Limited Credit Time Allowance, A Way Forward

Can legislators wind down the DOCCS crisis quicker by writing into existing law that the parole board has to be forward-looking when deciding LCTA hearings?

T ran downstairs to the showers as soon as the cells opened in the morning. Hoisting a shower bag onto the cinder block wall of one of the shower stalls he undressed and turned the knob to be greeted with hot water. T takes it as a positive sign that the water was not lukewarm or ice cold. The anxiety that kept him from falling asleep the night before was impervious to the hot water and seemed to embed itself in his body. A single thought ran through his mind, "What questions will they ask?"

T is a model of rehabilitation. Coming to prison for murder at a young age he achieved a remarkable record of rehabilitation including a Master's degree and a TEDx talk. His disciplinary is nearly nonexistent except for a couple of minor infractions. And importantly he has strong family ties and reentry plans guaranteeing employment and housing.

DOCCS has recognized T's extraordinary record of rehabilitation with a Limited Credit Time Allowance (LCTA) hearing making him eligible to be released six months early, IF the parole board grants it.

In 2009, NY's Legislature enacted Correction Law § 803b, authorizing the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to provide LCTAs to incarcerated people who earned it by meeting certain criteria such as successfully participating as an inmate program associate (IPA) for at least two years. Legislators enacted LCTA because Pataki's punitive-only tough on crime approach removed good time for all violent felons. A smart-on crime approach has multiple tools including incentives to support and recognize rehabilitation. Through LCTA legislators found a way to identify people who are rehabilitated by analyzing their disciplinary and program histories.

"You do the work because it is what you would do already, but the chance to get home earlier means a lot to my family," T's fingers curl around the cell gate's gray bars. His lips curl into a slight smile thinking of his family. It is a tense moment because T and I know it is dangerous to get his hopes up.

At the parole hearing, T is asked extensive questions about the crime that brought him to prison. T expressed remorse and took full accountability for the thing he could not change. T was cut off while explaining how he used his time to confront and transform the issues that had led to the crime. T asserted he shares his life lessons with young people in the Youth Assistance Program (YAP). T wanted the board to know he was not the same person he was two decades ago.

T felt questions about his extraordinary record of rehabilitation seemed "perfunctory" and felt like comments stating the obvious. T did years of service to be considered for six months early release. After forty minutes of questions T was released back to his cell. T doesn't talk to anyone about his LCTA experience and gets back into his prison routine helping other incarcerated people achieve their academic goals.

A week later T sits in a chair along a wall facing the Offender Rehabilitation Coordinator's desk. Everything in the room disappears as T's eyes see a sealed envelope with his name and state ID number on it. Inside is the parole board decision.

T's future is literally in his nervous hands that tear at the envelope. T scanned the page, hoping he could see the hugs of family members, his work schedule, but all of that evaporated with the written words "denial." T's chest constricts as he thinks of telling his family about the denial. Later, T wonders if the employer will be able to hold his job if T can get released at his next parole hearing. As T heads back to his cell, he starts to feel the judgement of his peers and staff. People will whisper because they can't understand why T, of all people, couldn't get released. People will also question themselves and their record of rehabilitation, "If T.W. couldn't get an LCTA release, how can I?" Others will ask, "Why should I try?"

I was not able to obtain stats on how many LCTA hearings have been held or granted. Anecdotally I have witnessed a lot of people with impressive records of rehabilitation earn an LCTA hearing and then get denied for the nature of the crime.

Later, T searches every word of the decision for a clue about what he could do better next time. There is no line telling T what to work on, his rehabilitation is not in question. The nature of the crime compels the board to extend his punishment with more incarceration.

T spends hours staring at his cell's ceiling. He takes inspiration from numerous people from before him who suffered through a parole board hit (slang for denial the word carries the painful experience). These people just kept doing what they were always doing until they were finally released. These men are leaders, positively impacting the community's economics, and are raising vibrant families. The board can never explain why they release a person who continues to do the same things they were doing since before their first LCTA appearance.

To avoid these irrational outcomes, legislators could add a line to Corrections Law 805 that stipulates LCTA people will be considered rehabilitated and that this presumption will not be disturbed without good cause. The current DOCCS crisis is harming rehabilitation. This action would help parole personnel from tying themselves in a pretzel to ignore rehabilitation to punish people beyond their criminal conviction and sentence.

People don't go on record about their LCTA experiences for fear that the parole board or parole officer could retaliate. T.W. is a blend of conversations with several people about their LCTA experiences. They/them/their is for the plural-- not for pronoun preference.

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Michael Shane Hale, 53, has spent most of his life (over 30 years) incarcerated. Since legislators passed the LCTA in 2008, Michael Shane has witnessed numerous LCTA denials of hard working and fully rehabilitated people. Michael Shane is perplexed by the numerous LCTA denials of people who, when released, do amazing things in their communities. He hopes this article will bring attention to the "hits" people and their families are taking and a simple solution to "hit" back at the arbitrariness that fuels mass incarceration.