I represent many lifers at their parole hearings. To get parole an inmate must demonstrate three things: 1) Insight into his crime It's not entirely clear what this is but showing the board he knows the factors that drove him to commit his life crime + showing that he's engaged in programming in prison to eliminate these factors (e.g. if he killed in a drunken rage that he's taken lots of AA classes, if he killed out of anger that he's taken anger management classes, etc.) + showing remorse for the victim, his family members and loved ones goes a long way 2) That he won't be a threat to the community if released In addition to the above, important factors here are lack of a prior juvenile record, lack of a prior criminal record, and a clean disciplinary record while in prison 3) Adequate parole plans He must have both transitional and long-term housing plans plus marketable skills. The key point here is the board wants to see he will be in a stable situation, have a strong support network and be able to make a living so he won't be tempted to return to a life of crime to support himself; and he has many people who can help support him both financially and emotionally to keep him from re-offending.
Answered on Jun 21st, 2012 at 11:30 AM