Court ruling challenges Parole board's 90 percent policy

ATLANTA - A court challenge to a state parole board policy requirement that those convicted of violent crimes serve 90 percent of their sentences could shorten prison time for up to 1,700 Georgia inmates. <br> <br> U.S. District Judge William O&#39;Kelley of Gainesville said that applying the rule to inmates convicted after the Jan. 1, 1998, effective date violated Coleman Jackson&#39;s constitutional rights. <br> <br> ``The ruling applies only to Coleman Jackson now, but it has the potential to affect many, many more people in the prison system,&#39;&#39; said Jackson&#39;s attorney, McNeill Stokes. <br> <br> Jackson was convicted in December 1998 in Fulton County for shooting at and beating his girlfriend with a pistol in 1996. <br> <br> Under the board&#39;s previous policy, Stokes said, Jackson should have been eligible to have his parole considered in August 2000, after serving 20 months of his 5-year sentence. Operating under its policy, however, the board said it would not consider him for parole until June 2003. <br> <br> The board adopted the policy in an election year during which candidates were criticizing parole. Jackson&#39;s crime, aggravated assault, was one of the 20 felonies the board put under the 90 percent policy. <br> <br> Chuck Topetzes, director of parole, said the panel would look again at about 1,700 inmates whose parole was set according to the policy. He said the files of another 500 also would be reviewed because they were convicted of a string of crimes, some occurring before the policy&#39;s effective date, to determine if they also should be reconsidered. <br> <br> ``We&#39;re just going to continue to study the court&#39;s order, and, based on the advice we&#39;ve received, we can proceed now to do another review of those other cases,&#39;&#39; Topetzes said.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/6/193844