“Old law” federal prisoners provide new reminder that parole does not cure all ills

A few years ago I wrote an essay, titled “Reflecting on Parole’s Abolition in the Federal Sentencing System,” which lamented the federal sentencing system’s decision to abolish parole back in 1984.  Among other points, in this piece I suggested that “parole could have been, and perhaps should now become, a bulwark against the kind of impersonalized severity that has come to define much of the modern federal sentencing experience.”  I realized while working on that piece that there was a bit of “grass is always greener” thinking driving my modern “ivory tower” affinity for part of a sentencing scheme that has long been beset with problems in practice. 

Today, the imperfect realities of parole is highlighted in this new NPR piece a helpful reader made sure I saw headlined “Forgetting And Forgotten: Older Prisoners Seek Release But Fall Through The Cracks.”  I recommend the full piece, and here is how it starts and a few other passages:

Davon-Marie Grimmer has been struggling to get help for more than year for her cousin, Kent Clark. Sometimes, when he calls from prison, he asks to speak with relatives who are no longer alive. Sometimes, he forgets the name of his cell mate. “As far as I know, he hasn’t received any medical attention for the dementia, and he’s just so vulnerable in there,” Grimmer said. “He’s 66 years old. He can’t take care of himself.”

Clark is one of about 150 people in federal prison who time mostly forgot. This group of “old law” prisoners committed crimes before November 1987, when the law changed to remove the possibility of parole. But even with the grandfathered-in chance for parole — and despite a push to reduce prison populations — dozens of men in their 60s, 70s and 80s still have little hope of release.

When Congress tweaked the law three years ago to allow sick and elderly people behind bars to apply to a judge for compassionate release, that change didn’t apply to the “old law” prisoners. They’re easy to overlook.

“They are the oldest and most vulnerable cohort of people within the federal prison system today,” said Chuck Weisselberg, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “I mean, their only path for release is through the parole commission, an agency that’s been dying for decades.”

A bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation that would give “old law” prisoners the chance to petition judges for release based on their age and poor health, but it’s awaiting action in Congress….

As for Kent Clark, the U.S. Parole Commission reviewed his case last year.  According to written records, Clark’s case manager told the commission that Clark is showing signs of dementia.  He pointed out that as a young man, Clark was a boxer who may have a history of head injuries.

But the parole examiner denied Clark’s bid for release.  The examiner wrote that if Clark can’t remember what he did, “how can the Commission be certain he has learned something from his mistakes and/or that he has developed the skills to avoid engaging in the same behavior?”