Hedlund, Senate Pass Parole Reform Bill

The Massachusetts Senate last week approved a comprehensive parole reform bill that includes a Republican-sponsored measure requiring third time violent habitual criminals to serve their sentences consecutively, rather than concurrently.  The bill passed unanimously on a vote of 36-0.

Assistant Senate Minority Leader Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth), hailed the bill as a major step forward in protecting public safety.  The efforts to reform the state’s parole system originated with legislation that was filed in January by the Republican Caucus.

“Last week the legislature unanimously stood with those victimized by violent crime, in support of harsher penalties for violent habitual offenders” said Senator Hedlund. “This legislation creates another significant tool for law enforcement to continue to advance the cause of public safety.”

Highly publicized cases involving the death of Police Officer John “Jack” Maguire and the escape of Tamik Kirkland of Springfield from a state run minimum security prison, created a public outcry relative to abuses within the parole system and the parole eligibility of violent repeat offenders.

Officer Maguire a 34 year veteran of the Woburn Police Department was killed in the line of duty by Dominic Cinelli a career criminal who was released in early 2011 despite serving three concurrent life sentences. Tamik Kirkland, a 24 year old career criminal who had escaped from minimum security MCI-Shirley to seek revenge on individuals he believed to be responsible for his mothers shooting, instead he killed one and wounded another innocent man.

Additionally, the Senate Republican’s pushed for the inclusion of “Melissa’s Law” in the final version of the legislation passed last week, a proposal that has been mired in committee since 2001. The bill is named after Melissa Gosule, a Randolph schoolteacher who was killed in 1999 by Michael Gentile, a Halifax man who was granted parole despite having 27 criminal convictions on his record.

“While I applaud the legislature for acting on this important bill, I am discouraged by the fact that it took highly publicized violent crimes to create the need for this legislation, once again we have proven to be a reactive body rather than a proactive one” explained Hedlund.

In addition to securing language barring concurrent terms for violent habitual offenders, the Senate also approved Republican-sponsored amendments that would:

• require the members of the parole board to certify in writing that they have reviewed the criminal record of those inmates that come before the board seeking parole;

• mandate that the parole board provide written certification of its attempts to comply with requirements that it notify the attorney general, district attorney, police chief, victims and victims’ families before conducting a hearing to consider granting parole to anyone serving a life sentence;

• give the governor the authority to remove members of the parole board for cause after giving notice and holding a public hearing; and

• require that if the parole board does not post portions of public records and summary statements of their hearings on the Internet, the board must state the reason(s) why it cannot do so.

The bill now heads to the House for further action.

The above release was submitted by the office of Robert Hedlund.