http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7098144

Quote :

"RALEIGH (WTVD) -- As North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue fights to block the release of dozens of North Carolina prisoners with violent pasts, she is defending her role in the release of a double murderer. Sally Holloman of Wayne County was convicted of two killings in the early 1980s. Prosecutors said she poisoned her second husband by lacing his tea and hospital IV with arsenic, and she shot and killed a Johnston County businessman. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but the law at the time didn't allow for it. When it came time for Holloman to be eligible for parole, she came to work in - then - Lieutenant Governor Perdue's office. According to Governor Perdue's spokesperson Chrissy Pearson, the - then - Lt. Gov Bev Perdue and her staff provided North Carolina Department of Corrections and the North Carolina Parole Board a work evaluation of Sally Holloman as part of the parole process. Perdue and her staff gave Holloman high marks, saying she did a "good job." A Perdue spokesperson said years later, and after two decades serving a life sentence, Holloman was set free. She has been on parole for nearly four years. For the Governor, Holloman's case and the 27 offenders she's fighting to keep behind bars are not comparable. A recent North Carolina Supreme Court ruling said North Carolina laws in the 1970s set a life sentence at 80 years. Prisoners sentenced then are arguing that with time off for good behavior and other reductions, they've paid their debts to society and should be set free. Click here for more information on each inmate (.pdf) Governor Perdue says the 27 should not go free, and has blocked their release while challenging the way the good behavior credits were tabulated. Perdue says she doesn't see a contradiction between her stance on the 27 and the Holloman case. She says Holloman is an example of how the correction system works. Holloman was tried for her crime, served her time, and was paroled with supervision. Most of the other 27 inmates have been denied parole multiple times. Perdue believes releasing them without supervision is a problem [***Agreed-theDuke866] "Totally different from what we're talking about now," Perdue said to reporters Monday. "I'm talking about people who were on death row who were taken off death row by the courts who are just determined for whatever reason to be let go. No supervision. No oversight in your neighborhood. And that's what I find so heinous." The inmates were supposed to be released last Thursday. But under the Governor's order, the Department of Correction continues to hold them. Only one of the inmates waiting to be released would be supervised. "In this state, life was intended to mean life and with all due respect to the courts, I really hope and pray they think this through a second time, because it's the wrong thing to happen in our state," Perdue said. As for Holloman: "Sally is working now in the private sector, making good money," Perdue said. "She is an older woman who I believe is very well supervised." "I do believe that folks who are on parole, who are monitored and supervised can indeed participate in the community because there's always a set of rules," Perdue added. "There's always a set of parameters. So nobody's out there a free agent.""

OK, I haven't researched ol' Sally or any of these other offenders, or their cases, or Purdue's involvement with any of them or whatever. Maybe these guys don't deserve to be freed. However, Purdue's comments--and this may not be her conscious intent--really smack of "Sally is a middle class, middle aged, white woman who--other than being a psychopath who kills people periodically, functions well in society. The rest of those niggers can rot in prison."

I mean, that last comment I bolded really bugs me. I really don't like it when people who have a responsibility to uphold the law try to ignore/circumvent/misapply it because the law doesn't suit their purposes in a particular instance.

***Note--I do think that they should be subject to parole supervision if released, and they should go through a parole process.

12/16/2009 12:07:27 PM

the question I would like to ask is that do we think her hand is forced, politically, to take this stance

or is it really just egregious political grandstanding?

as in, is this for a perceived positive reaction, or just to prevent a negative one...

it might be impossible to tell the difference

12/16/2009 12:28:55 PM

does it matter?

12/16/2009 12:33:23 PM

I think it does

if there is a perceived backlash of "how could she let this happen?"

then politically, her hand is forced...

she's going though the law... she's not doing anything illegal so...

...

i mean, it upsets me too, but at least in the above instance it's politically reasonable

[Edited on December 16, 2009 at 12:40 PM. Reason : .]

12/16/2009 12:38:54 PM

To me (after having also not researched any of the offenders and etc), it seems like it's got less to do with race (my apologies if you weren't trying to strongly imply a racism issue) and more to do with the fact that Perdue can identify with the woman on some level... the same sort of phenomenon/aspect of human nature that makes idiot hicks vote for the anti-intellectual and thoroughly unqualified "folksy" candidate in elections.

Less a sense of "Sally is a middle class, middle aged, white woman who--other than being a psychopath who kills people periodically, functions well in society. The rest of those niggers can rot in prison" and more "I can identify with Sally, she's a lot like me except that I've never gone crazy and killed people. I've also met her and seen her work so I know she can do well."

Of course, I'm not saying that stance isn't horribly hypocritical. It still is. But chances are that if Bev met these other criminals and gave them work opportunities, she'd feel the same way about at least some of them. Despite what they've done in their past, many prison inmates can come across as decent, honest, thoughtful, and hard-working people (If you've never watched the episode of Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" where he goes to prison, I recommend it).

Quote :

"I do think that they should be subject to parole supervision if released, and they should go through a parole process."

Agreed, and if they would normally have been released by now (had governor's orders not gotten in the way), I support their release with parole.

[Edited on December 16, 2009 at 12:42 PM. Reason : For those interested, here's that 30 Days episode: http://www.hulu.com/watch/56914/30-days-jail]

12/16/2009 12:41:12 PM

No, that's pretty much what I'm saying...not trying to make it specifically about race.

Additionally, there are people who otherwise work very well in society who shouldn't be let out of prison, and people who aren't society's all stars who shouldn't die behind bars.

12/16/2009 2:35:36 PM

This thread title had me wondering what NC and Purdue had in common.

Then I read the thread... PErdue.

And as a big boilermaker fan... was disappointing.

12/16/2009 2:54:11 PM