Parole Board

In response to the Dec. 4 letter about the parole board being held accountable for its "criminal actions": The Board of Prison Terms only makes parole release decisions on inmates who have indeterminate or "life" sentences, such as 25 to life. These crimes are basically kidnapping, murder 2 and murder 1. All other inmates, about 90% of the total prison population, face a determinate or set-term sentence, as was the case of the killer of LAPD Officer Brian Brown. These inmates are paroled automatically when their sentence is completed or they are released early by the Department of Corrections for good behavior.

SACRAMENTO -- Facing allegations that California keeps convicted murderers and others serving life-with-parole terms in prison an excessive time, the state has agreed to set initial minimum sentences for those inmates. The deal is part of a settlement over the case of a Soledad prison inmate who challenged California's parole policies for those in prison on open-ended sentences. The agreement was signed Monday by state Appeals Court Justice J. Anthony Kline, a San Francisco jurist who questioned the constitutionality of California's long prison stays in a previous case.

Re "State parole board gets a grilling," July 6 So we read that there is lots of wrangling in the California Senate during confirmation hearings for members of the state parole board. I have a simple solution: Eliminate the parole board. Prison is for punishment, not rehabilitation. Once a jury decides the guilt of a defendant and the judge pronounces a sentence, that sentence should stand. With no parole board, there would be no more confirmation hearings, and we would save the cost of 12 commissioners' salaries and travel expenses, of psychologists' reports, of parole agents' salaries and of fines for postponed hearings.

FAIRHOPE, Ala. - The state of Alabama can't rewrite a history shot through with hate and violence, but with the help of one determined woman it has added a postscript. On Thursday, Alabama's parole board pardoned the last of the long-dead Scottsboro Boys, nine black teenagers falsely accused of rape in 1931. Their case was monumental. It divided some residents here and united others, led to two landmark Supreme Court decisions, and precipitated the civil rights movement in the decades that followed.

San Juan Capistrano Mayor Wyatt T. Hart has been appointed by Gov. Gray Davis to the state's Youthful Offender Parole Board. Hart, 64, was district representative for former Republican Congressman Ron Packard of Oceanside. He began his career in the Orange County Sheriff's Department in 1968, leaving in 1987 at the rank of captain. He has been a member of the California Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Commission since 1995. His appointment requires Senate confirmation.

Pittsburgh Penguin forward Billy Tibbetts appeared Thursday before a state parole board hearing officer who will determine whether Tibbetts violated his parole when he punched an opponent, Atlanta's Darcy Hordichuk, during a game Jan. 27. If the hearing officer in Pittsburgh believes Tibbetts violated his parole and Massachusetts officials agree, they could petition a court to revoke it.

Percy Pinkney, former director of the state youthful offender parole board, has been arrested on charges of misappropriating $4,870 in state services and funds. Pinkney, 47, who served in Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.'s Administration as special assistant for community relations, was booked on grand theft charges Thursday at Sacramento County Jail and released. His arraignment is scheduled in Sacramento Municipal Court next week.

Percy Pinkney, who served in Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.'s Administration as special assistant for community relations, has resigned from his parole board post after admitting that he filed false expense claims, it has been reported. Pinkney, 47, resigned from his $59,675-a-year job on the Youthful Offender Parole Board a week ago, said Robin Dezember, undersecretary for the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency.

Georgia's parole board on Friday denied clemency for a man set to be put to death for killing a police officer, even though seven of the nine witnesses who testified against him have since changed their stories. Troy Anthony Davis, 38, is set to be executed at 7 p.m. Sept. 23 at a prison in Jackson, Ga. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Davis' appeal Sept. 29. On Friday, Davis' attorney, Jason Ewart, said he would file an emergency stay with the high court, asking the justices to take up the case as soon as possible.

The state Senate Rules Committee agreed Tuesday to hold an Aug. 7 confirmation hearing for chairman David Hepburn of the state Board of Prison Terms. Hepburn, a former Los Angeles Police Department detective and appointee of Gov. Gray Davis, has served almost one year without Senate approval. He must be confirmed by Aug. 8 or lose the $99,343-a-year post. Senate Leader John L.

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown has decided to allow freedom for a woman whose punishment for killing her pimp became a call to arms against the practice of locking up juveniles for life. Sara Kruzan, 35, was incarcerated at 16 when she killed the man she contended had groomed her since age 11 to work for him as a child prostitute. She was sentenced to life without parole for her crime, and her case became a high-profile example used by lawmakers and advocates for juvenile offenders seeking to soften such harsh sentences.

A death row inmate in Ohio who was scheduled to be executed in three days was found hanged in his cell early Sunday, officials said. Authorities found the body of Billy Slagle, 44, at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution south of Columbus about 5 a.m., prison spokeswoman JoEllen Smith told the Los Angeles Times. He was declared dead at 6:11 a.m. Officials suspect suicide. Slagle would have been executed by lethal injection at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The prison typically places death row inmates on suicide watch 72 hours before the execution, Smith wrote in an email, but "inmate Slagle had not yet been placed on constant watch.

A parole board on Wednesday rejected Manson family member Leslie Van Houten's 19th attempt to win freedom. The board also decided she could not seek parole again for five years. Van Houten, 63, was convicted of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home in Los Feliz. She has repeatedly been denied bids for parole over the last four decades. “Given the brutality of the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca and Van Houten's willing and active participation in this evil, pre-planned and violent crime, we are pleased with the parole board's decision to continue to hold Van Houten accountable for her heinous actions,' L.A. County Dist.

Convicted murderer Leslie Van Houten will ask a state parole board Wednesday for the 19th time to be released from prison for her role in the Charles Manson murders. Van Houten, 63, was convicted of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home in Los Feliz. She has repeatedly been denied bids for parole over the last four decades.  The hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the California Institution for Women in Chino.

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday blocked parole for Bruce Davis, a former follower of notorious killer Charles Manson. Brown said in his written decision he did not believe Davis, who is in prison for taking part in two Manson family murders, "was just a reluctant follower who passively went along with the violence. " "Until Davis can acknowledge and explain why he actively championed the family's interests and shed more light on the nature of his involvement," Brown went on, "I am not prepared to release him. " FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this article said Bruce Davis was convicted for his role in the killing of aspiring musician George Hinman.

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown continues to set himself apart from past governors when it comes to giving criminals a second chance, telling the Legislature on Friday that he rejected only a small portion of the hundreds of convicted killers cleared last year for release from prison. The report follows Brown's disclosure that he pardoned 128 people last year, mostly expunging the records of felons who had served their time. The governor signed off on parole for 377 convicted killers who have been serving life sentences, according to numbers provided by his staff.

Winning a parole date is no easy feat for California murderers. Linda Ricchio, serving 27 years to life for killing her former lover, figures her odds of release are slim to none. She blames her uphill battle on the identity of her 1987 victim, Ronald Ruse. Ruse's sister, Susan Fisher, sits on the state Board of Prison Terms -- the very board scheduled to decide this week whether Ricchio is rehabilitated and deserves a second chance.

J. Michael Keating pulls into town and goes directly to jail. There he becomes both judge and jury, an all-powerful ruler of a rat-infested roost--part politician, part warden, part social worker. Keating is a special master, one of at least six around the nation. They are usually lawyers with corrections experience called in by federal judges after a court ruling demands improved prison conditions.

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown has about a month to decide whether to release a former follower of notorious killer Charles Manson from prison. Bruce Davis, 70, has been behind bars since 1970, convicted with Manson of the murder of a musician and a stuntman. He was not involved in the Manson family's infamous 1969 slayings of Sharon Tate and four others in a Benedict Canyon home. For the second time, a state parole panel has determined that Davis should be freed. The parole board forwarded the decision to Brown on Friday, starting a 30-day period for the governor to agree, request a full board hearing or reverse the decision.