RI ACLU Sues Dept. of Corrections for Increasing Prison Time for Convicted First-Degree Murderer
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
The Rhode Island ACLU is suing the Department of Corrections (DOC) claiming the agency is unilaterally increasing prison time.
The ACLU filed a habeas corpus petition on Tuesday that argues that inmate Robert McKinney is unlawfully being held in prison despite a decision by the Rhode Island Parole Board that he had demonstrated that he was qualified and ready for release on supervised parole. McKinney was convicted of first-degree murder in 1997.
“This arbitrary change of parole eligibility based on a new DOC interpretation of statute belies restorative justice principles and tenets of discretionary release and most importantly violates inmates’ constitutional rights,” said ACLU cooperating attorney Lisa Holley.
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The ACLU calls for McKinney to be released from custody immediately.
The Case
The petition claims that R.I. Department of Corrections (DOC) decided to change McKinney’s parole eligibility date two decades after he began serving time on murder and conspiracy charges, and that this change would force him to spend at least three extra years in prison despite a unanimous Parole Board decision made in May of 2019 that he is qualified for release from custody now.
According to the RI ACLU, the controversy has been generated by the DOC’s unannounced decision to change the way it calculates parole eligibility dates for individuals who are given consecutive sentences for their crimes, and to apply the change retroactively.
The lawyers cite that according to state law, when a prisoner is serving more than one sentence, “a parole permit may issue whenever he or she has served a term equal to one third (1/3) of the aggregate time which he or she shall be liable to serve under his or her several sentences…”
According to the ACLU, McKinney, under state law, was eligible for parole on his life sentence after serving 20 years, and eligible for parole from his consecutive 10-year conspiracy sentence after three and 1/3 years.
Instead, under the RIDOC’s revised approach, McKinney now must serve 3 and 1/3 more years before becoming eligible for parole from his second sentence.
ACLU cooperating attorney Labinger added: “The DOC’s actions, disregarding decades of interpretation and effectively increasing the sentences that individuals must serve before being eligible for release, have taken place at the same time the state has been promoting criminal justice reform and promoting reductions in the prison population. It not only contravenes the law; it is poor public policy.”
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