Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities: Reentry, Race, and Politics

8. Reentry and Parole

Reentry and Parole On August 6, 2004, six people were murdered in a Deltona, Florida, rental home. The community was shocked by the tragic murders that included an eleven-year-old girl. Investigators arrested and charged a number of individuals, including Troy Victorino, who was the alleged mastermind of the crime. At the time of the incident, Victorino was on parole and had recently reported to his parole officer. Victorino had been charged with a new crime, and Florida law allowed the parole officer to exercise discretion in determining whether to arrest the parolee. The parole agent involved opted not to arrest Victorino , and this incident ensued. The press immediately jumped on the story, asserting that the parole department had failed to protect the public . One editorial went so far as to state that all felons caught violating the terms of their probation must be jailed promptly, asserting that the fact that this had not occurred in the Victorino case resulted in the deaths of six young people.1 Three days later, Florida prison officials fired four probation officers, including supervisors, essentially blaming them for the incident. Although officials stated that the parole agents did not follow proper procedure , the fact is that Florida law grants parole agents discretion in these instances, if they see other progress by the parolee. One of the parole supervisors whom the state terminated explained that “the parole officer made ‘a judgment call’ and ‘he was a day late doing his paperwork .’”2 Predictably, one legislator has called for new laws eliminating discretion on the part of parole agents. The legislator states that “[v]iolent probation violators should not get a second bite at the apple”—and, further, that he “was surprised to learn that current law allows probation officers the ‘discretion’ of requesting an arrest if someone commits a violent crime while out on probation—but doesn’t require it.”3 When parole agents in Florida and nationally read about the firings and 8 139 recognized that officials and the public were blaming the murders on the fired agents and supervisors, there was a chilling effect on any exercise of discretion in favor of a second chance for parolees. Suddenly parole agents were being demonized along with parolees. When the average citizen speaks about parole, he or she typically concentrates on its glaring failures. Willie Horton’s crimes allegedly committed while on parole torpedoed a presidential campaign and helped launch a retributive phase of criminal justice policy. Polly Klaas’s kidnapping and murder by parolee Richard Allen spawned “three strikes and you’re out” legislation that sought to keep third-time offenders (violent and nonviolent) from ever seeing the light of day. But the story of parole, its limitations, and its potential to assist in the process of reentry is far more complex than the average citizen realizes and demands a closer look. A. Role of Parole: A Historical Perspective Parole has served a range of functions over the years since its inception. Initially, the parole function grew out of a tacit acknowledgment that individuals recently released from prison would require some assistance in their reentry back into the community. Parole offices recognized even at the beginning two principal needs that ex-offenders as a group experienced : securing housing and finding gainful employment. But parole offices further acknowledged that the process of successful reentry demanded more than just referral information. Parole agents were often expected to undertake a “counseling” role that, at least in theory, would help ease the variety of pressures that parolees faced in coping with family and community relationships as they worked their way back into the fabric of family and community life. Thus, the parole agent role was shaped, in part, by the ex-offender’s needs around reentry. Parole and parole supervision have traditionally been a critical part of the reentry process for ex-offenders. Planning for parole release served as motivation for inmates to participate in whatever programming was available. A grant of parole was often conditioned on the inmate ’s successful completion of prison programs, coupled with the development of a pre-release plan that identified ties to the community, job options, and a plan for housing. Upon release, parole supervision 140 | Reentry and Parole meant ensuring compliance with the plan or helping the ex-offender to adjust the plan to find work and...