Friday, December 26, 2008

Parole Commission

My husband's supervised parole termination hearing was Monday 12/22. First, let me say that we went in there knowing full well that it would be a waste of time. But, we had them reaching really low to come up with reasons why they wouldn't terminate his supervised parole. His lawyer was armed with facts about re-offense percentages that I had supplied him. Then of course, he was able to to dis-credit the psych eval since my husband's therapist never gave him the evaluations and were making up the answers. So, from the bottom of the garbage dump, they came up with 4 new reasons:

1) He's challenging his forced registration since under Maryland law he is not required to register since his conviction was back in 1979.
2) He hasn't been married long enough. (ok, we've been married 16 months, but have co-habitated for 2+ years)
3) He hasn't been employed long enough. (Forget the fact that except for the 11 months that he couldn't find a job because of all the travel restrictions his PO placed on him and being a CDL driver, in this day and time, you can't find truck jobs that stay in MD, DE, and VA. And accept applicants with a felony conviction. Prior to that, he has always been gainfully employed. Luckily, the PO changed his restrictions allowing him to travel out of state as long as he calls him before going out and upon return and he has to be back in the tri-state area within 24 hours. He's returned to work in July 2008.)
4) He doesn't have an up to date polygraph. (Ok...this is a biggie. They aren't requesting a polygraph that will ask questions on his conviction or therapeutic purposes, but of investigative purposes. Which is illegal. They want to ask him if he's committed any new crimes.)

As you can see...they were really reaching.....

My daughter went with us and was able to say her peace but when it came to my turn, I was grilled like a felon. Bombarding me with questions. I really felt dirty after leaving that place. Course, my husband's lawyer stated I answered the questions really well and even did a fantastic job on one question. The investigator asked me if I ever initiated a visit with his PO. Sorry, I laughed!!! So, instead of telling her why I really would never call his PO....I simply stated, "I have no reason to" which I haven't. But the fact remains, I don't trust him, I don't respect him. He's a liar, he wants to violate my husband so bad that eventually he's going to make something up. He even told the sheriff deputy who handles the registration that he would love to violate him. That's like telling the man..."Get me some dirt on him!" I thought PO's are supposed to make sure their charges walk the straight and narrow but at the same time be encouraging and supportive. HA!!!!!! He'd rather violate him, then shoot him in the back stating that he was trying to run. Not to mention, this same ass hole spent 45 mins trying to convince me not to marry my husband. State PO's aren't allowed to do that and I'm sure Feds aren't either. The whole purpose of parole is to allow these guys to get on with their life and improve their life. Not to mention the little personal remarks he makes to me when he visits...might not seem like much...but he's crossing the line. Remarks like..."oh, you've darkened your hair!" "Been out in the sun? You are really tan!" No, I don't trust him.

Needless to say, my husband is appealing. Again, not that its going to do any good. And then there is next year's term. hearing. I wonder what they will dig up by then?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So does this mean they'd be more likely to discontinue supervised parole if he'd a) drop any challenge(s) to the registration; and b) take the freakin' polygraph? The other two items should take care of themselves assuming he maintains a stable marriage and employment record. Seems pretty straightforward and worth a shot to me!

Dee said...

He will be taking the polygraph a couple months prior to his next parole hearing with his lawyer present.As far as stopping his challenge on the sex offender registration....we have heard promises before that they turn around and take back. Take for instance, his PO told him if he registered he would do away with all travel restrictions so that he could find a good paying job. So he registered...and this was before he challenged, and guess what...He only lifted a little of the restriction which still forces my husband to check in with him and be back in the tri-state area in 24 hours. Also, last year at his previous hearing, they used the registration as the main reason he is still supervised. This year...he is registered and they came up with another curve. So while it seems that it is pretty straightforward, they'll come up with something different next year if he abides by all their demands from this one. They know as well as we know that he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell in winning his registration challenge. The passage of the SORNA law which will be mandatory for all states come July 2009 (if they don't they lose Federal grant money) will settle the matter. So by the time he goest to his next parole term hearing, the matter will be settled. The parole commission has a history of making false promises just to get their way. There is no way they are going to take my husband off supervised parole....its a matter of CYA (covering your ass). I appreciate your comment but there is a bigger picture here. While the marriage issue will be resolved by next hearing (they want him to be married for at least 2 years) The employment will not. (Must be employed in the same position for 3 years) In this day and time...can anyone be guaranteed that they will have the same job in the next 2 years?