The New York State Board of Parole is woefully understaffed, and two members who have deep political and police ties routinely reject prisoners without giving them a chance, charges a scathing report by criminal justice activists, the New York Daily News reports. Commissioner Walter Smith, a politically connected board member since 1996, consistently denies parole to prisoners convicted of violent crimes and is prone to losing his temper and mocking inmates seeking to convince him they’ve turned their lives around, say the organizations Release Aging People in Prison and the Parole Preparation Project. Commissioner Marc Coppola attends hearings unprepared, often mixes up case files and fails to consider required aspects of a prisoner’s life behind bars, the report says. “The governor can and should dismiss these commissioners immediately and replace them with qualified candidates who better reflect the identities and experiences of people in prison,” the groups maintain.
Prisoner advocates and police unions are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to overhaul the board. Critics want the state to add staff as well as depoliticize how members are selected. The board is staffed with only 12 of 19 commissioners, who must handle an average of 12,000 cases each year. The board has not been fully staffed since Cuomo took office, said Dave George of the aging-inmate activist group. The state budget allocated money for 16 parole commissioners this fiscal year. A lack of staff has made it impossible for the board to review cases thoroughly, prisoner advocates say. In May, the board interviewed 70 prisoners in Fishkill Correctional Facility in one week. “Such severe understaffing has led to myriad procedural problems, overworked commissioners, higher caseloads, shorter parole interviews, and less time for individualized evaluations of parole applicant files,” the report says. Patrick Bailey, a parole board spokesman, said the report contains “false accusations.”