But Who Will Be Responsible....

A few weeks ago a very nice AP reporter called me to ask some questions about an Ohio case, where a woman who had murdered her newborn child was being considered for parole. We had a long discussion about the parole system, in general terms, and I suggested that one of the leading factors in parole decisions, particularly where there is media attention, is fear of being held responsible if a parolee commits a subsequent horrible crime. I then referred him to another attorney who is a true expert on parole issues, for a more detailed analysis.

Recall 1998, when George H.W. Bush attacked Michael Dukakis for having granted a weekend furlough to convicted murderer Willie Horton, who committed another homicide during his unsupervised vacation from prison. While it is, to put it mildly, a bit shaky to try to hold Dukakis directly responsible for the conduct of every fuloughed inmate, Bush also glossed over the fact that the prior governor of Massachusetts, a Republican, had signed the furlough bill into law.

And there, perhaps, we have the "Nixon goes to China" angle to the story. It is okay for a Republican governor to create a lax furlough program because Republicans are "tough on crime". A democrat who signed a similar law - or, in Dukakis's case, failed to somehow repeal it - can be skewered by that same law due to the stereotype that Dems are somehow "soft on crime". (The ultimate send-up of this stereotype was, perhaps, the Simpsons episode where Sideshow Bob ran against Mayor Quimby, and ran an attack ad regarding Quimby: - "Mayor Quimby supports revolving door prisons. Mayor Quimby even released Sideshow Bob -- a man twice convicted of attempted murder. Can you trust a man like Mayor Quimby? Vote Sideshow Bob for mayor.")

Moving to the present, following many years of "getting tough on crime", many states are finding that the result is not safer streets, but an enormous part of the state's budget devoted to sustaining enormous prison populations. And, given the financial straitjacket many states are in, a large number of states are considering ways to reduce that prison population.

In California, The Governator (and how can a Governator possibly be soft on crime) has suggested that there should be changes in the parole system to reduce the prison population. Needless to say, The Governator would prefer that somebody other than he be responsible for the release decisions. I suggest that he be more brave - like he was in Commando - and simply do the job himself with his powers to pardon prisoners and commute sentences. Surely, when the inevitable happens and there is an ugly incident of recidivism, The Governator doesn't want to look like he's hiding behind the skirt of an anonymous bureaucrat....

Why is it that so few Republicans are willing to adopt Truman's sentiment, "The Buck Stops Here"?

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