Capitol Confidential
By Edward McKinley
on February 22, 2021 at 12:22 PM
ALBANY — The Fair and Timely Parole Act, which would shift the presumption for discretionary parole so that hearings are less focused on the original crime, was advanced by the state Senate Corrections Committee on Monday.
Criminal justice reform advocates have rallied around the measure as a step that would reduce racial bias in the process and would offer a more fair and forward-looking approach to discretionary parole, rather than a current process which they say focuses primarily on the original crime, despite it occurring decades ago. Times Union reporting last fall analyzed 19,000 parole decisions and found significant racial bias, and activists point to the Fair and Timely Parole Act as a fix.