jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601
DURHAM -- Politics is fueling the outrage over the 20 inmates scheduled for release next week from prisons across this state, Durham County Chief Public Defender Lawrence M. Campbell said on Tuesday.
"I think that the state Supreme Court has spoken on these cases. They have interpreted the law," Campbell said.
As a result of a ruling by the high court this month, on Oct. 29 some inmates serving life prison sentences for crimes including murder and rape will be freed. Based on a 1970s law defining a life sentence as 80 years and other sentencing parameters that trimmed prison time, the inmates have paid their debts to society, members of the state Supreme Court unanimously agreed in upholding a decision by the state Court of Appeals.
One inmate who'll be released argued that laws on the books say his prison sentence ought to be lighter because of his good behavior while locked up.
Two of the inmates will be released in Durham. One of them went to prison for murder, the other for rape.
Campbell said some inflammatory comments objecting to the ruling are uncalled for. "I think it is trying to inflame and put citizens in fear," he said, adding that some politicians are using the occasion to appear tough on crime.
Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline expressed concern about the inmates getting released. She pointed out that in the past under fair-sentencing laws, a life sentence didn't mean life. But things changed when structured sentencing came along in 1994 that made a life sentence indeed mean life, she said.
Inmates released under the recent ruling and who get supervision could go on to lead productive lives, which would be a good thing, Cline said. Those whose crimes were triggered by their emotions could function in society if systems are in place to help them manage those feelings, she said.
However, the release of convicted pedophiles is troubling, because the thinking is their crimes weren't triggered by something such as anger, Cline said. The jury's still out as to whether pedophiles can be rehabilitated, the district attorney said.
"Those are the people we really need to be concerned about," Cline said.
Cline said the burden will be on community members to keep their eyes peeled for potential crime by the recently freed.
