Governor, we get it. You really, really don't like the idea of life-sentence inmates being released by the courts. You're not buying the argument that some of these prisoners have served all the time the law requires. To you and most North Carolinians, "life" means life, etc.
But how about tempering some of the intemperate rhetoric?
On Monday, Gov. Bev Perdue declared "I've been in politics a long time, and I've never been this disgusted with the system in my life." For the record, she's also "furious." Earlier this fall, when the lifers' case became a concern, Perdue was "appalled."
Yet surely the governor realizes by now that this is not a case of soft-on-crime judges dreaming up fanciful excuses to free convicted murderers and rapists. At issue are differing interpretations of state law and Department of Correction regulations dating back decades - especially to the 1970s, when these particular inmates were duly sentenced.
And at key points at which those interpretations have been weighed in court, lawyers for the inmates have prevailed. That happened again Monday, when Wake Superior Court Judge Ripley Rand accepted the arguments of two convicted murderers, Alford Jones and Faye Brown, who had been sentenced to life under a 1970s law. The inmates claim that after taking into account legislatively ratified sentence reductions and various good-time credits, their terms are up.
The judge agreed. Last year, conservative judges on the N.C. Court of Appeals came to the same conclusion in another lifer's case, and the state Supreme Court, after agreeing to hear the attorney general's challenge to that ruling, decided the state simply had no case.
In an era when the United States locks up a greater percentage of its population than practically any other nation, when "life means life" is the norm, it's understandably jarring to find some life-sentence inmates making a successful case for their release. But "forever" life sentences weren't always the standard back when there was more emphasis on parole and rehabilitation. This particular group of aging inmates says provisions put in place in the 1970s and early '80s now entitle them to their freedom. If they are right about the law, the state cannot lawfully lengthen their sentences.
Perdue, as governor, is not just the state's First Politician. She's also the head of a government that includes the co-equal judicial branch, but she's acting as if respected judges have gone rogue. And last month she announced a plan to "comply" with court rulings that would have given the lifers in question an "earliest unconditional release date" of 2054.
Some compliance. The governor needs to do her full job, which includes upholding respect for the justice system.
Later Monday, the Court of Appeals stayed Jones' and Brown's release at the state's request. Perhaps the court will again hear the underlying arguments and come to a different conclusion. Perhaps. Whichever way the issue comes out, this case should be handled with less heat and more light.
