Greetings! I am a fully rehabilitated parole eligible prisoner in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I’ve been incarcerated since May of 1985. I am a member of Forty Strong (TheFortyStrong@Facebook) and will be involved in community outreach and mentoring our youth. My issue is criminal justice reform, after the enactment by the Virginia General Assembly of “Truth in Sentencing” (which took effect on January 1, 1995). The parole release rate for those who are parole eligible, prior to January 1, 1995, had dropped to less than 5%. (Note: Truth in sentencing abolished discretionary parole in Virginia. This means that those who were sentenced after January 1, 1995, have no hope for early release from their sentences. And they have to serve 85% of their sentence. So if you give a 21 year old kid 80 years, and none suspended…you can do the math as to how much time he has to do).
Parole boards appointed by Governors after January 1, 1995 had continuously denied parole to those who are parole eligible prisoners based on their past. They don’t consider the rehabilitative efforts on the part of those prisoners, which are clearly positive factors in granting parole releases in determining his or her future.
Reasons for denial include: 1) Crimes Committed; 2) Serious Nature and Circumstances of the Offense; 3) Release at this time will diminish the seriousness of the offense, are reasons that were factored in the sentencing process by the Courts. This will lead to the parole board to act as a “judicial body” in denying and re-sentencing parole-eligible prisoners for their crimes that they’ve committed decades ago. Each time they appear before the parole board [they are essentially re-sentenced].
In closing, every aspect of rehabilitation on my part has been accomplished after almost 40 years of imprisonment. The parole system in the Commonwealth of Virginia must be changed to assure that fundamental fairness will be implemented in the parole decision-making process. By this blog, I am reaching out to those who read this post to contact members of the Virginia General Assembly in taking this issue very seriously. It is time for change for those who are parole-eligible.
Note: The author was convicted of First Degree Murder and has been incarcerated for 38 years. He is now 67 years old.
