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| Inmates seek open parole hearings |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/13/2006 |
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COLUMBUS, OH - An attorney for prison inmates wants the courts to order the state to open closed-door parole review hearings. "We believe they are conducting those hearings at a considerably slower pace than they should be," said the inmates' attorney, Charles Clovis, who last year filed a contempt motion against the state. "We have no way of determining whether they are doing them or not." Clovis said Wednesday that by next week he expects to appeal a judge's ruling refusing to open the hearings to attorneys or to order audio or video recordings. In 2004, a judge ordered new hearing and ruled that the Ohio Parole Board was not fully addressing an Ohio Supreme Court finding that the board had been unfair to some inmates convicted before 1996, when a "truth-in-sentencing" law went into effect providing for definite sentences in most cases. Inmates had complained that they were sometimes considered for parole on the unfair basis of indictment charges, not just the charges on which they were convicted. Harry Hageman, deputy director of the Ohio Division of Parole, defended the state's response to the court rulings. "We feel the hearings are meaningful," Hageman said Wednesday. He said the parole board takes into consideration a crime, what an inmate has done in prison, his cellblock behavior and other factors. The hearings, held in prisons and not before the full parole board, are not open to the public. In May, Clovis asked Cain to open the proceedings to inmate attorneys or allow the hearings to be recorded by audio or video. "It's not so much that we want to argue about the results of each hearing," Clovis said. "We would just like to have some means of determining if the inmate is getting a fair hearing." Cain rejected the request, ruling last month that opening the proceedings would provide a minimal benefit for the inmates compared to the "administrative burdens" it would put on the board. He also wrote that monthly reports that the parole board provides the judge and Clovis show a good-faith effort by the state. Clovis said the reports do not include a tally of how many hearings have been held, a schedule of hearings or proof that the inmates are getting the "meaningful" consideration that the court ordered. "We just want to know if the parole board is complying with its policies," Clovis said. |
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