Lifeline: Hope for Lifers Without Parole

[qwerty]

Lifer Peeps! This is a very important development for US corrections, because if it works in Colorado, it might spread to other states where lifers are almost never paroled.

The press, however, is painting a very one-sided story in its reports. Other articles were much more negative than this one, below.

I'd suggest those who care deeply about this, write letters to the editors of these papers to make your views known about giving certain lifers another chance, studies that show low recidivism, etc. (Some of that info is in the Lifers Resource Center, in the report "The Meaning of Life").

And, of course, the politicians are starting to throw in their two cents...

Aug. 26, 2006

State program aims to free aging inmates

4 convicted of murder in late ’70s will be first

By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD - THE GAZETTE

Scattered around the prisons of Colorado are 430 lifers, mostly convicted murderers, who could someday be free.

Sentenced before 1990, when Colorado law changed to allow life without parole, they are an aging group, and officials say many no longer pose a threat to society.

The Colorado Department of Corrections is launching a program to prepare these inmates for release and steer them into halfway houses. The first four, who will be sent to a minimum-security camp next month, could be placed in Community Corrections within about 18 months.

Officials say “Lifeline” will be the first program of its kind in the nation. The inmates will work closely with former prisoners who spent decades behind bars, to learn to adjust to freedom and to avoid the pit- falls that could land them back in prison.

“You look at how much it costs the taxpayers to house these offenders for that period of time, it’s staggering,” said Tim Hand, DOC assistant director of adult parole and community corrections. “Our goal is to move offenders into the community and no longer have them be a taxpayer burden.”

It’s already controversial.

Read the full story:
http://gazette.com/display.php?id=1320889&secid=1