The Parole Process 
STATE BOARD OF PARDONS AND PAROLES 
Floyd Veterans Memorial Building; Fifth Floor, East Tower; 2 M.L. King, Jr., Drive, S.E.; Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Telephone: (404) 656-5651 
 
D Our Founding Fathers gave us a Republic with safeguards against bad government.. They created a system of constitutional checks and balances so that unwise or unjust action in one branch of government might in another branch be corrected. 
 
D Nowhere is it more important to apply that principle than in criminal justice. In the name of justice the State of Georgia may take away freedom and life itself. Therefore, it should be the truest justice humanly possible. 
 
II The existence of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles ensures that the Executive Branch, in addition to the Legislative and Judicial, has a discretionary role in criminal justice. Thus it provides a vital part of governmental checks and balances. 
 
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D Under the Georgia Constitution the Parole Board since 1943 has had sole authority to grant paroles, pardons, and reprieves, to commute sentences, including death sentences, to remit sentences, and to remove disabilities imposed by law. 
 
R As soon as a newly sentenced offender 1:1 enters a State reception prison, the 
Board of Pardons and Paroles starts preparing his case for parole consideration. Here inmates arrive at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center near Jackson. 
 
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n Although the Parole Board is separate 
W from the Department of Corrections, 
deep in the prison works a Parole Officer team. A Parole Officer interviews each new inmate and completes a Personal History Statement questionnaire. 
 
 
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5'1 A Parole Officer asks detailed ques- 
. . tions: "Where have you lived, attended school, worked? Who are your 
closest relatives? Where do they live? Where do you plan to live and work? What's your own account of your offense?" 
 
30 198 
 
GUMENTS 
 
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n m Soon the completed Personal History 
 
The Parole Officer talks with the 
 
m Statement is sent to a parole office in . . inmate's mother, asking for informa- 
 
the inmate's home community. With the tion from the inmate's childhood and up to 
 
Statement in hand, a Parole Officer conducts the present. "Any school problems? Drinking 
 
a Social Investigation, calling on persons or drug problems? Mental Problems? Any 
 
who have direct knowledge of the inmate. criminality among his brothers and sisters?" 
 
 "Humanity and goodpolicy conspire to dictate that the benignpr~ The criminal code ofevery country partakes so much ofnecessary s, justice would wear a countenance too sanguinary and cruel. " 
 
rJi1 The Parole Officer also calls on a 
lAW former employer to get his views on 
the inmate. "Was he reliable? Did he give a full day's work? Would you rehire him?" The Officer assures all informants that their remarks will remain confidential. 
 
mThe Parole Officer collects some candid statements. The written report of this Social Investigation may show conflicts between what the inmate says about himself and what others say who have lived with or employed the inmate. 
 
n1 Meanwhile, another Parole Officer is 
~ writing a Legal Investigation report, the most important case document. It gives a detailed account of the inmate's crime and his local criminal history, drawn from records of the District Attorney and Clerk of Court. 
 
n1 During the Legal Investigation the l1li Parole Officer may seek out the Sheriff 
or the arresting officer to draw on law enforcement's knowledge of any aggravating or mitigating circumstances."Was his victim hurt? Have you had trouble with him before?" 
 
rwI The Board always welcomes any Victim IIiI Impact Statement from a crime victim 
and recommendations from Judges and District Attorneys. Board Members believe that the more severe the offense and its effects, the longer the offender should stay behind bars. 
 
I'R Placed in each file are an FBI or Georgia l1li Crime Information Center record of 
the inmate's arrests and convictions nationwide, Classification and Admission Summary (a Corrections Department evaluation), and any prison Disciplinary Reports. 
 
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r n Numerous letters from and about 
W inmates pour into the Parole Board's 
central office every work day. The Board appreciates receiving such letters, both favorable and unfavorable, and makes them a permanent part of the inmates' case fIles. 
 
rt;J About four months after a non-life.... sentence inmate enters the prison system, the Parole Board considers his case. Traditionally the Board has pondered two questions: "How long should he serve to pay for his crime, and would he succeed on parole?" 
 
rI'J Now the Board also considers prison IIUI system capacity. It has a mandate 
from the Governor and General Assembly to help control prison overcrowding. Where overcrowding was not controlled, there were lawsuits and forced spending of millions. 
 
 'e ofpardoning should be as little aspossiblefettered or embarrassed. 'hat without an easy access to exceptions infavor ofunfortunate guilt, 
 
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Alexander Hamilton, 1788 The Federalist Papers, Number 74 
 
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1m Parole Decision Guidelines help the 
.... Board make a more consistent, soundly based, and understandable decision on an inmate serving a sentence less than life. Guidelines help the Board decide on a Tentative Parole Month or decide to deny parole. 
 
Ii'Ji1 Applying the Guidelines, a Board 
r:aY Hearing Examiner identifies an in- 
mate's Crime Severity Level from a table of offenses ranked in seven levels. The higher the severity, the longer the inmate will be recommended to serve. 
 
mThen he adds weighted predictive factors to get the Parole Success Likelihood Score. Factors like prior imprisonment, probation failure, heroin use, and joblessness would increase the risk and result in a recommendation for longer confinement. 
 
""-ROLE DECISION GUIDELINES 
 
MONTHS TO SERVE 
 
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10 12 15 18 27 
 
20 36 
 
25 48 
 
30 54 
 
40 60 
 
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78 90 102 
 
R1 The Hearing Examiner applies the r:r:II inmate's Crime Severity Level and 
Parole Success Likelihood Score to a Guidelines grid, which also weighs prison system capacity. He reads off the recommended total confinement time. 
 
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n1 The grid-recommended confinement 
(:1M time translates into a recommendation for either parole denial or a Tentative Parole Month in the future. However, this is a recommendation which the Board Members, by majority decision, may accept or reject. 
 
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A I Independently and privately, a Mem- 
Ci.I ber studies an inmate's case. He re- 
fers to the Guidelines recommendation but mainly studies the source material: the Personal History Statement, Social Investigation report, and Legal Investigation of the crime. 
 
r:a. riR A Board Member reviews other case file documents: the FBI record of arrests and convictions throughout the nation, any Victim Impact Statement, prison Disciplinary Reports, letters received, and statements from office visitors. 
 
..,. A Board Member may agonize. When ~ will the inmate have been punished enough? When will he have been taught a 
sufficient lesson? Does he need to stay locked 
up to keep him from committing another crime? Will he change for the better? 
 
rtJ;J Ifa Member agrees with the Guidelines 
CII recommendation, he endorses it. If he 
finds reason to depart from the Guidelines, such as a brutal crime, he votes differently and records his reason. The majority decides and usually agrees with the Guidelines. 
 
 "There is power only in principles: They alone are a beacon light for men's minds, a rallying point for convictions gone astray. " 
Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) Essays, 113 
 
a u 5N The inmate receives a detailed Notice of Action. It leads him step by step to show him how and why the Board arrived at its decision. If the Board has decided to depart from the Guidelines, the Notice includes the Members' reasons. 
 
r:a. lim The Notice may tell the inmate he may be paroled during a certain Tentative Parole Month if his prison conduct remains good. Or he may be informed that he will not be paroled but must serve until his sentence completion date. 
 
5fi1 Executive clemency has a long tradi- 
I:MW tion. Its history goes back through the 
Governor, the Colonial Governor, the King, 
the tribal chieftain. The final appeal for mercy is heard by the top executive or, currently, the executive clemency agency. 
 
mImportantly, a Parole Board Member can compare a case with thousands of others. Through daily study of parole cases he is in the unique position to know what punishments are being given for various crimes throughout the State of Georgia. 
 
151 Second to none is the Board's ability .::I to identify a sentencing disparity. An 
inmate's excessively harsh punishment may, through Board action, be moderated. On the other hand, an excessively lenient sentence deserves a flat parole denial. 
 
a . n'I Justice demands some consistency in punishment throughout Georgia, especially when the offenders are confined together in the same prisons. Using its constitutional authority, the Parole Board provides the consistency. 
 
m The Board was created to raise ex- 
aA.I ecutive clemency above the tides and 
.passions of politics. That the effort succeeded is shown today by the Board's courage to act on the basis of facts and principles regardless of controversy. 
 
a . IR The State Board of Pardons and Paroles performs a constitutional duty of the Executive Branch of government. It checks 
Judicial discretion. it restores balance when 
justice is tilted askew. It fulfills a vision of the Founders of our Republic. 
 
I n Any person who has a question 
IIUI about Parole Board policy or who 
wants to make a recommendation on a case may write the Board at the address on the front of this publication. The Board is glad to hear from the citizens it serves. 
Published January 1989