Parole Board ignores Governor's commutation

[scoopster]

CURE got a letter from Sonya Jackson at NE Prerelease in Cleveland. It is appalling. She got a commutation from Gov. Strickland on Nov 23, 2009: "After careful & diligent examination of the totality of materials available to me, I believe that the sentence imposed upon Sonya Jackson is excessive and/or highly disproportionate when compared to other similarly situated offenders... She should be eligible for release by the Parole Board with post-release supervision when the Board determines that she is prepared to integrate successfully into society. A commutation to immediate parole eligibility is warranted."
Her sentence was thus commuted (reduced)from 20-Life to 12-Life w/parole elig. So she has now served 22 years. She went in in 1988. So she is ten years over the 12 year minimum.

On Jan 6, 2010, the day before her actual Board hearing date, she received a letter from Chris Wilson, APA hearing officer, giving a tentative out date of March 1, 2010, w/5 yrs PRC.

She saw the Board Jan. 7 and was told they were recommending a continuance until APRIL 2018, her actual board date prior to receiving the commutation! Reason: "seriousness of the crime." HOW CAN THE PAROLE BOARD OVERRIDE THE GOV.????

Ms. Jackson includes a signed authorization that her story may be utilized/publicized. She includes copies of the commutation and of the Parole Board's ruling. She may be contacted at Sonya Jackson #43722, 2675 East 30th Street, Unit K, Cleveland, OH 44115.

This is a PRIME EXAMPLE of the parole boards "unbridled discretion" that they have had for too long. Judges and even the Governor recommend something less, and they do what ever they please.

The Nature of the crime will never ever change, but I know guys released 10 plus years ago for the same exact crime, with the same natuer of the crime.

This is why the parole board needs to be abolished!!!! The media is looking into this now.

[scoopster]

Parole board rejects release of Ohio inmate
(read whole story)

http://content.usatoday.net/dist/cus...32616535.story




CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) — A woman whose sentence was commuted last year by Gov. Ted Strickland may serve eight more years in prison after state parole officials rejected her application for release.
Sonya Jackson is the only one of 10 inmates whose sentences the governor commuted in November to have her release application rejected, said Julie Walburn, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Parole officials said Jackson, who has already served 12 years, should serve her full sentence of 20 years to life..
Jackson, 48, of East Cleveland, was convicted in 1998 of stabbing and killing her boyfriend. She said during an interview at the Northeast Pre-Release Center in Cleveland that she was disappointed and frustrated by parole officials' decision.
"I don't understand why the governor can't overrule the parole board," Jackson said. "In here, whatever the warden says, goes. So why isn't it like that with the governor?"
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[scoopster]

we need more and more people to write the governor to put pressure on this parole board, they can change and reverse any decision at anytime, they can do whatever they want. They should also sign up for this;

http://community.nicic.org/blogs/nic...d-members.aspx

[leftmyluvinOH]

I totally agree! I'm in the process of writing to the governor of Ohio now. My BF has been in prision for 20 years and it's about time he's free! I'm also in the process of filing a clemency for him. We'll see what the parole board says about that. He's been perfect the 20 years he's served. Do you have anymore information on the parole board?

Thanks

[scoopster]

now the ODRC take someone from the parole board and put her in charge as assistant director. Never been a warden, never ran an institution. Only been in charge of the APA which I bet "LEADS" the state of ohio in lawsuits. When inmates are winning in court, they give them another hearing, or give them a parole to settle out of court. The APA abuses their power all the time. They need a complete overhaul, and abolished! I filed a greivance against the APA chairwoman (Ghee) years ago and sent it to lawmakers.

We have guys in there with affidavits from victims stating that it never happened, and the APA ignores the affidavits, or they secretly dissapear from the inmates files. So how do we actually know these are still in their files? All this pertitent stuff is exempt from public records and they should be open records to the inmates so inmates can receive a fair accurate hearing. The APA will send someone to talk to the inmate go over their file, tell them everything will be okay. Then the board comes along and whack 10 years, halftime, and another 10 years. This is going on with someone I know for a fact. He also sued his lawyer, and lawyer offered him $30,000, and actually left ohio, and moved to Florida. He is still in there even though the kids said it never happened. Prosecutor scared parents with purgery charges if they speak out. I also know another similar type of case but he was maxed out also. The mom did it to get custody back of daughter but only thought he would get one year.

Victims can write anything, lie, blow everything clear out of proportion, just to deliberately cause you to get flopped and continued. My victim wrote to get me maxed out and do 5 years for the same crime which now only carries a year. She had to write the court of appeals after I appealed her CPO she filed against me one week before my release. In her letter she admitted she wrote the parole board, and that I am ten times worse now. She has no clue who I am and what I was doing? She was scared because I had her on video tape having her affair, and the fact that my time was up and she could not do anything more about it. I have now been out 10 years with only two seat belt tickets, and I am now worse? I want to read what she wrote to the parole board, and highlight all the lies that cost tax payers.

So there are 3 elements to a CPO, one element is recent contact!! how has there been recent contact in 5 years of no contact??? I used a case out of the 7th district court of appeals, and they completely avoided the whole aspect of my due process right to be at the CPO hearing under ORC 3113.31. The reason being is I would've opened up a case ruling for any and all other inmates in this situation coming out.

When a petitioner is seeking a civil protection order pursuant to 3113.31, "the trial court must find that the petitioner has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that petitioner or petitioner's family or household members are in danger of domestic violence." Felton v. Felton(1997), 79 Ohio St.3d 34, 679 N.E.2d 672,

The court was obligated, both statutorily and under generally accepted due process standards, to afford applicant proper hearing in which to defend herself before judgement could be entered against her upon former domestic party's....See Deacon v. Landers, 587 N.E.2d 395(1990)

But the 7th district ruled an inmates due process rights were violated when he was drunk and driving a state vehicle, hit and killed someone, and the family sued him. He wasn't allowed to attend the civil hearing. But court of appeals reversed and said his due process right were violated, and hold a new hearing with inmate present, See Kampfer v. Donnalley, 708 N.E.2d 750 1998. So what about mine? and everyone elses? Talk about politics. I also went to get transcripts of my CPO hearing, and there was none, judge signed off on it back in her chambers. So this is due process?

Therefore, I predict that the ODRC will now go straight downhill over the next 2 years. I actually guarantee it. Especially the parole board. The main thing to sit back and watch is how the directors act, and testify on what issues? and how they testify to lawmakers. We now have someone in charge of the DRC with the mentality of the APA which has ACA code of ethics and ignores them, and ignores the governor, and any and everybody including judges and courts since 1996.

They parole guys with 3 numbers, and flop guys with one number. But they usually flopped everyone one time, this was so that everyone would lose their good time under 2967.193. The only way to receive good time was if you get a parole at your first hearing cause you go up early. So if they flop everyone at the first hearing we could make a bigger inmate population, and hope to build more prisons. This was the whole aspect back in the 90's. I have one article with Reginald Wilkinson talking about building 3 more prisons. Which all backfired with the Budget. Did you guys know that the passage of Senate Bill 2 (1996) created Post Release Control to create hundreds of new parole officer jobs?

Over the 10 years I have watched people from the chief inspector, and other positions jump to the APA, like they have the most secured jobs within the ODRC. Guards/OPI layoffs but no APA lay offs?

[scoopster]

I forgot to add, a guy next to me in for domestic, his wife dropped the charges, state picked them up, she was visiting him. The parole board was mad that she was visiting him. He told them, "we are still married, and a family with a daughter."

Parole board maxed him out to 5 years gave him another year and half.

[scoopster]

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010...wins_comm.html