Mississippi’s parole laws have undergone several changes in the 29 years since I began practicing law. When I started in October 1980, almost all prisoners were eligible for parole after serving 1/4 of their sentence. The Federal Bureau of Prisons also allowed parole. Sometime in the mid-1980s, the federal government abolished parole and instituted a system where an inmate could earn up to 15% of sentence time, but any person who went to prison had to serve at least 85% of the sentence imposed. Not long after the federal change, Mississippi also introduced the same change. Any person sentenced to imprisonment had to serve 85% of their sentence. This applied to even the smallest nonviolent crime.
The changes that the Mississippi Legislature made were harsh. Very little attention has been paid to the human, emotional, or financial costs. This 85% rule lasted for years until the Department of Corrections petitioned the legislature for relief. The state prison was overflowing with ineligible parolees serving 85% of their sentences. People at the prison camp feel that probation was a useful tool because it gave inmates a reason to conform their behavior to the rules. In the early 80’s I had a conversation with the president of parole. He said about 80 percent of the people in state prison were there for nonviolent crimes and about half that number for crimes of about $1,000.00. It costs about $25,000.00 per year to cover the cost of incarceration. When you look at the cost of prison, it makes sense for us as a society to find other alternatives.
Reduce prison time.
Year after year, Louisiana ranks among the top incarceration rates per capita. To reverse this trend, the Louisiana legislature passed criminal justice reform to reduce prison populations. Law 281/S.B. 220, 2017 Ordinary Session. Law 280/S.B. 139, 2017 Ordinary Session Law 282/S.B. 221, Regular Session 2017
In addition to reducing the length of sentences and making drug court admission easier, lawmakers have changed how inmate credits are calculated.
Early Releases Could Save Mississippi Nearly $1 Billion
Mississippi introduced restrictive parole eligibility requirements and its Common Offenders Act in the 1990s when a wave of “strong crime” swept across the nation, including the federal government. Sun-Sen. Joe Biden authored and then-President Bill Clinton signed into law the 1994 Crimes Act, which imposed strict sentencing requirements (both men have since called for the policy to be reversed). The federal bill received bipartisan support at the time, including then-Rep. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent.
The Mississippi House delegation, then composed of five Democrats, was split on the 1994 bill, with two members voting in favor and three voting against. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the only remaining member from that term, as well as the state’s only current black or Democratic member of Congress, voted in favour. The two then US Senators from Mississippi, Republicans Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, also voted in favour.