Diane A. Sears proposes that criteria for candidates seeking early release under the “humanitarian” component for Compassionate Release should be augmented to include non-medical eligibility requirements.
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Bill is 73 years old. He is a Father and Grandfather who has spent the past 43 years of his life in an adult male maximum security prison in Pennsylvania. Being at the wrong place at the wrong time cost him his freedom. Caught up in a tragic incident he did not precipitate, Bill steadfastly maintained his innocence at trial. However, the jury, unmoved by his ardent plea of innocence, decided that Bill should spend the rest of his life behind the wall. Yes, Bill is a “Lifer”.
For 43 years, Bill has made the best of a bad situation – by helping others.
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Bill has maintained his innocence for 43 years. But rather than wallow in bitterness and throw himself a pity party, Bill created a life for himself behind the wall. He joined the Lifers Association.He enrolled in a Paralegal Studies correspondence curriculum offered by Blackstone Law School and became a certified Paralegal. Bill used his paralegal training to perform legal research and write briefs and legal memoranda for other prisoners – acts which helped many of these Men win their freedom. He mentored other prisoners. Many of his mentees are no longer incarcerated and can attribute their successful reintegration into their families and communities to Bill’s wise counsel. For 43 years, Bill has made the best of a bad situation – by helping others.
Two mini-strokes have rendered Bill virtually immobile. His trademark razor sharp memory is all but gone. The intensive physical therapy and highly therapeutic diet he needs to reverse the debilitating effects of extremely high blood pressure and two mini-strokes are not offered behind prison walls. Officers at the prison have voiced their concern about Bill’s health to his family members. They have told Bill’s family members that he needs to be out of prison . . . that he has been a model prisoner . . . that he “has never caused any trouble”. He can barely walk and he is forgetful. He has difficulty remembering what day it is. He cannot remember on what day he has privileges at the prison’s library. As much as the officers are concerned about Bill’s health, they are even more concerned about Bill’s safety. They cannot be everywhere all of the time. Prison can be an unforgiving place for souls perceived to be physically and mentally incapacitated. Bill is a soul in dire need of receiving the same level of compassion and care that he so unselfishly offered to others for 43 years.
Bill needs Compassionate Release. But his medical condition does not specifically and unequivocally fall within the current stringent “cookie cutter” eligibility requirements for compassionate release. Compassionate Release is described as a “process by which inmates in criminal justice systems may be eligible for immediate early release on grounds of ‘particularly extraordinary or compelling circumstances which could not be reasonably foreseen by the court at the time of sentencing’.” Medical release, medical parole, medical furlough and humanitarian parole – compassionate release procedures – can be mandated by the courts or by internal correctional authorities.
The United States Bureau of Prisons estimates that American taxpayers would save at least US$5.8 million in taxes annually, by granting compassionate release to at least 100 individuals each year.
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Some states – New York, as an example – have recently expanded their own forms of compassionate release. New York has expanded compassionate release or “medical parole” to include both terminally ill and chronically ill incarcerated individuals “in the absence of a prognosis of imminent death”. The United States Bureau of Prisons estimates that American taxpayers would save at least US$5.8 million in taxes annually, by granting compassionate release to at least 100 individuals each year. Souls released under compassionate release have less of a propensity to become recidivists – i.e., not engage in criminal behavior again.
But none of this is helping Bill right now.
Bill’s dire state of affairs speaks to the need for the expansion of the eligibility requirements for the “humanitarian” component of Compassionate Release. What am I proposing? Criteria for candidates seeking early release under the “humanitarian” component for Compassionate Release should be augmented to include non-medical eligibility requirements.
Certain additional information should be taken into consideration:
- Track record of good behavior and no disciplinary actions taken
- Development and implementation of initiatives and skills by the candidate hat have positively enhanced the lives of fellow prisoners and/or positively impacted upon the lives of individuals who have never been incarcerated and society as a whole
- Obtaining an education and developing skills and expertise which are transferable and lead to gainful employment in the workplace
- The candidate’s release serves as a great enhancement to society
- The establishment of a support team for the candidate in question
Bill would automatically become a prime candidate for compassionate release under the expanded “humanitarian” component.
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If we were to apply both the already established medical criteria together with the proposed non-medical criteria that I am suggesting to Bill’s case, Bill would automatically become a prime candidate for compassionate release under the expanded “humanitarian” component. A team has already been established for Bill. Each member of the team has a specific responsibility. One member of the team will ensure that Bill has housing. A second member of the team will ensure that Bill is gainfully employed. In Bill’s case, he can be employed as a paralegal performing legal research and drafting legal documents. A third member of the team will monitor Bill’s activities on a daily basis. And a fourth member of the team will act as a mentor for Bill. This individual will guide Bill as he makes the transition from an institutionalized life to a life of freedom and help Bill “psychologically debrief” from 43 years of institutionalization.
Isn’t it time for Bill and so many others like him who have earned the right to rejoin society – to come home?
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