Evening star., 1934-04-20
PAROLE SYSTEMS
PERSONNEL LIMIT
IS HELD MENACE
Board Advocates Immediate
Repeal of Law if Aid
Is Denied.
COMMISSIONERS TOLD
OF DIFFICULTIES FACED
Issue Raised by Recent Resigna-
ton of DR.. Johnson as Chair
man Is Revived.

Immediate repeal of the law creating
the parole system for the District was
advocated today by the three members
of the Board of Indeterminate Sem
tence and Parole, unless an adequate
staff is provided and an adequate and
convenient place of hearing for parole
cases is arranged.
The parole board declared the work
of the agency cannot succeed. the
public cannot be protected adequately
and paroled prisoners cannot receive
contemplated benefits unless there is
provided an adequate staff of skilled
parole officers.
Release of prisoners on parole with
out adequate supervision is a real
public menace" the parole board de-
clared in formal communication to
the District Commissioners. The
statement bore the signatures of Will
liam w. Bride, former corporation
counsel of the District, now chairman
of the board; Wilbur LaRoe, jr.. attor-
ney. and Emmett j. Scott, secretary of
Howard University.
Support Held Lacking.
The development today revived the
issue raised some weeks ago when DR..
Loren B. T. Johnson, prominent
physician. resigned as chairman of
the Parole Board, stating the Com
missioners had failed to support the
request of the board for provision of
an adequate staff to carry out the in
tent of the parole law.
DR.. Johnson declared in his resigna-
ton statement that the work which
the board was able to do with its lin
tied personnel was perfectly useless
and possibly harmful" The insistent
tone of the letter from the new
Parole Board raised a serious question
in the minds of District officials as
to whether members of the board
would continue long in Office if their
request for an increased staff and
changes in procedure was not granted.
This supposition was given weight
by the fact that the Commissioners
have refused to approve the request
OF the Parole Board for bringing pris-
oners to Washington for hearings on
parole instead of requiring the board
to journey to the District Reformatory
ut Lcrton. Va.
Full Discussion Asked.
The board specifically asks for a
joint meeting of the Commissioners,
the Board of Public Welfare and the
parole body for full discussion.
One field parole officer now serves
the board, with about 200 prisoners
on parole. At the request of the
Parole Board, the Commissioners have
sent to the Budget Bureau a supple
mental estimate of s13,700 for en-
ployment of six additional parole Off
GERS and three stenographers.
The Parole Board in its letter to
the Commissioners stated in part:
We are constrained to insist that
the meetings (of the Parole Board)
be held In the District of Columbia
and that necessary assistance be pro-
vided. The atmosphere of the prison
is not conducive to the best and most
efficient service by members of the
board and its staff. AS matter of
fact. the board has no staff. Its
three employees are all on the pay roll
Of the reformatory.
There may be and frequently is a
wide difference of view between
officers of the institution and members
of the board in particular cases. It
is absolutely essential that the board
be as Independent as any court, and
in this matter the place of hearings is
important. On several recent occa-
sions, the board has left Washington
at 10 o'clock in the morning and has
not returned until after pm, with
only brief interruption for lunch
and with no time out for an evening
meal. Two hours of time upon the
occasion of each meeting were utterly
wasted in travelling to and from the
reformatory. The institution has a
modern bus, specially designed for the
transportation of prisoners, and there
can be no reasonable excuse for deny
Ing its use to the board one day in
each week. There are several places
in Washington where hearings could
conveniently and safely be held. The
fourth precinct, according to the
AAioJOa anu ouRC4 44lCCAAOCllL VI pOllCc, -
one Of them.
Adequate Staff Necessary.
Experience shows that work of
the board cannot succeed, that the
public cannot be adequately pro-
tected and the paroled prisoners can
not received the contemplated bene-
fits, unless there is provided an ade-
quate staff of skilled parole officers to
supervise the men after their release
from the institution. To release men
without adequate parole supervision
is a real public menace. Unless an
adequate staff is provided. and an
adequate and convenient place of
hearing is arranged, the parole law
should be promptly repealed"