BEST TO WAIT AND SEE ABOUT THE NEWLY PAROLED

District Attorneys And Law Officers Across The State Have Started Worrying.

They're worried that paroling inmates, possibly as many as 5,000 in the
coming months, will increase their workloads when they have to arrest,
prosecute and incarcerate them once again.

Since Dec. 1, a second three-member panel of the Alabama Board of Pardons
and Paroles has been meeting. This addition doubles the number of parole
cases the state can hear and may double the number of new parolees hitting
the streets.

December's docket has 1,263 names, including some of the state's most
violent criminals, eligible for parole hearings, regardless of the
additional board. The rest - convicted of everything from drug charges,
theft, felony DUI, credit card fraud, forgery and arson - are part of the
board's special docket of nonviolent offenders.

Limestone County District Attorney Kristi Valls is one who worries about
these inmates being freed. "I don't see how this alleviates the problems
when six months down the road, I'll be prosecuting the same person," she said.

The problem Valls is referring to is the overcrowding of Alabama's prison
system. Currently, our prisons are holding more than 28,000 inmates in
facilities built for 12,000. That, and the financial crunch brought on by
Alabama's budgetary problems, is forcing prison officials to seek
alternatives, including paroles and early release.

It costs a lot to keep these people jailed. It's far less expensive for the
state to hire extra parole officers and pay their benefits than to keep all
of these people in jail. Whatever the outcome, it's a chance we should take.

If they can't lead the type of life society expects of them, then slap them
back in jail.

At this point we can only wait and see and hope the dire predictions by
officers of the court never come to pass.