Do you have to admit guilt before being paroled from prison even if you maintain that you were always innocent?

Answer 1

No you do not have to admit your guilt to the crime parole is determined by the courts when youre convicted whether innocent or guilty

in the US you can have a sentence that excludes parole forever, it's called life without parole and you either are or aren't guilty but that is what you can be sentenced to.Parole isnt ADDED on as many ppl think after an admission of guilt in order to be released from prison it's determined at your sentencing when you're in front of the judge at the end of the trial or the hearing if you waive the grand jury.In many cases in NY States jurisdiction there is a term of life without parole because we no longer have the death penalty here.It was done away with when the FIRST Governor Cuomo was in office.Several states still have the death penalty and thats why ppl get put to death as opposed to "maxing out" onto parole because their state feels they're too much of a threat to society to ever be released. Parole board in new york is different than some other states in that they review your case and are still using "the nature of the crime" against many prisoners,however the present Govenor Cuomo(Andrew Cuomo) has in the works something called the Safe Parole Act 259-i...this piece of legislation if passd will change all the rules for parole statewide. It states that if a candidate is refused parole it cannot be on he nature of their crime which in many cases is a decades ol conviction but that the person MUST be given a "laundry list" of sorts. Its a list of things they must comply with in order to become "parole ready" and if they complete that list of things which include anger management classes and often times drug and alcohol treatment then they can go back to parole board to get re-reviewed before their next assessment. This way the candidate wont wait 2yrs to reviewed if they've allready complied and their crime can't keep being used against them. The purpose of this legislation is to do what corrections is supposed to do>rehabilatate the offender, not merely "warehouse them" for 2 yrs every time they get denied. It prevents the candidate from spending yrs incarcerated by the fact that they've priven theyve done the necessary things to be considered for reentry into society. Parole, at least in NYS, answers to noone and operates independently form the dept of corrections and recenty underwent a merger and became the dept of corrections and community in order to help further the progression of hopefully moving ppl out of prisons and back into society instead of keeping them there way beyond the time necessary,because as it stands now>there are ppl whove done the programs suggested nd theye done them several times over and are still beign told the nature of ntheir crime is whats preventing hem from being paroled. The nature of their crime will never change bujt the rehabilitation aspect of incarceration is whats supposedto determine the level of reentry ....not the crime of a person from in some cases over 20yrs prior. Parole is differnt in every state and it also depends on the classificaton of the offense such as level one or level two or predicated when it comes to sex offenders or levels of felonies such as murder 1 or murder 2nd degree. In NYS i can say that things are changing with how parole operated since this govenor has been in office but there is resisttance from the prisons,there is currently an appeal about parole in albany right now that questions the usage of the TAP and the COMPASS .These are the tools implemented by the govenor to determine the eligibility for release through the rehabilitative programs,its like academic advisement in colleges.Classes, drug counseling, job skills, holding a job within the prison ,are all examples of parts of the TAP and COMPASS tools that are new to this system. The appeal was filed agaisnt the state for a refusal to use the tools the prisoner was made too comply with for his benefit,he completed the requirements and has complied and theyrefused him on the nature of his crime from many yrs ago even though hes never had a disciplinary problem in all those years. This is illegal and is being brought before Albany and then to the Supreme Court to get it overturned,and if it does then the programs have to be recognized. they are supposed to be used but they aren't because parole is finding ways to get around this. Parole in nys hopefully will influence how other states run their parole system,because the purpose of incarceration is to rehabilitate not for retribution for decades after a person has proven to the state that they have made a better person of themselves and become a viable part of the community.