By Michael Hewlett
Media General News Service

Gov. Bev Perdue can stall but not stop the release of 27 inmates convicted of violent crimes in the 1970s, legal experts said.

The inmates, convicted in the 1970s of crimes that included murder, rape and robbery, are eligible for release because of credits – time off their sentences – they have earned during their time in prison.

Bobby E. Bowden, a Cumberland County man serving life in prison for killing two people in 1975, successfully argued in court that had served his time under state law at the time he was convicted.
Bowden said that he has accumulated enough credits to cut his sentence from 80 years to 40 years, making him eligible for release this year.

The N.C. Supreme Court agreed, upholding a lower court ruling that state law defined a life sentence as 80 years for inmates convicted in the 1970s.

The court’s decision becomes official today, 20 days after it was issued.

State correction officials are reviewing the inmates’ cases to determine how many credits they earned.

Perdue is trying to delay the inmates’ release, arguing that they shouldn’t have gotten the credits in the first place.

But legal experts said the law that was in effect when they were sentenced is clear.

“There’s nothing for us to be debating,” said Carol Turowski, a professor of law at Wake Forest University and a co-director of the school’s Innocence and Justice Clinic.

Inmates can get time off, or credits, for good conduct, attending classes or working. There are three kinds of credit – good time, gain time and merit time, said Keith Acree, spokesman for the N.C. Department of Correction.

The 27 inmates – including three convicted in Forsyth County – scheduled for release have earned some combination of all three credits, which has significantly reduced the time they have to spend in prison.

In 1981, the Fair Sentencing Act was passed, and inmates became eligible for getting time shaved off their sentences, Acree said. The secretary of correction extended the credits to inmates convicted before 1981 regardless of their crimes, he said.

Perdue said that the secretary of correction overstepped his authority, but according to general statutes, he had the discretion to give the credits to inmates who were sentenced to life before 1981.

“It’s understandable people’s fears about having individuals convicted of violent crimes back in the general population,” Turowski said. “However, individuals are released from jail with violent backgrounds all the time.”

About 28,000 inmates are released from North Carolina prisons each year, Acree said, some of whom are violent.

And the law is clear that when these inmates were convicted, a life sentence meant 80 years, Turowski said.

Jim Coleman, a professor of law at Duke University, said what Perdue is doing is political grandstanding. Perdue has an obligation to respect the law, even if she doesn’t like it, he said.

“This is about the law,” he said. “It isn’t about this political crap.”

Tim Crowley, a spokesman for Perdue, said the inmates pose a threat to the general public and that there are legal issues that have to be resolved.

“She and her legal counsel believe there’s a strong argument that can be made in the courts and is committed to looking at every legal option,” he said.

Many of these inmates were initially sentenced to death, Crowley said.

Turowski said she understands that people are upset that these inmates might be released, but the law is the law.

“Even if the public doesn’t like the result, even if the governor doesn’t like the result, we are a nation of laws, not of men and women, and therefore, the law has to stand,” she said.

Inmates can get time off their sentences through three different kinds of credit, said Keith Acree, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Correction.

The most common is good time credit, for which every inmate is eligible. In 1981, state law changed so that inmates convicted of serious felonies such as murder and rape would not be allowed to get time off their sentence.

An inmate can get a day off their sentence for every day they serve in prison without an infraction.

Acree said that even though most of the 27 inmates have had infractions, they have far more credits because they’ve been in prison for more than 30 years.

Inmates can also get what is known as gain time credit. This type of credit is awarded to inmates who are taking classes or working in a job assignment, Acree said. Inmates can earn as much as 6 credits for every month they are working or taking classes.

Merit time is the third kind of credit inmates can get, Acree said. Inmates can earn time off their sentence for working overtime, working in inclement weather or for doing things such as getting a college degree. The prison superintendent has the discretion to determine how much time off inmates will get.