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In California, parole-eligible inmates rarely get released

The California parole board has approved less than one percent of parole cases since 1996

May 29, 2000
Web posted at: 2:42 p.m. EST (1842 GMT)

From San Francisco Bureau Chief Greg Lefevre

In this story: 'I think he has paid his dues' Court steps in RELATED STORIES, SITES

SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- For the thousands of inmates who are eligible for parole in California, good behavior may not be enough to earn them their freedom.

In fact, an inmate who is scheduled for parole might never leave prison.

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California has conducted about 2,000 parole hearings in the last year and denied almost every one.

The California parole board, now comprised mostly of former law enforcement officers, has accepted the mandate of former Gov. Pete Wilson and current Gov. Grey Davis to crack down on paroles.

State Sen. John Burton says there is something wrong with the system.

"The Willie Horton ad has scared just about anybody who's got their eyes on the White House or the state house or anything like that," Burton said.

In the past four years, the California parole board has heard 8,536 cases but only granted parole in 55. That's just .6 percent of the time. Texas, by comparison, released about 8 percent.

That means prisoners once promised parole are, in effect, sentenced to life without parole.

"That may be the politically safest way to run a parole board, but the problem is that it is a manifest perversion of what the legal structure is set up to do," said Franklin Zimring, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

'I think he has paid his dues'

In 1983, 18-year-old Bruce Young kidnapped a baby. The child was recovered unharmed and Young was sentenced to seven years to life.

Young is now almost 40-years-old and has earned a degree, exemplary conduct credits and even the support of his victim's mother.

"I don't sympathize with him. He deserved to be in jail for quite a long time," said Marcia Huff. "I think he has paid his dues."

Young has had 12 parole hearings, but has not gotten a release date.

"I'm not denying I did anything, but does it warrant a life sentence? I mean, am I no longer any good to society?" Young said.

Court steps in

This year an appeals court took the unusual step of ordering the release of another inmate, Robert Rosenkrantz, who killed a man who tormented him for his homosexuality.

"A court had to step in and say that because there is no evidence to find him unsuitable you are going to have to release him and that is the first time this has ever happened in the state of California," said defense attorney Rowan Klein.

For the moment, Rosenkrantz is still in prison.

CNN was refused repeated requests for on-camera interviews with parole board officials.

Why care about inmates's rights? It's the law.

Zimring compared the parole process to flipping a coin 100 times and seeing the head side turn up every time. "At what point is the discretion in individual cases actually a pattern which has become a concrete rule and that rule violates the principle and the spirit of the law?" said Zimring.

California's prisoner backup is building, with 17,000 inmates due for parole consideration.

If past is prologue, fewer than 10 inmates will get out.

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