The record-union., 1895-02-02
THE PAROLE Law.
Penologists Everywhere Declare 1t
Admirable.
While 1t Is the Best Thing for the
State 1t Is Also the Salvation
of the Prisoners,

Especial Correspondence of RECoRD-UNIoN. I
There stands upon the statute books of
this State law passed by the last Legis-
lature and pronounced by them Just and
good. That law expressed the mature
Judgment of the most experienced prison
men of the State founded largely upon
the practical methods OF the best Eastern
prisons. Though an innovation in our
own State, not SO in others, and in Eu-
rope NOTABLY Germany, where it is the
basis of the prison system after the most
patient and careful experiment.
1t is up for reconsideration before the
present Legislature, whether because of
any radical defect in its workings in that
brief space, I am unable to say. If so,
We are wiser in cur generation than our
more staid contemporaries with whom
the same still remains as working feat
ure in their more advanced system of
prison management, as we shall here
after see from their reports and letters.
The parole method in theory and prac-
tice is simply one of conditional pardon
based upon the weil-known ability and
disposition of the subject to live as an in
dustrious and law-abiding citizen and to
otherwise conform to the rules and con-
GItlons Of his parole under penalty of i'm
mediate return at his own expense to
serve out the minimum term of the par
tlcular crime for which he was sentenced.
The Act provides that
The State Board of Prison Directors
of this State shall have power to estab-
lish rules and regulations under which
any prisoner who is now or hereafter
may be imprisoned under sentence
other than for murder in the first or
! second degree, who may have served one
| calendar year of the term for which he
was convicted, aud who has not previ-
! ously been convicted of felony and
! served term in penal institution, may
! 'be allowed to 60 upon parole outside OF
| the buildings and Enclosures, but to re-
main while on parole in the legal custody
and under the control of the State Board OF
| Prison Directors, and subject at any time
| TO be taken back within the inclosure of
| said prison; and full power to make and
| enforce such rules and regulations, and to
retake and imprison any convict so upon
! parole, is hereby conferred upon said
Board OF Directors, whose written order,
| certified by the President of said board,
| shall De sufficient warrant for all officers
named therein to authorize such officer to
! return to actual custody any condition
! ally released or paroled prisoner; and it
| is hereby made the duty of all Chiefs of Po-
! lice and Marshals OF cities and villages and
| the SheritfS of counties, and of all police,
| prison and peace officers and Constables,
/ 10 execute any such order in like manner
as ordinary criminal process. If any
prisoner so paroled shall leave the State
without permission from said board be
! shall be held as an escaped prisoner, and
! arrested as SUCH" The parole issued is
as follows, to-wlt:
The State Board OF Prison Directors
nf haU
desiring to test your character and ability
to refrain from crime and lead an honor
| able life, do, by virtue of the authority
conferred upon them by law. grant and
order this parole, under the following
rules and regulations:
81. You snail proceed directly to the
place OF employment provided tor you,
VIZ, -a and there remain, if practica ble
for period OF at least six months from
this date.
''2. In case you find it desirable to
change your employer or residence, you
shall Lrst obtain the written consent OF
the Board of Prison Directors through its
! Secretary.
''3. You shall, on the first day of each
month, until your final release by law,
forward by mail to the Secretary of the
State Board of Prison Directors report
of yourself, in accordance with blank
form to be prescribed and furnished you
| must be certified by your employer, if
you are employed by another. You shall
also report to the - OF -. This re-
port shall be made in -, and en- the
day OF every - month, from and after
the date OF this parole. You shall forward
and acknowledgement OF such report,
signed by the said -, to the Secretary
OF the State Board of Prison Directors.
81. You shall, in all respects, conduct
! yourself honestly, avoid evil associations,
! obey the law, and abstain from the use of
| intoxicating liquors, opium in any form,
cocaine, or other nOxious drugs, except
| upon prescription and certificate of
! physician.
| 70. AS soon as possible after reaching
! your destination, you shall report to =,
show him this certificate of parole or
| ticket ot-leave, and at once enter upon
the employment provided for you.
'6. You shall, while on parole, remain
in the legal custody of the State Board of
| Prison Directors.
~. You shall be liable to be retaken
and again confined within the Enclosure
of the California State Prison at San
| Quentin, or at Folsom, TOR any reason
that shall be satisfactory to the State
Board of Prison Directors. and at their
sole discretion.
"The State Board of Prison Directors
have lively and friendly interest in you
Iou need not fear 10 communicate with
the Secretary IN case you lose your situa-
ton or become unable to labor by reason
of sickness.
''STATE BOARD PRISON DIRECTORS
AS Will be thus readily seen, the sys-
tenn IS simply question of practical
utility IN its last analysis. VIII it work
may be practically decided by does it
work, and that may be best ascerLained
| Dy gathering together the aggregate testi-
mony OF the different institutions where
1t is working feature
There are two methods of pardOn-Ex-
ecutlve clemency and the conditional
pardon of the parole. A brief compari-
son of the two may not be amiss in the
consideration OF the latter. The theory
of Executive pardon rests, of course,
primarily upon the fiat of that Individual.
1t is not organicaily based upon merit OR
otherwise, but, as a matter Of fact, upon
the special plea of interested parties, un-
less upon good cause shown. 1t is in its
essence ex cathedra. The parole is de-
pendent upon the mature consideration
of five disinterested and experienced men
sitting as commission, with all the
facts, antecedent and subsequent, before
them, and the personal testimony of
prison officials, all bearing directly upon
the character and qualifications of the
applicant and his comparative fitness to
return to society conditionally, as an in
dustrious and aw-abiding member
thereof.
The essence of the parole, db inatio, is
thus merit, pure and simple. No
special plea is permitted. The inter-
vention of an attorney is a bar, if any
thing. The new method does not suffer
in comparison with the old in this re-
spect.
Under the ordinary Systems of dis
charge or pardon, the prisoner is dis
missed with an indifferent suit of clothes,
So in money and ruined reputation upon