Addressing Parole Concerns for Maine Lawmakers
The reestablishment of parole in Maine feels like an inevitability. Maine State Prison is bursting at the seams with more human beings than I’ve seen in a decade. The annual cost per incarcerated adult has ballooned to $120,000, State Rep. Nina Milliken told the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee last month. Statistics continue to prove parole is a safer mechanism of release than straight release after a long sentence. And the latest legislative bill to bring parole back addresses all the main concerns raised thus far.
A quick recap: parole was abolished in Maine in 1976. Those on parole before that year have remained under parole supervision from then up to the lone Maine parolee alive today. People serving paroled sentences from outside of Maine continue to live life on parole inside Maine. Yes, that means Maine still has an operating parole board. They just can’t support any Mainers currently serving excessively long sentences.
The state’s Commission to Examine Reestablishing Parole recommended its reestablishment in 2021. During the short legislative session that starts next month, Maine lawmakers will have an opportunity to finally enact that recommendation, included in the bill LD 1941.
Some have raised concern that the Supervised Community Confinement Program Maine currently runs in lieu of formal parole would still be expensive for taxpayers. Although the direct savings per person won’t be the full $120,000, the aggregate savings over time will be substantial (estimated at $13.3 million per year). Plus, as the advocacy group Parole4Maine notes, “Maine economists estimate that the release of 100 people on parole would generate $14.7 million annually for the state economy.” That’s a net positive of $28 million for Maine.
A board of professionals will determine how much risk a person actually poses to their community. If the person poses a threat, they will not be released. If a person is elderly and poses no risk, their family may have a chance to spend free time with them before they die.
Some worry Maine needs more services to support returning community members, a concern I share (see the “After” section of “Toward a Cage-Free Maine: A Restorative Pathway to Decarceration and Abolition”). However, if the applicant’s parole plan doesn’t adequately detail how they’ll access the services they’ll need outside, they will likewise not be released. It will be the responsibility of the parole applicant to show they have the means and support to prevent them from causing harm and returning to prison, including a solid parole sponsor.
The imperatives that victims have a voice in parole decisions, support for any lingering trauma, and a variety of ways to engage that meet their comfort level are also addressed in the bill. In fact, that section was written by victims/survivors to ensure it incorporates their perspective. Victims receive notification from the Office of Victim Services, whose personnel are trained in trauma-informed practices, at each step of the parole process. They can choose if or how they want to participate in the parole hearing, including their location, the presence or absence of the applicant, the presence of a support person, and the method of delivering their testimony (in-person, virtual, recorded, written, or by a proxy). There are additional sections requiring special guidelines to be developed for applicants convicted of sex or domestic-violence offenses to provide more layers of safety and protection.
During last month’s hearing, State Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross questioned why so few African Americans are participating in the Community Confinement Program. LD 1941 commits the state to “ensure that the racial and gender demographic makeup of the [parole] board reflects the racial and gender demographic” of those incarcerated in Maine’s prisons. And during the review process, when board members consider the so-called evidence-based risk assessment for each applicant, they’re required to consult the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Tribal Populations, and others, “giving due regard to the racial bias inherent in many extant assessments,” the bill reads.
In a story last month by Susan Cover, reporting for Spectrum News, Jan Collins of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition stated the truism that “long sentences are neither a deterrent to crime nor a measure of the probability of redemption.” The current system falls dishearteningly short of reflecting Maine’s ideals of hope and redemption. LD 1941 offers a step towards attaining those ideals while strengthening Maine’s economy, improving community safety, caring for victims/survivors of crime, and addressing the current racial disparities in sentencing and community release.
If you are willing, please take one or both of these easy action steps right now: 1. Write to your local lawmakers and tell them they should vote to pass LD 1941; 2. E-mail info@Parole4Maine.com and ask how you can help Bring Back Parole.
Leo Hylton is a PhD student at George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, currently incarcerated at Maine State Prison. His education and work are focused on Social Justice Advocacy and Activism, with a vision toward an abolitionist future. You can reach him at: Leo Hylton #70199, 807 Cushing Rd., Warren, ME 04864, or leoshininglightonhumanity@gmail.com.
