Early Parole

Kevin Matuszak
First Draft


Recently paroled Daniel Giddings shot and killed Police Officer Patrick McDonald on September 25, 2008. Giddings was released from prison 2 years earlier than sentenced. He was sentenced to jail in October of 1998 for a 12 year term. Giddings was found guilty of robbery and aggravated assault. Giddings served 10 years of his sentence after being released on August 18, 2008. Once released, he was sent to a halfway house for therapy and then would be placed back into the neighborhood of where he lived. Giddings escaped from the halfway house on August 25. Now on the run, Daniel Giddings assaulted 4 police officers and then had a new warrant out for his arrest. On September 25, 2008 Daniel was pulled over on a routine traffic violation and instead of cooperating, shot and killed our man in blue Patrick McDonald. If proper research was conducted into the parole of Mr. Giddings he may have never been released and we'd still have our officer alive and well today. Due to reading and hearing about this story and many others like it, I strongly disagree with the idea of granting prisoners early parole.
Our court system seems to be flawed. There are cases where a court system sentences a murderer to 25 years in prison instead of life. If a person feels that he or she must end another’s life and not care, why should that person be eligible for any parole whatsoever? That person should be denied to any parole at all. In 1979, student Jeff Elkins beat a classmate to death with a baseball bat while his classmate slept. He was found guilty for first degree murder and sentenced to prison. In March of 2005 he was granted parole. For 16 years in prison Elkins denied the fact that he actually committed the murder. He then finally admitted to killing his classmate. The parole board felt that he had served enough time and that his positives while serving the term outweighed the murder. The parole board found him suitable for parole and not a threat to society. Where is the justice in that? I'd even understand the other side of the spectrum if this were an accidental murder or something far fetched like that, but this was just complete disregard to human life. This is why cities have such an outrageous crime rate. The court is only giving prisoners a mediocre sentence that I feel isn't strong enough to change a person's outlook on life. Then once the subject of parole is brought up the inmate is on immediate good behavior and "finding God", and the board will sometimes bite the bullet and grant the prisoner their wish.
According to crime statistics, Philadelphia ranks as the highest in any crime dealing with violence. In all violent crimes throughout the country, Philadelphia is 2.31 times more then the entire country. Let me repeat that statistic, we are 2.31 times MORE then the ENTIRE United States. Half of these crimes may be first time offenders, but a large percentage of these crimes are being committed by past offenders and ex-inmates. If the parole board did a better job in researching how many times a prisoner has been arrested and trialed, maybe this statistic would be lower then stated. Daniel Giddings had a heavy criminal background, but he still managed to receive parole. I don't understand the logic a parole board follows when dealing with prisoners. I'd like to suggest the idea of role playing to be done for prisoners being up for parole. Place these prisoners in uncomfortable situations and see how they react. Simulation programs could be ideal in solving the crime mess our city is in.
In order to stop this ever rising crime rate someone needs to act now. Mayor Michael Nutter has a very entertaining crime plan. I voted for Mayor Nutter and his plans to stop crime on the streets of Philadelphia were one of the reasons that went into my voting. He has put more officers on the streets and the crime rate isn't as high as it was in 2007, but it's still going on more here then anywhere else. Mayor Nutter isn't doing much on the subject of parole, but Governor Ed Rendell is completely outraged over these stats and is trying to figure out a solution. Since the execution of Police Officer Patrick McDonald, the governor had issued a statement declaring that no prisoner is eligible for parole until further notice. This policy has been in effect for about 4 weeks now and inmates have just recently sued the governor for this action. 4 inmates have sued Governor Rendell for being unconstitutional by forbidding the allowance of parole. If I could, I'd counter sue the inmates for being oblivious. Do they not understand that they are prisoners? They messed up, they should have no say in anything involving the parole system. I think Governor Rendell did the right thing by forbidding parole until further notice. Other people may not agree with these steps being taken in response to another officer killing.
The other day at my work, a friend of mine told me that I am arguing the wrong side of the story. He said that I should feel sympathy for the families of prisoners and that the family should be able to see there blood line outside of bars before they die. I asked him if he thought that the prisoner took into consideration his family before committing a murder or robbing a bank. He rambled off and walked away because he was stumped. I understand the idea of being wrongfully accused too, but i still disagree with the notion of early parole. If someone is sentenced, that person must have done something wrong.
I am whole heartedly against granting a prisoner early parole. The prisoner deserves what they are given, even if that may be life or death. The sentence should stick and not be candy coated. If someone killed your mother and was up for parole instead of serving a full term, how would you feel?



















BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_/ai_n16815361

http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?city=Philadelphia&state=PA

http://blogs.phillynews.com/dailynews/nextmayor/2007/01/crime_continues_to_be_the.html

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/news_breaking/20081021_Inmates_sue_Rendell_over_parole_moratorium.html