A Deaf Ear to Parolees Who Languish in Jails!

Nevada Still Turning A Deaf Ear to Parolees Who Languish in Jails!

The parole system in Nevada is inherently flawed as is evident by the hundreds of inmates who remain incarcerated despite having served their dues to society and deemed safe for release by the parole board. It is not only the prisoners who are at the receiving end of government apathy in the matter but also the tax payers. Annually, they have to foot the additional burden of $4 million for inmates who are held back in the prison system despite securing conditional release.

An extreme example of how haphazardly the system works is that of Russell Yeager, a convicted murderer, who was let out last January, a whopping 13 years after the Parole Board deemed him fit for release. It remains a mystery as to what made the correctional authorities change their mind even though they spent more than a decade not heeding to Yeager’s requests for release which were placed before the prison board and the Supreme Court.

The system is not only unfair to inmates who have done the time for their misdeeds but also needlessly jeopardizes community welfare by suddenly releasing inmates who have completed their prison term without imposing a period of supervision.

The spending on the corrections system of the state are staggering at $300 million and the number of parolees who continue to be held back in prisons are simply adding to the burden. Everybody is well aware of the problem with the correctional and the parole system. Yet, nobody is addressing the elephant in the room; at least, no efforts are being made in this direction. In the meanwhile, almost 75% of the parole releases for 2014 remain stalled due to administrative snags.