The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-08-13
PAROLE BOARD NOT
ENTIRELY TO BLAME
The Repeater" Comes in for
His Share, Also
JUSTICEWILL BE FAIR
The Repeater" Must do His
Share of the Work, and
the Parole Board
Will do Theirs
Bv H. S. Med.

Speaking about "repeaters", ane
the alarming increase of crime thru
out the United States, has it evel
occurred to you that large majority
of the repeaters' are recruited from
the ranks Of that vast army of un
fortunates who have never had &
chance at the benefits to be derived
from parole or suspended sentence,
Many of these men brood over the
fact that they are not paroled when
THEY think they should be, and this
accounts for the excuse that many
repeaters" give to create the i'm.
preston that they chose a life OF
crime because of lack of opportun.
ity to do otherwise. Such cannot
truthfully be said to be the ONLY OF
TRUE cause; the INDIVIDUAL MAN is
in the majority of cases, the CHIEF
cause of his own downfall. If he
has no opportunity in one locality
this world is wide and SOMEWHERE
opportunity and success awaits the
man who is determined that, nc
matter what may befall, he will put
his past behind him. There are
many repeaters" in prison today
who have never had the helping
hand of a parole to restrain them
from wrong-doing. or to encourage
them to nobler efforts, because al
the time they were sentenced for
their first crime, there was no parole
effective in the state where their Of
fense was committed. Later often
ses were committed in states where
repeaters" were not eligible to
parole.
Minnesota is one of the few pro-
gressive states in the Union that has
a parole system that includes the
repeater" but, naturally. his chances
for parole are very much diminished
because of his past record, which,
vie we'd from the repeater's" view
point, seems unfair to him. unless
he considers the subject from the
States side as we'll as his own. 1t
is human nature to brood and re-
pine over enforced confinement and.
once let the prisoner get the idea
that he is getting the worst of the
deal, it takes a lot of fair minded
study, on his part, to convince him
self that HE and not the state is the
one who is chiefly TO blame for the
condition of affairs that makes him
remain a prisoner long after HE
thinks he should be paroled.
| Now the writer is a repeater;
not once, but several times, and
chaffs over his imprisonment as well
as the others; was also very much
disappointed because the parole
board did not act favorably in re-
gard to his application. His offense
was not of serious nature. and be
knows that he has more than served
enough time" to pay the debt. The
knowledge that be must remain in
prison despite the above fact is the
thing that hurts, and causes many
hours of deep and bitter thought.
However, all things fairly consid-
cred. he has no just cause to blame
the parole or pardon board. the
judge or prosecuting attorney. 1t
was not they who committed the Of
fense. nor they who gave him his
black record. He had the record"
long before any of these gentlemen
even knew that he was in existence.
They are but the agents of the law.
sworn to carry out the commands of
the law; he can not blame them if
they do not see the matter in the
same light as he. Taking into con-
sideration his past record of crime,
he has no right to claim trust and
confidence from the members of the
parole board, for how can he expect
them to believe that he will follow
the straight and narrow path this
last time, since he has made only
failures in the past. Is it not prop
er that they should keep him under
their eyes until he has shown them,
beyond a reasonable doubt, that
there has been a change in his life
and everyday conduct? Look at
the situation from all sides and
viewpoints; consider all the facts
without discrimination, and you can
not place the blame anywhere ex-
cept on the shoulders of the re-
peater".
There is no doubt that some of
the repeaters" who read this article