NCJ Number
100620
Date Published
1984
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This report by the New York State Senate Committee on Crime and Correction concerns its investigation into the circumstances of the parole hearing and subsequent parole release of Jerry Mitchell and into the broader issue of parole hearing procedures. Nine legislative recommendations propose changes in present parole procedures.
Abstract
The investigation was occasioned by Mitchell's involvement in a shootout with police 3 weeks after his parole release. Of particular concern to the committee was the parole board's failure to consider a letter written by Mitchell to an inmate in another New York facility regarding plans for a crime spree after they were both released. Following the committee hearings, the parole board instituted procedures designed to ensure the board's familiarity with confidential or noteworthy materials pertaining to an inmate's qaalifications for parole. The committee's legislative proposals mandate ongoing training for board members, written reasons for parole release, the participation of three board members in parole release interviews, and elimination of the requirement that a reconsideration date be set not more than 24 months after parole denial. Other recommendations require an increase of full-time board members to 18, a restructuring of board member salaries, denial of parole when there is a reasonable probability the inmate would be a danger to the community, and the codification of procedures for the recission of parole release decisions. Appendixes contain the legislative proposals in bill form.