lawmakers are being urged to revamp the state's parole system which a new report from the New Jersey office of the public defender calls fundamentally flawed and broken the office finds inmates have a lack of legal representation at all stages of the parole process are being denied parole despite having near-perfect records or get their parole revoked not because they've committed a new crime but because they're unable to find stable housing or a job senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports the parole board has more power than the judge the jury the prosecutor the police officers Al Tariq Witcher and other members of The Returning citizen support group remember how they felt standing before Jersey's parole board with no lawyer no Advocate not even a copy of the evidence in their file it's like you're going in front of a firing squad you you don't know what's going to happen you're going in to plead for your life I feel personally I thought I was going to die in prison honestly I thought I was going to die in prison Raymond Jackson served 25 years had a sterling prison record volunteering with AIDS groups hospice and paliative Care programs his parole got denied it's absolutely a dice role no if fans and but about that it's just how to feel that day when a parolee goes before the parole board they're essentially procedurally naked they don't have counsel and it really is an adversarial proceeding Joe Russo is an assistant New Jersey public defender who wrote the latest revised parole project report on the system it shows that despite an expectation of release in parole hearings only about 53% of cases were granted parole in 2020 40% in 2019 and about 43% in 2018 Russo calls the process a stacked deck for example the board does not share confidential reports with defendants you're being deprived of access to the information that the parole board is using against you including for example py ological reports the report notes board members don't take age into account but should because older Parolees rarely reoffend instead the board weighs intangibles like a defendant's remorse including complaints that they haven't apologized to victims problem is they can't it's against the rules and regulations for you to write the victim and express your remorse but yet they use this as an excuse to deny guys parole the parole board has too much power Chino Ortiz served 30 years he ticked off reasons some defendants got denied parole no home address no ID card and if the parole board thinks applicants might commit more crimes if they're released it can add extra years called hits to an inmate sentence and that's too much power when you giving people not one hit not two hits not three hits but sometimes four and five hits the legislature needs to address this inequity this Injustice that has been going going on too long it's very defeating to go before the pro board and get a substantial hit and knowing you're not going to be able to be seen for potential release for for years to come so that's very very defeating Russo says the report also shows deep inequities black inmates comprise 59% of Jersey's prison population but only 15% Statewide and when Parolees are accused of violations the only proceedings where they can get a lawyer 73% of those sent back behind bars are people of color what does it say about the system that it's broken and that it needs to be reimagined those are the stories that we hear over and over again New Jersey's public defender says she's well aware of the Grassroots push to keep inmates locked up in the name of reducing crime she says it shouldn't be a choice of prison or parole I think there needs to be some fundamental change to our current poal system um things like having legal counsel when you're going up for for a parole decision um things like really investing in re-entry her office sent a copy of the report to the board which told us the state parole board's unable to offer comment as the revised reports currently under review by the board the public defender will now get to work drafting legislation designed to enact some of the reforms recommended in the report and hopefully fix the system in Newark I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight news [Music]