New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signs new parole law: child molesters and violent criminals first to be released early

  New Hampshire Governor, John Lynch, may have finally pushed the envelope a little too far earlier this year when he signed into law a new parole law that lets convicted felons out of prison early so that the state could save a few million dollars–roughly seven million dollars a year.

  A spokesman for the governor defended John Lynch’s signature on this bill, stating that letting felons out of jail would make New Hampshire a safer state:

This change is a good thing for New Hampshire because it’s going to make New Hampshire safer

  The theory behind that asinine statement goes something like this: New Hampshire is safer because these inmates who are released early will be subjected to heavier supervision than they would have been if they had served their full term and walked away free.

  Here’s a thought for the governor if he thinks that supervision after the completion of a jail term is a necessary ingredient to the safety of the public: strengthen the supervision required after a person serves a full sentence–don’t let them out early!

  Last week the first felons were released under this new law and they included four child molesters and four violent criminals; what do you think New Hampshire, does that make you feel safer than if these men were still in jail?  But the story gets even worse:

(Parole) board member Alan Coburn, who was serving as chairman yesterday, said he was told by staff that even if a person coming up on mandatory release has no place to live, no job or no treatment set up, he still has to be paroled

  And we are supposed to believe that once these people who have no place to go are released that they will simply find a home and tell the authorities where they are so that they will be easier to supervise?

  As I wrote at the beginning of this post, this could be the issue that finally does in the governor–this could be John Lynch’s Willie Horton moment. When I say this, I mean that this could be the issue that turns the voters of New Hampshire against the governor, much like the Willie Horton story did in Michael Dukakis’s bid for president, I certainly hope that that is the only parallel between this case and the Willie Horton story. 

  John Lynch likes to claim that he is a moderate Democrat but the fact is that since Democrats have taken control of  every branch of state government John Lynch has slid more and more to the left. He was a moderate when he had a Republican legislature to keep him in check, but now that he is unchecked we have seen the true John Lynch. He can no longer hide behind his claim of being a moderate–John Lynch is a liberal and if you had any doubt about it before he signed this parole bill into law, all doubts should be removed.

 It is time for John Lynch to go.