Prisoner Releases

When it comes to the glare of the paparazzi, age apparently has its advantages. Just ask actor Kiefer Sutherland, who walked out of the Glendale jail early Monday mostly to a collective shrug of tabloid indifference. He'd done 48 days behind bars without fanfare, judged uninteresting in the age of Britney, Paris, Nicole and Lindsay. Fame, a Santa Monica-based photo agency, sent a photographer, to little avail: Only one publication called with a request.

The phone rings and Jo Rosano jumps to answer, thinking of the sound of her son's voice: Hi, Mom, it's me, Marc. But it isn't him. Rosano hangs up to resume scouring the Internet for news, brewing espresso, pacing, praying, crying and waiting -- as she has for the last five years. "Day and night," she says, "this is my life." Colombian rebels have held Marc Gonsalves and two other Americans hostage since February 2003, when their plane crashed during a drug surveillance mission for a U.S.

Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey on Thursday attacked plans to roll back the sentences of thousands of federal prisoners convicted under harsh crack cocaine laws, saying that the move could return many violent offenders to the streets and increase the crime problems of U.S. cities. Mukasey told the U.S. Conference of Mayors that about 1,600 convicted criminals -- "many of them violent gang members" -- could be released as early as March under a decision by the U.S.

In recent days, Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey has voiced opposition to the early release of hundreds of federal inmates convicted of dealing crack cocaine, saying the move would unleash a potential crime wave in communities across the country. He reiterated his concern Thursday at a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. But some U.S. attorney offices around the country may not be getting the message.

The counselor at Salinas Valley State Prison paid a surprise visit to Nicholas Shearin's cell with good news: He would go home in two days, after a decade behind bars. She did not mention that he should have been freed eight months earlier. Shearin was among as many as 33,000 state inmates whose sentences may have been wrong because they were not given all the time off they earned for good behavior and for working in prison.

A crowd that took 29 policemen hostage released them Friday in exchange for talks with the government on legalizing their claims to land and possibly dropping charges against a jailed farm leader, a human rights official said. Hundreds of people surrounded the police station in the Caribbean coastal town of Livingston on Thursday, disarmed the police and took them in boats to their remote village.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to release tens of thousands of prisoners before they've served their full sentences to save money. The Legislature isn't inclined to hand him the cell keys. The governor advocates turning felons loose on the street without parole supervision. The Legislature is thinking they should be kept on a leash. Schwarzenegger has proposed giving prison guards a 5% pay hike.

After six years of captivity at the hands of leftist rebels, four Colombian hostages gained their freedom in a jungle clearing Wednesday after captors turned them over to representatives of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Kathleen Soliah, a former member of the radical Symbionese Liberation Army, was released on parole this week from a California women's prison after serving about six years behind bars for her role in a plot to kill Los Angeles police officers by blowing up their patrol cars. The white-haired convict, who has changed her name to Sara Jane Olson, had been sentenced to 12 years in prison. Like most California inmates, Soliah earned credit against her sentence for working while in prison.

Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman was released on bond from a federal prison Friday, saying he remains upbeat despite serving nine months for corruption. Leaving the prison in a black sport utility vehicle, he stopped on a road outside the lockup to comment. He wore a ragged shirt that appeared to be prison clothing. "I may have lost my freedom for a while, but I never lost faith," Siegelman, 62, told reporters.