I was wondering if anyone has any current information on which months they are currently pulling for scheduling dates? And the other thing is, I was reading in the Montgomery Advertiser (on line) last week an article that quoted Ms. Dillard as having said the second parole board, which was originally put in place to take care of the non violent backlog has now accomplished that so it is now being used to catch up the violent ones.

The article wasn't about that specifically but when I went back to print what she said, it is now in the archives (August 4th) and in order to get a copy of it, I'd have to order it and buy it. :rolleyes: (no thanks) So if any of you Montgomerians (or is that Montgomeryites, lol) have an old paper laying around, you might be able to find it.

My husband was supposed to come up for his hearing last January so we haven't been waiting as long as some have had to wait (except for the 26+ years he's already been in prison I should say) but was just curious if there is any news of how the catchup is going?

Care

PS Lysbeth.........yikes, 11 more days!!! And PS again: I'll PM you later today.

if you call the parole board they tell us that they are still running 14 to 16 months behind...i think lysbeth is about 18 months...not sure...if you call 334-242-8700 and listen it gives you the option to "request a earlier parole hearing"....I have been told that if you do request on they send the answer to the inmate. My friend (not on PTO) requested an earlier parole hearing this way and about 2 weeks later her son got a letter from them stating that they could not hear his case any earlier...no other explainasion....i've done the same thing but i haven't (nor has kenny) hear anything from them...

I recall the same thing in the newspaper that your talking about and i thought i posted it but i can find it....

but as far as i can tell they haven't done much catching up at all..the House Bill that pass back during the legislature was going to help them but after they got finished changing it around all it do was stop them for searching for victims that were employees during a violent robbery ...

i've planned on calling them around the end of the month and see what they tell me and i'll keep you posted...

Denisej

Grrrrrrrrr, I just do not understand how this can continue. I know I am not the only one frustrated. It's just that one person (Marti) says one thing and then somebody else is told something else. She told ME at least 2 months back (or more) that they were just finishing scheduling the September '03 cases. I just don't get it. Oh well, it's just more waiting; you'd think I'd be used to it by this time but I'm not. And never will be USED to it, even though I have no choice but to DO it. (Wait.)

Care

Marti has changed job positions...FYI, but she told me the same thing and seems so very honest about it, I can't help to believe her....I think that they "review" by the month and those jackets that are complete with victims names and address along with completed classes, etc...go first, then they go to the ones that require investgating.....Kenny's date is Oct of 2003...and we still haven't heard anything...but i feel like its getting closer....our problem is that if he comes up ...say jan. 2005...which would be 15 months late...they more than likely will denie him because of his 2/2006 eso date...i don't think they will go to the trouble of doing all that paper work for less than a year....YAW...this mess makes me ill....

DJ

Denise, I think the most difficult part is getting letters from James saying things like "Maybe we'll hear this week" and he is too optimistic for his own good sometimes because when the hoped-for thing doesn't happen, then it's depression time. I know he is so tired of waiting because this time is the first time he really has the best possible chance for parole and after 26+ years, I know he is looking forward to having all this behind him. Well, not really BEHIND him since he'll always be on parole, but at least out here with me and the kids.

I don't think I'll even tell him that they are still saying 16 months behind. I don't know if he'd believe me anyhow! I wish I had his optimism. Or is it denial, I don't know. But it seems to get him through the rough spots at least. I was going to wait to visit him again until the hearing but I think I better make plans to go before winter arrives because it's already been over 3 months as it is.

**sigh** I feel like crying. Not that it would do any good.

Care

Kenny doesn't even talk about it anymore, and tells me to "get it out of my head"...i'm the one with the "high hopes"...not him...

i would bet james knows how far behind they are, it's no secret in there or out here...

Oh, he KNOWS but he doesn't believe it is the problem!! He always thinks that somehow we are going to slip through the cracks and it won't be so long. I suspect that deep in his heart he really knows that it's unrealistic but even after all these years of writing to him, the one thing I remember about him when I first met him was that he was "unrealistically optimistic" and it was the one thing that I found endearing. I don't fault him for it I guess. It would be much harder on me to know that he was depressed and despondent. I have to believe that someday this nightmare will be over.

So Marti has a different position? Is the new person as nice as she was? I guess that is why I believed that we'd be coming up soon.......when she looked up his case and we talked about victim stuff, she said "I can guarantee it will come up within this year." And she said "Don't misunderstand, I am not saying I know he'll be granted parole, but just that the hearing will be scheduled." So anyhow, I don't hang too much on what she said but she did sound so positive. And then when I hear that the cases are still backlogged 16 months. ..... I don't get at what point that really means. Oh well. I am not about to jump ship at this point!

Wow, Kenny has a EOS in 2/06. I know it sounds like a horrible long time but from MY perspective, I'd LOVE knowing we had a EOS!! All things are relative though, and I realize that. There are always those who have it harder than me and those that have it easier than me (from my own point of view that is). I hope for your sakes though that they will be typically Alabama.......and not do things that make sense. That way, they won't mind about the paperwork involved and will parole him anyhow!
Care

2/2006....i know i know...17 months...i know...it really isn't that long...and i'll wait...he's in his 17th year..and has no faith in the parole board at all.

I went and talked to Cynthia Dillard on July 2nd, she said they were working on July 2003 and they had pulled August and Sept. for vilent offenders. She said they had a date when they send the cards to the victims at the last know address (30 days in advance of the date), depending on what the reply is when the card comes back will determine if the date stays at what they had or if they have to do more searching for addresses. If they have to do more searching that will add another 30 days. They have 2 systems that they search from is the way I understood her to say it. I was also told that whose ever card come back first makes a difference. My husband should have come up in July 2003 and we haven't heard anything yet. Who reallt knows how they do things???? I just wait like the rest and hope for the best.

Well, Brian and a friend of ours just got scheduled for August and September respectively so yup, they were 18 and 19 months respectively. The friend was originally a month before Brian but got scheduled for a month later.

After reading what everyone has to say about the delays, I'am not really looking forward to any date soon, we were scheduled for Nov. of 2003, but I stay in expectation on any break-threw, got to keep praying and believing or I would give-up. One of my concerns is that after 2 hearings, never been opposed, why continue to look for a victim? If they did not care the first two times, what would make them think that they would care the third time? Just questions, because we all know that what we think or feel does not matter to them at all. Thanks a million for all the feed-back because it is very hard getting imformation about anything here. Please post anything that my help, or that you know. Thanks again.