Recently, the New York Parole Commissioner was demoted from his position by Governor Pataki after causing and uproar with the release a high-profile offender involved in the murder of two upstate police officers.
If we look at the history of why violent offenders are routinely denied parole we can see how it could have evolved out of the cash incentives for new prison construction given by the federal government to states that ended parole for violent offenders in 1994 under the (VOI/TIS) Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. This law was devised to give states fiscal incentives to build prisons if they in turn enacted laws that result in violent offenders serving 85% of their sentences. Grants were made available for states to build more prisons coupled with an effective end to parole. From 1996 to 2000, New York State received around $200 million under this Act.
On April 20, family and friends of John Valverde will gather in front of the Albany Supreme Court in New York to rally on John's behalf, and in support of overturning the parole board's latest denial. We are calling on Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who represents the parole board, to look into the totality of facts in this case so John and his family may receive proper judicial relief.
It is time for the parole board to free model prisoners like John Valverde. We cannot minimize the seriousness of the crime he committed but neither can we minimize the tragedy of his plight to regain his freedom. He is just one of many individuals who have paid their debt to society for the crimes they committed but kept in prison because of the "Politics of Incarceration."
Anthony Papa is a communications specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance.

HispanicsAcrossAmerica
For Immediate Release
April 16, 2007
***Media Alert***

Rally to Free John Valverde!!!
Powerful NY Parole Board Refuses To Grant Model Inmate Freedom
Mateo Questions Increasing, Unjustified Denials for Eligible, Deserving Inmates

Fernando Mateo, President of Hispanics Across America, will hold a press conference and rally to call for the release of prisoner John Valverde, a model inmate who has been serving over 14 years behind bars for ending the life of a serial rapist. John’s immediate family, including brother Frank Valverde, as well as numerous friends and supporters will be driving up from New York City to join the rally.

“In the interest of justice, we need to seriously examine New York State’s parole system. We are concerned that John, like so many other inmates, is receiving pre-determined blanket parole denials without a fair and comprehensive hearing. He was a kid with no criminal background who committed a tragic act in a moment of desperate rage. He has given over 14 years of his life to the State in exchange. He has met all the requirements for parole and then some and poses no threat to society. And still, he is behind bars at the cost of taxpayer dollars. The time for this madness to end must be now.”

WHO: Fernando Mateo, President Hispanics Across America
Valverde Family: Frank Valverde (brother), Florence Valverde (mother), Adriana Valverde (sister), Jesenia Valverde (sister)
Numerous Friends, Supporters

WHAT: Rally and Press Conference
(**That morning the Court will be hearing John’s request for judicial review of the Parole Board's most recent denial.**)

WHEN: Friday, April 20th 2007.
Rally Begins at 2pm p.m.

WHERE: In front of the Albany Supreme Court
16 Eagle Street, Albany, NY 12207

WHY: The system of parole was designed with individuals like John in mind. But despite his impeccable record, he has been denied parole three times and will have served 16 years in prison before having another opportunity for parole.

Over the years, thousands of people, including community leaders, former parole board members, and elected officials, have called for John’s parole. The Parole Board has stated that John is not a threat to society and solely rested its most recent denial on the severity of John’s crime - something he can not change.

BACKGROUND on JOHN VALVERDE:

In brief, John a young college student with no criminal history, ended the life of a Manhattan serial rapist known as the “Beast of West Street”. This man had raped John’s girlfriend, in addition to numerous other women. After going to the police on four separate occasions and being told there was nothing they could do, John confronted the offender on his own, and in a moment of rage, shot and killed the rapist.

During the trial, the jury acquitted John of murder, finding that he acted under extreme emotional distress. Instead of murder, John was convicted of manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon. John was sentenced to ten to 30 years in prison.

At the ten year mark, John was eligible for parole, as long as he met all the standards outlined in Executive Law 259-i and displayed remorse, responsibility, redemption and rehabilitation. It seems that few have fulfilled the requirements of the Executive Law in a more exemplary fashion than John.

John has accepted responsibility for his heinous actions and is genuinely remorseful for what he has done. The Parole Board has stated that John is a model inmate. He has an unblemished disciplinary record. In prison, John has earned a paralegal certificate, a Bachelors degree from Mercy College and a Masters degree from the New York Theological Seminary, served as an HIV/AIDS peer counselor and a theology instructor, gained acceptance into CUNY law school twice, and completed numerous training and leadership programs.

John is currently serving at the Green Haven Correctional Facility, the Annex, in Stormville, New York.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-papa/the-politics-of-incarcera_b_46224.html