The Kentucky Supreme Court will hear arguments Aug. 19 about the legality of allowing parole credits approved by the 2008 Kentucky General Assembly as part of the biennial budget.
The issue is an important one. If the state’s highest court nullifies the parole credits, it could force hundreds prisoners released early under the program to return to prison. That, in turn, will greatly increase prison costs and make it even more difficult to balance the second year of the two-year budget. Indeed, legislators included the parole credits in the budget in order to meet the constitutional requirement for a balanced budget. Even with the credits, the budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year — which begins July 1 — could top $1 billion.
Two lawsuits have been filed challenging the legality of the early release program, and they have resulted in contradictory lower court rulings. The Supreme Court must decide between those two lower court decisions. Fortunately, to save time, the Court of Appeals is being bypassed. Since these cases were certain to be appealed to the state’s highest court and a quick ruling is essential, that’s the right step.
Pulaski County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eddy Montgomery filed suit in Pulaski Circuit Court contending the release program violated the state constitution because the Department of Corrections applied its provision retroactively. Judge David Tapp ruled in favor of Montgomery’s motion, but initially applied his ruling only to the 28th Circuit covering Pulaski, Rockcastle and Lincoln counties.
Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway filed a similar suit in Franklin Circuit Court seeking to ban the program statewide but Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled in favor of the state.
Late last month, Tapp ruled that his ban applied statewide, but the Court of Appeals quickly nixed that unprecedented power grab by a lower court judge, staying Tapp’s ruling until the Supreme Court ruled on the matter.
Prosecutors throughout the state have criticized the parole credits, claiming they have resulted in dangerous criminals being released long before the completion of their sentences. Legislators say the program is essential to reduce the skyrocketing cost of housing prisoners. Without it, legislators will be forced to make deeper cuts in other state programs.
For now, the early release program continues, but the lawsuit leaves its future in limbo. A definitive court ruling is needed — and soon.
Editorials
A clear ruling — 05/18/09
Definitive decision on parole credits is needed — and soon
- Editorials
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Charles Chattin
Before it merged with Ashland Community College to form Ashland Community and Technical College as a result of the 1997 Higher Education Reform Act, the Ashland Area Vocational-Technical School compiled an impressive record for teaching job skills to young adults and placing more than 85 percent in jobs for which they were trained.
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Try again
It is time for Kentucky Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, and Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, to cease playing political games and redraw district lines that are compact and are based far more on population changes during the first decade of this century than on partisan politics.
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'Asset poor'
More than one in four Kentucky households are “asset poor,” meaning that they are living from paycheck to paycheck with little or no financial cushion to fall back on should they suddenly lose their jobs or have another emergency resulting in a temporary loss of or delcine in income.
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Safer mines
The head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says coal operators throughout the country are improving their operations and, as a result, mines are becoming safer. However, MSHA chief Joe Main said too many coal operators still “don’t get it” and are continuing to cut costs by ignoring safety. That’s why MSHA plans to continue targeting mines with a history of repeated violations for additional inspections.
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Not far enough
For the past three sessions of the Kentucky General Assembly, bills that would raise the minimum dropout age from 16 to 18 have been approved by the Kentucky House of Representatives by wide bipartisan margins only to die in the Senate without even a vote.
Now the Senate Education Committee has unanimously approved a dropout bill hailed as an alternative to the House bill, but it does not go nearly far enough. It is a halfway measure that would have only a limited effect on preventing teenagers from quitting high school before graduation and virtually assuring themselves of lives on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.
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Not their job
The local government committee of the Kentucky House of Representatives has wisely killed a bill — dubbed “Cooper’s Law” — that would have allowed the family of the Lexington toddler with cerebral palsy to have a playhouse on their property despite a deed restriction that apparently prohibits such structures.
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Keeping FADE
Despite an increase in cost to the department, Carter County Sheriff Casey Brammell told the Carter County Fiscal Court that his department will continue to be active in the FIVCO Area Development Drug Enforcement (FADE) Task Force — at least for now.
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Needed changes
The soaring enrollment that Kentucky’s community and technical colleges have experienced in recent years could come to a sudden end — or at least be slowed — as about 5,500 students in the statewide system that includes Ashalnd Community and Technical College are expected to lose their financial aid under new rules being implemented by the federal government.
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Released early
While it is disappointing that 75 of the 952 prisoners granted early release in January have violated the terms of their releases, the good news is that none of the former inmates have been charged with new felonies. That’s an early, but positive, indication that the nonviolent felons released before their sentences were up have been carefully selected and are among those least likely to return to a life of crime.
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Obese children
Almost a decade after former Gov. Ernie Fletcher called childhood obesity an “epidemic” in Kentucky, a majority of Kentucky adults still think that there are too many overweight children in the state and they place the bulk of the blame squarely on the shoulders of their parents.
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Charles Chattin
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