01/10/04

CARLA CROWDER
News staff writer

MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Sentencing Commission on Friday recommended a proposed bill to speed up paroles for prisoners who are near death, permanently incapacitated or over 65 and suffering from chronic age-related illnesses.

"The reason for this bill - although the Board of Pardons and Paroles now has the authority to grant medical and geriatric parole, there are no time limits like in other states," said Lynda Flynt, executive director of the Alabama Sentencing Commission. "So that by the time they get around to it, they're dead."

The parole board is about 18 months behind in reviewing violent offenders up for parole. Victims must be notified, and officials say that takes a long time.

The bill recommended Friday gives the state less than three months to decide whether qualified terminally ill inmates can be paroled. It gives the state three months for permanently incapacitated inmates and five months for geriatric inmates.

Prisoners convicted of any crime except capital murder could be eligible.

Some of the prosecutors at Friday's meeting raised concerns about the parole for certain violent offenders, indicating the capital murder exclusion might not be limiting enough to pass the Legislature.

The bill defines eligible prisoners as follows:

A geriatric inmate must be over 65, suffer from a chronic disease or illness related to aging and pose a low risk to the community. Alabama prisons house 620 prisoners over 60 but don't publish statistics for prisoners over 65.

A permanently incapacitated inmate must have a medical condition that renders him "permanently and irreversibly incapacitated and requires long-term residential care."

A terminally ill inmate must be within 12 months of death as determined by reasonable medical judgment.

The commission added a provision that would send the offender back to prison if his or her health improved.

Under the proposal, the parole board also must weigh factors such as the inmate's risk of violence, behavior in prison and criminal history.

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