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Only 1 inmate to be released will have state supervision

Monday, October 19, 2009

(Updated 3:19 pm)

By MIKE BAKER
Associated Press

RALEIGH (AP) — Only one of the violent North Carolina criminals set for release next week will have official supervision outside prison, and the state is rushing to establish community connections to transition them back to society.

Nine of the convicts will be immediately free of the state's watch when they are released Oct. 29 in the wake of court rulings on a 1970s law that limited the length of life sentences from that era. Ten others are sex offenders who will have to register with the state and abide by laws limiting their activity but will not have regular contact with correction officials.

One of the convicts, Faye Brown, faces two decades of federal parole.

Department of Correction spokesman Keith Acree said today that all the prisoners plan to stay with family or friends or in transitional housing. The state is going through a crash course to get the convicts ready for public life, reaching out to community groups who could help them find jobs or provide support, he said.

Each will be given the name and phone number for a probation and parole officer that can be used as a resource, but those officers won't have any legal role in their lives.

The group set to be released is made up primarily of murderers and rapists, some of whom targeted young girls. Seven were once on death row.

North Carolina frequently tracks sex offenders with monitoring bracelets, but those laws came long after the decades-old sentences. State law simply requires offenders to keep their addresses up to date.

The state is notifying local law enforcement about the releases, but that's as far as officials can go to keep tabs on the inmates.

"Legally, there's nothing we can do to supervise them," Acree said.

It's another legal quandary that state attorneys have encountered. One of the inmates, Bobby Bowden, had pointed to a law in place for several years in the 1970s that appears to describe a life sentence as only 80 years. A variety of credits that prisoners can apply to their sentences means his time behind bars is now complete, he said.

The Attorney General's office argued before the Supreme Court last month that the law was ambiguous, but justices were clearly unconvinced, grilling the state's attorneys with questions.

"This is such a straightforward issue from a legal point of view, it's too easy for a first-year law exam," said Staples Hughes, the state appellate defender whose office handled Bowden's appeal. The state has had every chance to come up with an argument to keep the inmates behind bars but has not been able to, he said.

Gov. Bev Perdue's office continues to hope there may be a legal avenue to prevent the release. But attorneys for the state don't seem to know what that would be.

"Our lawyers certainly argued everything they could think of to stop this from happening, and the North Carolina Supreme Court does have the final say," said Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Roy Cooper.

State officials believe dozens more inmates convicted three decades ago could soon be eligible for release.

Associated Press writer Martha Waggoner contributed to this report.

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bigwill

October 19, 2009 - 3:36 pm EDT

I have an idea... get rid of the stupid good behavior law. Why are we rewarding criminals? These greiving families or victims from these inamtes do not receive any special credits to get their life back so why should they? Thank you NC justice system, you have shown all of us what you really do protect and serve the people. Unfortunately, somewhere you have been confused on which people you are suppose to protect and serve. Thanks RETARDS.

northoftheboro

October 19, 2009 - 3:48 pm EDT

Once again, the Democrats in Raleigh manage to put the public safety of North Carolina citizens at risk. As Governor Perdue took a lengthy, out-of-country vacation mere weeks after inauguration, the "powers that be" had an opportunity to address this serious, looming issue, but chose to take their priorities elsewhere. The voters of this state made the decision to keep the same political party in power in Raleigh last November, in both the executive and legislative branches, so now it is time to deal with the consequences of their decision. Elections have consequences!

hysteriabuster

October 19, 2009 - 4:04 pm EDT

Real issue is how accountable has the prison system been. We expect all of our public institutions, except our prison systems, in this country to be accountable for their work. Why? We are short sighted and concentrate on punishment instead of rehabilitation. NC is "rushing" to either prevent release of life-termers or to put in place useful programs to help inmates transition to society. What happened to TAN, a program prison chaplains started about a decade ago to help inmates transition to society. It probably died from lack of society interest. Our governor should put on her agenda making our prison system more than a warehouse of humans. Someone instiututionalized for 20 or more years will have a difficult time adjusting to a changed society. Everyone suffers when someone commits a crime, not just the victim.

veronica

October 19, 2009 - 4:16 pm EDT

How will these prisoners be able to survive on the outside, they would not get the same care on the outside that they are used to having, if they can't make it in society will they become street people?
Why don't they plan on letting some of the young people out who maybe have committed a minor violation, such as drug charges or DUI's,
The rate of rehabilitation has not been all that great with prisoners, a lot of them get out only to commit more crimes, so that they can once again get back into the system.

lgrimestriad

October 19, 2009 - 4:34 pm EDT

I know folks are upset about the release of these convicts.I am not happy about this turn of events. I hear folks talk about doing away with time for good behavior etc. Well, we did! In 1994 new sentencing laws were enacted that eliminated time for good behavior, gain time, time for education etc. However, those laws could not be retroactive. So the people being released now are having to be released according to the laws of the time of their crimes and conviction. I don't like this anymore than the next one. But we are now living with the consequences of laws of 30 years ago. Laws have been addressed since then that will prevent this in the future. This is a judicial decision--not something that elected officials have much, if any, control over and has been in the courts for several years.

tarheel19906

October 19, 2009 - 5:00 pm EDT

Ive read about these thugs being released from prison and still fail to understand how someone can be such a bad person, live on death row yet be released. I dont care how long they were in or how good they were while in, in my opinion if you are given the death sentence or life, the only way you should come out of prison is in a coffin. I wonder how long it will be before someone else is assaulted, raped or killed and they will be sent back to prison. Break in my home, hurt a member of my family and I can guarantee you they wont be a problem to society again.

kikablue

October 19, 2009 - 7:46 pm EDT

Well tarheel, I know how you feel, the problem is they will be the victim, the law protects them not the public. You'll be sitting in prison for protecting your family or home they will be the poor misunderstood person that can't get a job so they had to turn to crime again. That is what the system wants us to believe. Wait till it's someone in the systems family then it will be a whole new ball game. Its past time people take a stand up for what they believe in.

GBO_Yoda

October 19, 2009 - 11:25 pm EDT

I just can't imagine what these people will do the first weeks they are out in society again .......... can you?

######### The $100,000 Question: Can a man really change? ##########
( in a recession like this )

tarheel19906

October 20, 2009 - 1:42 pm EDT

I know of a man, appro 62 yrs old, who was first sent to prisons at age 16 for petty crimes, nothing violent. He would get out, soon be right back there again with a longer sentence, this time his crimes turned violent. A Ga politician told his family, 'have a certain type of car in my driveway, plus money and he will get him out'. Soon afterwards he was released, had a good job lined up and a place to live. It lasted maybe 2 months, if that long, then he was convicted of kidnap, rape, assault on a female, which took place at UNCG campus. He was given life and a day, suppose to mean he wouldnt ever get out. Within 10 years he was given parole hearings and released again, only to be back within 3 weeks. His sentence was about to expire and soon to be released again, when he escaped. After being on the run for 2 weeks, he turned himself in and the truth was told. He didnt know anything but prison life, had done nothing while in custody other than lift weights, get alot bigger, bitter and stronger and he didnt want to be set free. He had been in prisons all his life and didnt know how to act in a free society. He admitted in a parole hearing, if released again, he would commit other crimes, maybe hurt innocent people again and would prefer to be turned down, able to live out his life in prison which has been home all his life. Im sure there are others in the system like him, but this is a prime example of a prisoner knowing whats best for him and society, so I really fail to understand why the courts cant see the same.
In the Nov election and again at the next general election, I plan to vote against all the people in office(except BJ Barnes) and vote for new faces and ideas to replace them. I dont know if this is the solution but sitting back waiting on the people in office to change isnt the answer.

GBO_Yoda

October 20, 2009 - 11:19 pm EDT

Ignorance is relatively alive and well it appears , hey why not just let them all go without supervision , why all but one ( what does just one matter anyway ) it just leaves 19 others a half step from going back to jail again anyway, come on people where is the common sense in all of this!