Kentucky drops policy that would have given murderers new parole hearings
The head of the Kentucky Parole Board has rescinded a controversial policy that would have granted an additional parole hearing to more than 40 state inmates who had been ordered to serve the rest of their lives in prison.
Ladeidra Jones, who chairs the board, said in a letter Thursday that she had rescinded the policy.
The letter was included with a court motion asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit that Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Commonwealth’s Attorney Jackie Steele had filed to block the policy and the new parole hearings.
That lawsuit is moot now that the policy at issue has been overturned, the Parole Board said in a motion.
The policy at issue was a change the Parole Board made in April. Under its old rule, the board could issue a “serve out” order at the first parole hearing of people serving sentences of life, or life without parole for a minimum of 25 years.
A serve out meant the inmate would spend the rest of his or her life in prison.
The Parole Board changed that policy to say it could no longer issue a serve out order at an offender’s first parole hearing. That could apply in many cases going forward.
But the board also applied the change retroactively, giving another chance at parole to 45 inmates who had been ordered to stay in prison until they died, including people convicted in some of the state’s most high-profile murders.
Those inmates included Clawvern Jacobs, who was convicted of kidnapping Judy Ann Howard, a student at Alice Lloyd College in Knott County, sexually abusing her and beating her to death with rocks in 1986; Donald Terry Bartley, who took part in the murder of Tammy Dee Acker, a University of Kentucky student stabbed to death in Letcher County in 1985; Stephanie Spitser, who strangled her 10-year-old stepson, Scotty Baker, to death in Clay County in 1992; and Jeffrey B. Coffey, convicted of murdering teenagers Taiann Nicole Wilson and Matthew Coomer while they were on a date in rural Pulaski County in 1985.
The unexpected change blindsided and angered prosecutors and family members of crime victims.
Family members said they believed because of serve out orders that they wouldn’t have to deal with the potential for a convicted murderer to get out of prison, only to learn the inmates would get another chance at release.
“The crime victims and their families affected by this directive have already gone through the excruciating process of one Parole Board hearing, and they were given assurance by the board that those responsible for carrying out heinous and violent crimes would spend the rest of their lives in prison without the possibility of parole,” Cameron said in a news release when he filed the lawsuit to block the change.
Families of victims in the cases affected by the policy change welcomed the move to rescind it.
“I think it’s wonderful news,” said Tonya Baumgardner, Taiann Wilson’s older sister. “There’s a big sense of relief.”
Cameron and Steele, the prosecutor for Laurel and Knox counties, said rescinding the policy change was the right thing to do.
The lawsuit they filed argued that the Parole Board did not follow the proper procedure in adopting the policy, which would have included allowing public comment and having a review by a legislative committee.
“I’m glad to see the Kentucky Parole Board rescind its directive granting new parole hearings to convicted murderers serving life sentences,” Cameron said in a statement. “We were proud to stand up for the rights of crime victims during this process, and we will continue to lead on this case until the judge issues a final ruling.”
Jones’ decision to unwind the earlier change may not be the final word on serve outs.
A lawsuit is pending in which state inmates are challenging the Parole Board’s authority to issue serve outs in life sentences, said Timothy G. Arnold, director of the Post-Trial Division at the state Department of Public Advocacy.
Arnold argued that in most cases, ordering a serve out on a life sentence is terrible policy, creating extra risk for prison employees because it removes the incentive for an inmate to behave, and driving up costs to taxpayers by keeping inmates in jail when their medical needs are greatest and their risk of committing new crimes is low.
The Parole Board’s process allows for an inmate to get a serve out order based on a mistake or a bad interview, rather than a reasonable evaluation of a person’s potential for rehabilitation, Arnold said.
“Meanwhile, the inmates who were given a burst of hope that they might one day be allowed to serve their sentences outside of prison, are devastated,” he said.
The Parole Board has defended its procedures in court.
Gov. Andy Beshear appointed Jones as chair of the board June 21 in place of Lelia Vanhoose, who headed the board when it adopted the controversial change in April, and did not reappoint Vanhoose to the board.
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 1:43 PM.
