AP
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – The Mississippi Senate wants to make it more difficult for convicts to get out of prison after the recent parole and pardon of convicted murderers.
Legislation approved Thursday in the Senate would require the governor to hold a public hearing before exercising a pardon. The bill also would require an unanimous vote by the five-member state Parole Board to release anyone convicted of capital murder or a sex crime.
The changes came in response to the recent parole of Douglas Hodgkin, who was convicted of capital murder in 1987 for the death of a college student and her unborn child; and the suspended sentence last year of Michael David Graham, a Gulf Coast man who stalked and killed his ex-wife in 1989.
The bill is House Bill 2.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Be the first to comment