The Associated Press
October 22, 2007

State Attorney General Troy King advocates an end to parole, even though his old boss, Gov. Bob Riley, sped up paroles to ease overcrowding in Alabama's prisons and keep Alabama out of trouble with the courts.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -

Standing outside the front doors of the state parole board last week, King said crime victims expect criminals to serve the sentences they get in court, but that usually doesn't happen in Alabama because of early releases.

"I believe a sentence should mean something," King said. "Our sentences are meaningless right now."

But achieving truth in sentencing, which King advocates, has a big price that state officials have not been willing to meet.

"When you go to truth in sentencing, it's going to increase the (inmate) population. You've got to be ready for that, and we are not ready. We've got facilities with broken locks," said Lynda Flynt, executive director of the Alabama Sentencing Commission.

On the other hand, Flynt knows it's advantageous for politicians to criticize parole.

"I understand Troy King's position from law and order and tough on crime and running for re-election," she said.

King's position is nothing new. Since Maine first abolished parole in 1975, a total of 15 states have ended the practice, but three have since instituted new methods of early release - usually because of prison overcrowding issues.

Alabama has struggled with prison overcrowding for more than 30 years. Some governors have built new lockups. Others have stepped up paroles. And one opened prison doors and let out inmates under orders from a federal judge.

In 2003, when the state was going through a budget shortfall that would not allow for new prisons, Riley got the Legislature to speed up paroles by creating a second temporary parole board to release nonviolent offenders.

In March 2005, Riley promoted King from his legal adviser to attorney general. Since then, King has made regular visits to parole board meetings to oppose early release for violent offenders. King's most recent visit was Tuesday, when he successfully opposed the release of a man who killed two Mobile County sheriff's deputies in 1975.

At the end of the hearing, the deputies' relatives embraced King and thanked him for his help.

Miriam Shehane, founder of Victims of Crime and Leniency, shares King's view about ending parole.

"The victims have a right to know exactly what that offender is going to serve when they walk out of the courtroom," she said.

Cynthia Dillard, executive director of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, said parole makes sense for many inmates.

Inmates who get out on parole remain under regular supervision by her agency's staff. The many requirements placed on them can include having a job, getting counseling, and undergoing regular drug tests. Inmates who get out at the end of their sentences don't have any supervision or drug tests.

A study done by the state Department of Corrections in 1999 found that 22 percent of inmates who went through parole supervision were back in prison in three years. The recidivism rate jumped to 37 percent for inmates who were released at the end of their sentences.

"All experts agree parole is more effective than end of sentence," Dillard said.

In 2007, the parole board reviewed 6,640 inmates and released 2,187, or 33 percent.

If those inmates had not been released, Alabama would been looking a building more prisons or running afoul of the courts for overcrowding.

State statistics show that it's been slightly harder to get paroled in recent years than in the past. Between 1939 and 2005, the parole rate was 39 percent.

Statistics aside, Dillard said the possibility of parole encourages inmates to behave in prison and makes prisons safer for corrections employees.

For King, the public's safety is his main concern.

"I don't work for corrections. I work for the people of the state and my job is to make them safe," he said.

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