Everything about Parole Board totally explained
A
parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on
parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdictions, including the
United Kingdom and the
United States. A related concept is the
board of pardons and paroles, which may deal with
pardons and
commutations as well as paroles.
A parole board consists of people qualified to make judgements about the suitability of a prisoner for return to free society. Members may be
judges,
psychiatrists, or
criminologists. Many states don't have written qualifications for parole board members and will allow community members to serve in that capacity. Some states require all members to possess a 4 year degree, while others do not. Each state has a different requirement for parole board appointment. The universal requirement is that the candidate for membership has to be of good moral fiber.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom members are also drawn from a wider circle of professions. The Board typically makes a judgement about whether a prisoner will affect public safety if released, but doesn't form an opinion about whether the initial sentencing was appropriate.
United States
There are 52 parole boards in operation in the United States.
On the
federal level and in the
District of Columbia, there's no longer parole. The
United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines (enacted in 1987) discontinued parole for those convicted of
federal crimes for offenses committed after November 1, 1987. This
truth in sentencing legislation required federal prisoners to serve 85 percent of their sentences. The
United States Parole Commission remains the parole board for those who committed a federal offense before November 1, 1987, as well as those who committed a D.C. Code offense before August 5, 2000, a
Uniform Code of Military Justice offense and are parole-eligible, and persons who are serving prison terms imposed by foreign countries and have been transferred to the United States to serve their sentence.
Every
U.S. state also has a parole board. The autonomy of the board from the
state governor also varies; in some states the boards are more powerful than in others. In some states the board is an
independent agency while in others it's a body of the
department of corrections. Determinate sentencing has also severely reduced the power of many parole boards. Often, consideration of the opinion of the victim or victims or their family is taken into account in the board's final determination (see
victims' rights).
Further Information
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