The FBI allowed Asif Raza Merchant, the Pakistani man charged with plotting with Tehran to assassinate Donald Trump and others, to enter the U.S. in April with special permission known as “significant public benefit parole” even though he was flagged on a terrorism watchlist and recently traveled to Iran, according to government documents reviewed by Just the News.
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The criminal illegal alien accused of killing Laken Riley was released into the U.S. in September of 2022 because the Department of Homeland Security lacked detention space, according to his immigration file.
Jose Ibarra, the Venezuelan national charged with murdering Riley in February, was released under DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ power of parole, which is only supposed to be used “when there is an urgent humanitarian need or a significant benefit to the public,” the Washington Times reported.
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A new bill has been filed in the Florida Legislature that would allow nonviolent offenders to receive parole after serving a certain amount of prison time.
House Bill 223 is sponsored by state Rep. Alina Garcia, R-Miami, and would make provisions for parole granted to nonviolent prisoners under certain circumstances while retaining jurisdiction for courts.
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The fate of a Republican sponsored bill that seeks to compel the state’s parole commission to post its decisions online about who has been granted and denied parole is now in the hands of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.
By a 29-4 vote, the Senate recently advanced the measure with some changes after an earlier version of it previously passed the Assembly on the strength of bipartisan support. Under the parameters of the newly proposed measure, the Department of Corrections would be required to post the names of individuals granted parole, denied parole or returned to prison following the revocation of parole.
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Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders signed a bill Tuesday to stop criminals in prison for rape, first-degree murder, human trafficking and some other felony offenses committed after 2024 from being released early.
The Protect Arkansas Act will make those who commit any of 24 felonies including rape, aggravated robbery and child pornography possession ineligible for parole and require people incarcerated for a variety of other felony crimes like manslaughter and fentanyl delivery committed in 2025 or later to serve at least 85 percent of their court-assigned sentences. Sanders signed the act surrounded by law enforcement personnel, and tweeted, “The failed public safety status quo ends today in Arkansas.”
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Aliyah Perez “brought an abundance of love, laughter and light to the world,” the 26-year-old woman’s family wrote in her obituary. Perez, the niece of Milwaukee Common Council President Jose Perez was found dead near 26th St. and Clayton Crest Ave. on Sunday, Feb 26 — a victim of domestic abuse, her family said.
But the young woman might very well be alive today had liberal Milwaukee County judge and Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz not set Perez’s killer free.
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Two state legislators from Wisconsin are urging colleagues to back their bill to strengthen crime victims’ rights to restitution in their state.
The bill authored by State Representatives Shae Sortwell (R-Gibson) and Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) would halt the restoration of felons’ voting rights until after the perpetrators pay all fines, court fees, and victim restitution. In the Badger State, a convict loses his or her right to vote until he or she serves all prison time and completes any parole or probation that a court imposes. But that person may again vote before meeting his or her legal monetary obligations.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced on Thursday that he granted executive clemency for 16 individuals and expedited parole eligibility for 30 individuals.
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Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf last week vetoed a bill approved by the General Assembly that would prohibit premature release of a prisoner that has committed a violent offense while imprisoned.
The bill, known as “Markie’s law” and sponsored by Rep. Aaron Bernstine, R-Ellwood City, passed 41-9 in the Senate and 133-69 in the House. Wolf is term-limited, and headed out at the beginning of January; both chambers are majority Republicans.
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The GOP has been busy enacting effective legislative reform aimed at real-world problems in our great nation — something Democrats can hardly boast.
Take Georgia’s accomplishments in the realm of criminal justice reform, for instance. Georgia has been the focus of national media and political obsession for the past few years. President Joe Biden himself called the Georgia voting reform bill “Jim Crow in the 21st Century,” miring state-level politics in the national racial debates. Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s various policy efforts have faced unrelenting attacks from politicos and progressive journalists alike.
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Governor Tom Wolf (D-PA) is recommending that lawmakers fund state prisons at a lower level in future years than the state’s Department of Corrections has requested.
At a budget hearing Wednesday, members of the state House Appropriations Committee questioned Acting Secretary of Corrections George Little about the contrast between the governor’s projections and the department’s own outlook.
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Legislation that would make parole release for inmates more difficult passed the Virginia House of Delegates on Friday.
House Bill 435, sponsored by Del. Thomas Wright, R-Victoria, passed the chamber on strict partisan lines 52-48. The legislation was supported by the chamber’s Republicans and opposed by its Democrats.
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A Virginia Senate committee advanced legislation that would increase parole board transparency by making their votes on whether someone receives parole available to the public upon request.
Senate Bill 5, sponsored by Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke, advanced through the General Laws and Technology Committee on a 14-1 vote with substantial bipartisan support. Current law does not prohibit the parole board from disclosing information regarding parole votes, but does not give them any obligation to do so.
Speaking to the committee, Suetterlein said his legislation would simply make the votes public, which is similar to almost every other action undertaken by the state government.
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Senator Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) predicts that Virginia’s senate will vote to bring back parole in 2022 — “across the board,” meaning for even the most serious crimes, such as murder. Restoring parole could increase the number of murders, rapes, and robberies in Virginia. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports:
A movement to reinstate parole in Virginia could hinge on the outcome of election results next month. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe has indicated willingness to support expanded parole….While many Democrats support reinstating parole broadly in Virginia, Republicans generally oppose it. The Democrats hold a 55-45 seat edge in the House of Delegates…the issue will be debated in next year’s General Assembly session.
“I will be introducing a bill that will reintroduce parole across the board,” said Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond. “I think it will pass [the] Senate Judiciary [Committee] and … the full body.” Democrats control the Senate 21-19. Senators are not up for election until 2023. But Morrissey said he predicts a possible roadblock to parole expansion in the House, where he thinks Republicans will make gains in the Nov. 2 election….Virginia created parole in 1942 and abolished it in 1995, passing a “truth in sentencing” law among other criminal justice measures in an effort to reduce high crime rates….
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Sirhan Sirhan, Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin, was recommended for parole on his 16th attempt Friday, with the support of two of Kennedy’s sons.
Prosecutors declined to appear before the parole board to argue that Sirhan, who is 77 years old, should remain in prison, the Associated Press reported.
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On Thursday, the Tennessee House passed a bill increasing parole eligibility and reducing parole violation punishments for inmates. The “Reentry Success Act of 2021” creates a presumption that eligible inmates must be granted parole on their eligibility date.
Additionally, parole violations that aren’t felonies or Class A misdemeanors would result in 15 days’ imprisonment for the first violation, 30 days for the second, 90 days for the third, and either one year or the remainder of the prisoner’s sentence for the fourth – whichever is the shorter of the two. Other changes to present law under the Reentry Success Act of 2021 include clarification that victims may submit videos for their victim impact statements, and waiving certain application costs for restricted drivers licenses. Felonies or Class A misdemeanors committed as part of parole violation would require prisoners to serve out the maximum of their sentence.
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The five Democratic candidates for governor met for the first televised debate on Tuesday evening where they discussed issues including the economic crisis, gun violence, marijuana legalization, the Virginia Parole Board, and vaccine hesitancy. For the most part, the candidates stuck to discussing their own policies, but occasionally turned to attack perceived front-runner McAuliffe.
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Governor Ralph Northam will sign a bill granting earned sentence credits to violent offenders and sexual predators. Certain inmates will be eligible to reduce their sentencing by up to fifty percent.
The bill, House Bill (HB) 5148, includes those sentenced for certain classifications of murder, rape, robbery, abduction, kidnapping, lynching, terrorism, domestic assault, strangulation, genital mutilation, child pornography, and stalking.
A report from Virginia’s Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG) alleges that the Virginia Parole Board (VPB) acted illegally and violated parole board policies earlier this year.
The report from the Virginia OSIG found the Virginia Parole Board and its former chairperson, Adrianne Bennett, “violated both state law and parole board policies earlier this year in granting parole to the murderer of a police officer.”
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LAS VEGAS — Former football star O.J. Simpson was released from a Nevada prison early Sunday after serving nine years in prison for a 2007 armed robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas. The onetime football legend whose earlier murder trial in Los Angeles inspired years of debate over race and justice was paroled only minutes after…
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