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| Cost-cutting leads to release for prisoners |
| By Tom Precious |
| Published: 04/07/2009 |
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ALBANY — There are not many winners in the new state budget, but the fiscal plan will make it easier for some prison inmates to be released early for medical, merit and other factors. The relaxed standards, contained deep within the 2009 state budget, go beyond the much-publicized reforms to the Rockefeller-era drug laws that Gov. David A. Paterson and lawmakers pushed to include in the fiscal plan over the objections of many district attorneys. The provisions will, according to supporters, encourage more humane treatment of a select number of inmates while, in some cases, making prisons safer. The efforts will also save money and, eventually, help in the years ahead to close expensive facilities that are seeing fewer inmates. But critics insist that some of the new standards are open to wide interpretation that will result in the release of still-dangerous inmates. “It’s a wholesale change in the policies that have led to the most significant drop in the violent crime rate of any state in the nation,” said State Sen. Michael F. Nozzolio, a Finger Lakes Republican who until January had served for years as chairman of the Senate’s Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee. “These issues, taken together, will ensure more violent criminals are out on the streets, and that’s going to create tremendous pressure for law enforcement. It will make our cities less safe,” Nozzolio said. “That’s the kind of grandstanding that I think has lost its oomph,” said Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York State, a prison monitoring and reform group. The major sentencing change involves the Rockefeller drug laws, eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for some drug violations and providing judges with more discretion to steer some individuals to treatment instead of prison. It also allows some individuals — up to 980 currently in prison — to be resentenced and released. But given far less attention in the debate over the Rockefeller drug laws were several other provisions tacked on to the budget that reverse the state’s crackdown on early release that peaked during the administration of Gov. George E. Pataki. Those provisions will further reduce the prison population, which is already down by more than 10,500 from a high of 71,898 inmates in 1999. The new budget adopted last week permits some inmates to be released on medical parole if approved by a physician and the state Parole Board, a plan originally proposed by Paterson in December. It is the first major change to medical parole laws since 1992, when terminally ill inmates were first allowed to leave prison early. It also recognizes the prison system’s increasingly aging population; the number of inmates older than 55 has risen from 1,500 to more than 3,600 in the last decade. The eligible inmate, who can be ambulatory, must be suffering from a “significant and permanent nonterminal condition, disease or syndrome” and rendered so “physically or cognitively debilitated or incapacitated as to create a reasonable probability that he or she does not present any danger to society.” Not eligible are those convicted of first-degree murder, and the inmate’s prison record and the views of local district attorneys will also be considered. Certain violent felons can be eligible if they have served half of their terms. An inmate’s spouse, relative or attorney can ask for the medical parole on a prisoner’s behalf. The Paterson administration estimates that 45 individuals now in prison could be released this year. They estimate $2 million in savings this year from the early releases. As an example, officials pointed to a woman in prison for killing her infant son — whom Paterson considered and then rejected for clemency last year — who is in a vegetative state. Instead of clemency for such cases, Paterson believes that the state should have standards for dealing with such inmates, some of whom are in expensive private health settings outside the prison walls but whose bills are being picked up by the Department of Correctional Services. Critics such as Nozzolio say the medical parole language is spongy and could result in abuses by inmates and even by the prison system as it looks for ways to save money by freeing sick inmates. “It would be, at best, inconsistent throughout the system,” he said. The new budget also includes an expansion of the merit-time program that permits early release of eligible inmates, including violent felons. It allows the release of such inmates six months before the completion of their minimum sentence. Not eligible are those convicted of first-degree murder or sex crimes. The new merit-time effort takes into consideration whether an inmate participated in no less than two years of college programming while in prison and other efforts to reduce recidivism rates, such as enrollment in a state-approved apprenticeship program. Credit can also be given for working as an inmate hospice aide. The inmate’s prison behavior, and even whether they filed a “frivolous” civil lawsuit while in prison, are also considered as factors for the credit. “The merit-time proposal is designed to encourage inmates to participate in programs that will further their rehabilitation, college enrollment and other long-term programs,” said Marissa Shorenstein, a Paterson spokeswoman. She estimated that 60 inmates will qualify for merit release this year. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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