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| Major Test For Special Parole In Conn. |
| By Hartford Courant |
| Published: 05/01/2002 |
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Fabian Rosa, who has a record of violence, pleaded guilty last year to two armed robberies. He could have faced at least 18 years in prison, but was sentenced to nine years behind bars and nine years special parole as part of an untested rehabilitation program. The General Assembly made special parole effective in October 1999. It is too early to tell whether the stick-and-carrot approach will convince many convicts to stay out of trouble because most of those already sentenced to special parole have not yet been released. But lawyers and legislators familiar with the criminal justice system say the program will fail unless more parole officers are hired to monitor the convicts. Special parole, not well known nationwide, could become an effective way to rehabilitate convicts and perhaps reduce the prison population, some say. It is also a tool that judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers can use to settle cases before trial, he said. Probation, like special parole, is ordered as part of a sentence to allow supervision of a convict after sentencing. If a convict violates probation, which is under the control of the court system, the convict is entitled to a court hearing. But the convict who violates special parole, which is under the control of the parole board, can be sent to prison more easily. Probation, assessed by a judge as part of a sentencing just as special parole is, has already suffered from lack of funding and personnel shortages. The Office of Adult Probation has a huge caseload - 58,000 people as of 2000. Each probation officer supervises an average of 170 people, some with minor records, others with major criminal convictions. The state Board of Parole is threatened with similar problems, as special parole adds more cases to the already heavy loads of field parole officers. From December 1997 to March 2002, the caseload for state parole officers increased from 1,104 to 1,933, according to state figures. State figures project about 2,200 inmates will be paroled by next year. The board plans to staff two more positions soon and the proposed state budget calls for three more. To date, about 70 convicts have been released on special parole and another 1,200 are expected to be freed under the program in coming years. It is likely that the fast growing caseload will require hiring additional parole officers, some say. |
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