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March 31, 2008
NY: Parole ---"Truth in Numbers"
By contrast, 1.6 percent of A1 felons who were paroled from 1999 through 2003 were returned to prison for committing a crime within three years. And something else changed has well -- the number of violent felons paroled increased from 12 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2007. That makes the zero recidivism rate even more remarkable.
Times Union
Albany, NY
Editorial
First published: Monday, March 31, 2008
Truth in numbers
Were New Yorkers put at risk when parole rates for violent offenders increased under former Gov. Eliot Spitzer? Until last week, the answer was still a cause for debate. Republican critics insisted that Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, was placing the public in peril as more and more offenders were released back into society, where they might well return to their criminal ways.
At the time, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno was accusing Mr. Spitzer of being soft on crime, and demanding that a list of inmates and the dates they would be eligible for parole be posted on the Web site of the state Division of Parole. He also made this outrageous accusation: "This administration's philosophy seems to be very soft on criminals and they're doing everything and anything they can to get prisoners who have committed murders out of prison."
But supporters noted, correctly, that that parole decisions, far from representing a shift in policy under Mr. Spitzer, were being made by parole boards whose members were largely appointed by Mr. Spitzer's Republican predecessor, George Pataki.
Now the debate has been settled, or at least it should be. According to an Associated Press report reprinted in this newspaper last week, not one of the 456 violent felons paroled in the last four years is now back in prison for committing another crime after returning to society.
Not one.
Perhaps now Mr. Bruno will think twice about legislation he introduced back in February that would make it more difficult for violent felons to be granted parole.
If not, then he should consider these statistics. The 456 violent felons paroled from 2004 through 2007 are categorized as A1, meaning they were serving time for crimes such as murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and arson in the first degree.
By contrast, 1.6 percent of A1 felons who were paroled from 1999 through 2003 were returned to prison for committing a crime within three years. And something else changed has well -- the number of violent felons paroled increased from 12 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2007. That makes the zero recidivism rate even more remarkable.
Mr. Bruno has his reasons for making parole an issue, of course. Most state prisons are situated in upstate communities, where they add jobs to the local economy and where the inmates are counted as residents of Senate districts largely held by Republicans. If the census declines, Republicans could lose seats in the Legislature. That is one reason why Senate Republicans had opposed Mr. Spitzer's proposal to close several upstate prisons, and why they continue to protect their turf as they negotiate a final budget with Mr. Spitzer's successor, David Paterson. But the Republicans are wrong -- wrong on the numbers and wrong on the reasons for keeping prisons full.
THE ISSUE: No felons who were recently paroled have returned to crime. THE STAKES: Republicans should stop stirring false fears.
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=676387&category=OPINI
ON&newsdate=3/31/2008
Posted by lois at March 31, 2008 05:35 PM