AUGUSTA, Maine — For close to 50 years, people incarcerated in Maine have not had the opportunity to apply for parole.
Maine became the first state in the country to abolish that system in 1976 when there was a public perception that the parole board was too lenient. Now, there's an effort underway to reverse that decision.
A group of Mainers and people from out of state has formed a citizens' collective called Parole-4-Maine. The group's goal is to raise awareness about a bill in the Maine Legislature this session: LD 178, "An Act to Support Reentry and Reintegration into the Community." It comes after a commission studied a similar bill in the fall and sent forth its recommendation that parole be reestablished in our state.
"[Parole-4-Maine] is a new collaborative effort to really get parole passed. We’ve been going through iterations of parole legislation for years now," Brandon Brown, a Maine man who was incarcerated but is now out of prison on Maine's Supervised Community Confinement Program, said.
Brown has a unique perspective on the issue, as someone who spent about a decade behind bars and found purpose through higher education. He said his story is an example of how successful other prison residents could be, if they knew they had an opportunity to get out earlier by doing self-improvement.
"That’s what got me through my time in prison was this idea of having hope that there was a place for me in society, regardless of the fact that I committed a terrible wrong," Brown said.
Brown said he thinks the Supervised Community Confinement Program is not enough, since people who are incarcerated can only get out 30 months before the end of their sentence, at a maximum. That number does not change, regardless of how long the sentence is.
Brown said the purpose of parole is to give people a second chance when they're "ripe for reentry." Not everyone would be granted parole, but everyone could apply.
"At the end of the day, what we’re trying to advocate for is people being released on time," Brown said.
According to the Prison Policy Initiative, Maine has an incarceration rate of 328 per 100,000 people. That's lower than the average incarceration rate in the United States, but it's higher than almost any other democracy on the planet. Parole-4-Maine said it costs taxpayers about $76,000 per year to incarcerate one person.
"We want people to get out. We want people to be able to contribute to society," Dr. Arthur Jones, a former corrections administrator and parole commissioner in New Jersey and Rhode Island, said. Jones said he is happy after a more than 40-year career in criminal justice work to now be advocating for change.
"All of the studies show that people who are incarcerated for a longer sentence of time suffer more mental health problems. They have a tougher problem reintegrating into society," Jones said.
Jones said there's also a misperception that victims of crimes only want to see the perpetrators locked up.
"People think victims want inmates incarcerated for as long as they can. Most victims don't," Jones said. "Most victims want to see people rehabilitated.”
Catherine Besteman is a professor of anthropology at Colby College. She's another member of Parole-4-Maine who said she thinks it's important to recognize who in Maine is affected by harsh sentences.
"You know, if you look at who ends up incarcerated in Maine, it’s poor people. It’s black and brown people. It’s people with substance use disorder. It’s people with accrued lifetime of trauma," Besteman said.
Besteman said she firmly believes in the power of a second chance for offenders.
"Most people who have caused a heinous crime want to do something to fix it. They want to have access in some way to contribute to the community that they’re harmed, and our system right now does not allow that," Besteman said.
Governor Janet Mills has formerly said she does not support the reestablishment of parole in Maine. In a statement to NEWS CENTER Maine on Tuesday, her team wrote:
"The State of Maine has an early release system, known as the Supervised Community Confinement Program, which allows rehabilitated residents the opportunity to finish serving their sentences while residing in the community and remaining engaged with the Department of Corrections, including appropriate supports and accountability. While the Governor supports criminal justice reform efforts that advance the rehabilitation of incarcerated individuals, consistent with their sentences as decided by a judge, she is troubled by the lack of consideration given to victims of these crimes and their families. Under parole, innocent individuals would be repeatedly subjected to the possibility that the offender will be released, forcing them to relive the crime at every parole hearing. Victims and their families deserve better. The Governor supports Maine’s existing Supervised Community Confinement Program."
You can read more about Parole-4-Maine's mission here.