Prison behavior drew reprimands

Inmates set for release less than model prisoners

By: JournalNow Staff | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 17, 2009

RALEIGH

The violent North Carolina criminals set to be freed later this month because of a court ruling and good-conduct credits have racked up more than 250 infractions in prison for such offenses as fighting, weapon possession and theft.

Records of the N.C. Department of Correction reviewed yesterday by The Associated Press show that the violations go as far back as the 1970s but also appear as recently as 2008, raising questions about whether the prisoners are reformed. Each one of the 20 inmates has at least two infractions, and combined they have a total of 256.

They have repeatedly been denied parole.

The inmates are scheduled to be released Oct. 29 after state courts sided with one of the inmates, double murderer Bobby Bowden, that a 1970s law defined a life sentence as only 80 years.

North Carolina's Fair Sentencing Act in 1981 included a retroactive provision essentially cutting all those sentences in half, and good-behavior and other credits have shortened the sentences to the point that they are now complete.

Bowden, 60, had argued before the N.C. Court of Appeals in 2008 that he had accumulated 210 days of good-conduct credit, 753 days of meritorious credit, and 1,537 days of gain-time credit.

But he as also has had 17 infractions in prison, including two for weapon possession, one for damaging property and several for disobeying orders.

State officials say they believe that dozens more inmates convicted 30 years ago could soon be eligible for release because of credits and the 80-year law that was in place for several years in the 1970s.

Jim Woodall, the district attorney in Orange County and the president of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, said that many in the courts system believe that criminals become less active as they grow older.

But Woodall warned that nobody can be sure whether these inmates are ready to lead normal lives.

"A person who has been in prison for a violent crime, and has gotten infractions throughout their time incarcerated, that's the best predictor for their future activity," he said.