Analysis: Push to revise parole survives despite gov’s veto
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves killed a bill but not an idea when he vetoed the Mississippi Correctional Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2020, which would have made more inmates eligible for the possibility of parole.
Local activists, families ask judges to consider parole for habitual offenders with nonviolent felonies
When Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have made up to 2,000 nonviolent offenders eligible for parole earlier this month, family members of those inmates set aside their disappointment to search for other options.
Alabama board denies parole for Birmingham church bomber
The lone surviving Ku Klux Klansman imprisoned for killing four black girls in a church bombing in 1963 will remain behind bars after Alabama’s parole board heeded the victims’ families Wednesday and refused an early release.
Former KKK member convicted in deadly bombing up for parole
Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. was a young Ku Klux Klansman with a reputation for hating blacks in 1963, when a bomb ripped a hole in the side of 16th Street Baptist Church, killing four black girls during the civil rights movement.
Man paroled in conspiracy to photograph senator’s ill wife
A Mississippi blogger is out of prison after serving several months for sneaking into a nursing home to shoot unauthorized video of the ailing wife of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran during the Southern Republican’s hard-fought 2014 campaign.
Convicted murderer sentenced to life
A Lowndes County man sentenced to life in prison for a 1980 murder now has the possibility of parole.
Prisoner’s revoked parole reveals inconsistencies
On July 8, 2014, the Mississippi Parole Board gave Nathan Sinko notice he would be released from prison in September, but he remains in custody today due to what his attorney describes as an unfair procedural change made by the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Convicted Lowndes County murderer likely up for parole
The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that a Lowndes County man convicted of capital murder should be eligible for parole.
Parole denied yet again for John Lennon’s killer
John Lennon’s killer was denied release from prison in his eighth appearance before a parole board, correction officials said Friday.
Prison system seeks contract for transition beds
Mississippi’s prison system has turned to a contractor to expand services for people released from prisons, after the town of Walnut Grove blocked the state’s attempt to open its own transition center.
Parole Board starts electronic monitoring
JACKSON — The Mississippi Parole Board has started releasing a few inmates on the condition that they wear electronic monitoring devices that can be used
‘Clerical error’ almost led to prisoner’s early release
An inmate will remain behind bars after a Mississippi Department of Corrections mistake almost released him to house arrest.
In August, the MDOC parole board granted John Murphy early release and sentenced him to house arrest, even though he was not eligible for action because he had been convicted as a habitual offender.
Smith sentenced to five years for parole violation
German Smith, son of Columbus Mayor Robert Smith, appeared Friday in Lowndes County Circuit Court for a bond revocation hearing. Smith was recently indicted in federal court for possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. As a result of that charge, his bond from his 2008 robbery conviction was revoked.