BackThe PAROLE BOARD AFFECT
E-Mail by Ron Slatton Bio/Address
A natural concern of a prisoner is the parole board (i.e. the system)
I have done 22 years of my sentence without violations of any importance. At present I am enrolled in a college program. I have done everything available behind the prison wall to rehabilitate myself and to appease the administration. Upon seeing the parole board I was denied a chance for release. The parole hearing was based on my past criminal record, not my conduct during my years in prison. If the parole board continues to judge me on my past record, there is no need for me to make an effort to change my habits and lifestyle. This predictability of parole denial affects all prisoners and defeats any positive outlook on rehabilitation. It feels like a form of persecution.
What type of reaction can the parole board expect from me when I feel like I did not have a fair hearing? Although before my arrest my lifestyle was not correct. Accordingly, I gave that up and changed my ways of thinking, etc. Now the parole board has defeated those years of hard work in one day. Not only that, but it has affected every prisoner who comes in contact with me or other prisoners who have experienced a similar fate. If a man who does many years as a model prisoner is denied a chance at release, what is he to think? How will the other prisoners feel?
One thing is certain, you can't change a man with continual persecution. You will only make him twice as bitter. This treatment of model prisoners by the parole board leaves the individual feeling hopeless. Without hope there is nothing to look forward to. You get the feeling that you are dead men. The hope of release is the only motivating force that keeps prisoners going. What guidelines are we to follow? What should a man do after he has done all there is to do? Does the parole board expect inmates to thank them and be happy when they give us denial after denial for no apparent reason?
Well that isn't happening in this case. The parole board is the most abusive system in the department of corrections and the persons therein are the most vindictive and unprofessional I’ve met in the entire correctional system. I can only say, I feel sorry for them and their souls.
I will not bow to them and must say that their abuse in my case is picture perfect, I feel that I have been persecuted for no reason.