The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Releasing James Biggs, also known as Jimmy Lee Biggs III, was a gamble the parole board should not have taken at this time of intense scrutiny into its workings. True, he had served 15 years of his 20-year sentence. But he was obviously a high risk: His criminal history included sexual assault, kidnapping and parole violations.

Nevertheless, he was paroled on Aug. 30 - a month after the parole board, prosecutors and others came under enormous criticism for paroling two criminals soon charged in the horrific slayings of a Cheshire mother and her two daughters.

The Department of Correction also erred in failing to outfit Mr. Biggs with a global tracking device - although the governor had ordered such devices for all paroled burglars. Mr. Biggs' 1992 conviction included, among many other things, two counts of first-degree burglary.

Clearly the parole system is overwhelmed if someone of Mr. Biggs' ilk can slip through. Halting parole for violent criminals is the responsible thing to do while the General Assembly and governor work out solutions. __________________

http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-25013709.apds.m0652.bc-ct--no
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Lawmakers want to know Rell's plans in wake of parole ban Associated Press September 25, 2007

HARTFORD, Conn. - State lawmakers want to know more about the governor's plans for handling Connecticut's growing prison population, especially since she banned parole for violent offenders.

Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, said he supports Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell's decision, but predicted it will add inmates to already crowded prisons.

"Whatever the new policy is going to be, we want to make sure we have the resources to do what we need to do," said Lawlor, who fears more crowding in the state's prisons could prompt the federal courts to get involved and possibly order a mass release.

"When you overwhelm the system, that's exactly what starts to happen," he said, adding that Connecticut prisons were designed to handle 17,000 inmates but now hold about 19,000.

But Rell on Monday turned down an invitation from the Democrat-controlled Judiciary Committee to speak to lawmakers on Oct. 1 about the steps the Department of Correction and the Board of Pardons and Paroles are taking to suspend future parole for violent offenders and return current parolees with violent crimes to prison if they break the rules.

"She's already made her plans clear," said Rell spokesman Rich Harris. "This is an executive branch agency. She's the governor. She's directing the agency to take these steps."

Rell took lawmakers by surprise on Friday afternoon when she issued a news release announcing the ban on parole for violent offenders. The decision came after New York City police shot and wounded Connecticut parolee James Biggs, 45, in the Bronx when they say he threatened them with a kitchen knife. Police say the car he was in was taken in a carjacking in Hartford on Thursday. Biggs was paroled less than a month ago.

That incident followed the July 23 killings of a Cheshire mother and her two daughters. Two parolees with burglary convictions have been arrested. Prosecutors said they will pursue the death penalty.

Robert Farr, chairman of the parole board, said he agrees with Rell's decision.

"I believe that the intent of that is to say that we're going to be sure that we lock up violent offenders for a longer period of time," Farr said. "Now we still need some re-entry provisions, but we can certainly lock up violent offenders for a longer period of time than we do now."

Since the Cheshire murders, the state's prison population has grown by 280 inmates. Lawlor said that's because judges are setting higher bail amounts for burglars, plea deals have substantially increased and the parole board has gotten more conservative in doling out parole approvals.

Lawlor said he expects that trend will continue. And he said the numbers will increase if violent parolees are kept in prison. Currently, there are about 2,500 people on parole.

"These numbers pile up very quick," he said.

Rell, in a news release, said there are no current or expected plans to expand the state's prisons, beyond current efforts to reopen some beds at Carl Robinson Correctional Institution in Enfield.

There are also no plans to seek additional funding from the legislature to cover the cost of halting parole for violent offenders.

"The expectation right now is it can be done without additional appropriations," Harris said. He said the governor believes space will be freed up in prisons by reviewing the files of about 1,200 lower-level, nonviolent offenders and releasing some of them to halfway houses or other alternative forms of supervision.

Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, ranking Senate Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said additional prison beds may ultimately be the answer. But in the meantime, Kissel said, the state might reconsider sending inmates out of state to free up beds.

Kissel, whose district includes Carl Robinson, said residents with prisons in their neighborhoods do not want those facilities expanding. And he said it could take the state years to build a new prison.

"I think for the short-term, out-of-state transfer of prisoners, to me, is the only viable alternative we have at this time," he said. ________________

http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hc-rellparole0925.artsep25,0,5646
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A Prison Population Shift
Some Inmates May Get Out Early To Make Way For Violent Offenders In Parole Freeze

By MARK PAZNIOKAS | Courant Staff Writer
September 25, 2007

As many as 1,200 inmates serving time for nonviolent crimes will be considered for early release to make room for violent offenders ineligible for parole under new policies ordered by Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

Rell, who indefinitely suspended new paroles for violent offenders Friday, said Monday that the early releases will allow the state Department of Correction to manage any population increase caused by the parole suspension.

"We will ensure that violent offenders who pose a risk to society stay behind bars while continuing to help nonviolent offenders make the most effective transition possible back to society," Rell said.

The governor tightened the rules for parole Friday in response to the arrest of James Biggs, a career criminal paroled Aug. 30 for the third time in two years. He was released without the electronic monitoring that Rell had ordered for violent offenders after two parolees were charged in the slayings of three members of a Cheshire family in July.

Biggs was shot and wounded by New York police early Friday as he exited a car that police say he had stolen at knife-point Thursday from a 65-year-old man in Hartford.

In addition to barring violent offenders from parole, Rell ordered correction officials to examine the records of 1,590 current parolees to see if there are grounds to reincarcerate any of the 600 to 800 parolees with convictions for violent crimes.

Rell also ordered parole officials to delay the release of between 400 and 600 inmates who have been approved for parole until she is assured that all records were reviewed in their cases. The suspects in the Cheshire killings were released without such a review.

The governor's office said that correction officials had returned to temporary custody a half-dozen parolees who should have been fitted with electronic monitoring.

The increased use of electronic monitoring since the Cheshire slayings has caused a shortage of the equipment, Rell's office said.

Rell said she has no plans to transfer inmates out of state or to seek emergency steps to expand prison capacity.

The co-chairmen of the legislature's judiciary committee invited Rell to testify at a public hearing next week about how her administration intends to manage the parole suspension, but Rell declined, saying that the statement she released Monday about her parole policy spoke for itself.

Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the judiciary committee, said the committee still might invite correction officials to testify about how they would screen the nonviolent offenders for early release.

State law requires nonviolent offenders to serve at least half their sentences, and inmates who committed violent crimes must serve at least 85 percent, he said.

Lawlor and his co-chairman, Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, said they agree with Rell's decision to suspend parole for violent offenders until the program is reviewed.

But Lawlor said one likely outcome - greater electronic monitoring, including the use of sophisticated global positioning satellites to track parolees - will require additional funding.

"All these options come with a price tag," he said.

One new parole officer will be needed to monitor every 30 inmates placed on GPS tracking, Lawlor said.

Lawlor also said he believed the tighter scrutiny for parole will lead to a larger inmate population.

The state's prison system was designed for 17,000 inmates and now has 19,000.

The population has increased by 280 since the Cheshire slayings, he said.

Without new capacity, a higher inmate population will pose dangers for staff and provoke the intervention of the federal courts, Lawlor said.

Robert Farr, chairman of the board of paroles and pardons, said he supports the moratorium ordered by Rell, but that eventually the parole of violent offenders will resume as a matter of public safety.

With proper monitoring, parole remains a valuable tool, he said.

Studies show that inmates who are released to parole or other supervised programs are less likely to commit new crimes than those who are freed without supervision after completing their sentence.

Contact Mark Pazniokas at mpazniokas@courant.com.