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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1976)
THE BATTALION Page 11 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1976 Inmates’ files kept secret to prevent retaliation By LEE JONES Associated Press fel'STIN — Paul Cromwell pop- ^hishand against a thick file of a ion inmate who had been denied ole and declared that its contents ifrevealed— could cause a mur- 'One reason he was denied was protests in his file. . . This man s sent up for literally beating a n to death... If we were to tell nwhothey (the protesters) were, rauld not want to be one of those ople, ’ said Cromwell, a member the Texas Board of Pardons and roles. This potential danger to persons 10 give the board written evalua- ns of prisoners, parolees and ex- nvicts is the chief rationale for the making most of the board’s files ■ret. But there’s another side, raised by Dallas Times Herald article ggesting that Joe D. Hicks, now |ledin Fort Worth under a federal Inspiracy indictment, won a par- Jon for past felony convictions in i/2 with the aid of Odessa Dist. ,tl!v. John Green. The Odessa [nerican reported that Green had f en Hicks’ guest that year on a mbling trip to Las Vegas. Green said in answer to questions the might have written a letter to Texas parks get $1.5 billion the pardons and parole board re commending a pardon for Hicks, who later was pardoned by then- Gov. Preston Smith. “I could have and I could not have” written such a letter, Green said. Following the law, the pardons and parole board will not say whether there is such a letter in its files. “I think it ought to be a matter of record who recommended his par don ... I just think the people ought to know who recommended him for a pardon,” said John Sliney, city editor of the Odessa American. Sliney noted that five years before the pardon was granted, the Texas Department of Corrections clas sified Hicks’ chances of rehabilita tion as “very poor.” Before recommending a pardon or parole to the governor, the board must seek the comments of the sen tencing judge as well as the sheriff and district attorney of the county that sent a prisoner to Huntsville. And they are bound by law to give the board any information they might have about the person. Hicks was never sent to prison from Odessa. He settled there and opened a bail bond business after his release from prison, Sliney said. re- one Green, therefore, was not quired to make any comment one way or another on Hicks’ request for a full pardon. Under a 1967 law virtually every thing in an inmate’s or parolee’s or ex-convict’s file is confidential “and shall not be subject to public inspec tion.” Exceptions are what Cromwell calls “commitment information,” such as name, county, sentence, of fense, sentencing date and date of parole, if any. Also open to the pub lic are the board’s minutes, showing how each member voted on each The reason the bulk of a file is confidential is not to protect the pri vacy of lawbreakers but the safety of those who evaluate them, Cromwell says. These include parole officers both inside and outside the prison, dis trict attorneys, sheriffs, judges, prison officials and private citizens who write letters concerning offen ders. “When we get positive letters there is no problem. But suppose a man asks for a pardon and the DA says he committed a heinous offense and the people don’t want him back in the community. . . Suppose the man is not entirely rehabilitated. That district attorney’s life and his family could be in danger,” Crom well said. “In most instances, we are dealing with people who have violence in their background, who are capable of committing violent acts . . . “I want the district attorney and the sheriff to feel comfortable in cal ling in and saying, ‘We don’t want him back. We sent him up there to serve some time.’ I think he needs that ability to communicate with us privately.” Granted the need is to protect of ficials and citizens from revenge, but what about letters and reports favor ing a parole or a pardon? Aside from the arbitrariness of say ing favorable documents are open but unfavorable ones are not, Cromwell said the result might be less candor. Take the case where an elected official believes sincerely that an in- AGGIES, ARE YOU TIRED OF GETTING RIPPED OFF? Books, clothing, stereo, records, cameras, jewel ry, furniture and just about anything that you have in your room, Apt. or house. GET THE STUDENT CONTENTS COVERAGE POLICY SUPER LOW COST ($12 to $27 DOLLARS PER YR.) SUPER GOOD COVERAGE FOR INFORMATION CALL 846-1731 MARC L. BLACK THE HERITAGE INS. ASSOCIATES, INC. 707 TEXAS AVENUE, SUITE 210 COLLEGE STATION, TX. 77840 mate should be paroled and says so. “Suppose this information got out. His political opponent next time could use it against him,” Cromwell said. Cromwell says he would like to see the board’s minutes and all data in offenders’ files made confidential as well but he doubts this idea would get through the legislature. Disclosure of votes on pardons and paroles “could be potentially dangerous to a board member or a commissioner,” he said. “Commitment information” is jreadily available in county court houses, he said. Culling it from the confidential data in a file takes board employes away from more important jobs, Cromwell believes. He remains angry at Citizens Un ited for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE) for tying up a board execu tive for weeks pulling more than 4,000 records, sorting out the public material and interpreting coded mi nute sheets. “That resulted in a two-or three- week delay in some people getting out of prison,” he said. SANTA FE, N.M. — National irk Service areas in Texas are Muled to receive $61.1 million nder President Ford’s proposed 5 billion Bicentennial Land eritage Act. The act, made public by the Pres- lent August 29 in a speech at Yel- wsfone National Park, will launch a hyear program to expand and re- ibilitate the nation’s national parks, ildlife refuges, recreation areas, ban parks and historic and ar- eological sites, said Secretary of leInterior Thomas S. Kleppe. Joseph C. Rumburg, Jr., South- est Regional Director of the Na- onal Park Service, said that a eakdown of the funding for Texas lows that the largest amount — 17.3 million — will go toward the jrchase of 49,534 acres of Texas’ ig Thicket National Preserve not ivered by previous budgeting. Authorized in October, 1974, the ig Thicket will consist of 12 units icated in parts of Polk, Tyler, Jasper, Hardin, Orange, Jefferson and Liberty Counties. It was authorized to assure the preservation, conservation and pro tection of the natural, scenic and re creational values of 84,550 acres of the area, often termed the “biologi cal crossroads” of America. The second largest amount of money slated to go to the Texas na tional parks is $13.9 million for Guadalupe Mountains National Park in West Texas. Guadalupe Mountains is a rela tively new park with limited public use facilities and staffing at present. In store is the construction of visitor facilities, a ranger station and a trail system. Other Texas parks scheduled to receive funds include: — Big Bend National Park, $4.5 million for construction, mainte nance and rehabilitation, including the addition of a visitor contact sta tion and an amphitheater. — Amistad Recreation Area, $2.6 million for construction and de velopment that will include a new boat dock and visitor courtesy dock. — Fort Davis National Monu ment, $285,000 for maintenance, which will include some restoration work on the historic buildings at the 19th century fort. — Padre Island National Seashore, $208,000 for construction and development. — Lake Meredith Recreation Area, $583,000 for construction and maintenance, including work on boat docks and fishing piers. In addition, Rumburg said that some of the $13 million that the program makes available for in creased staffing will be allotted to Texas National Park Service areas. Rumburg said that increased staf fing is necessary to insure the protec tion of the natural and historical re sources and meet the increasing public demand. X THAT PLACE proudly announces the addition of MARY WILSON to our staff. Mary specializes in professional hair care for black guys and girls. 707 TEXAS Across from A&M 846-6933 Embrey’s Jewelry i - - The Friendly Store - Home of the Aggie Sweetheart Ring We Have Several Styles 'SSSSSSSSSSSSS? Also Watch and Jewelry Repair 415 University Dr. College Station 9-5:30 Mon.-Fri. 9-5 Sat. We’d like to take you for a ride Hey, Mr. suave and sophisticated . . try this on for size. It's the Raleigh Sports. Think bikes are for kids? Think again! This one’s spe cially made lor the guy who's a mover. Three speeds, safety- quick brakes, genuine leather saddle, touring bag . . . every thing you need to travel in style. See your Raleigh dealer, he’s got a set of wheels waiting for you. Come on along! Ford hurt by jobless rate? By JOHN CUNNIFF Associated Press NEW YORK — Damage to the Ford campaign by the three-month rise in the official unemployment rate might have been muted if the President had accepted the recom mendation of at least one govern ment official. The recommendation was that he appoint a committee to study the employment figures, which are in creasingly criticized as inaccurate and badly in need of revamping. Had he done so, the President would have been in a position to cast suspicion on the significance of the adjusted jobless statistics, which rose all summer and which could rise again in September. To make such a suggestion now, just two months before the elections, and at a time when both the House and Senate are considering bills that could lead to such a committee, quite likely would be considered political expedience. Various commentators say the job less rate will play a pivotal role in the November elections, and could con ceivably cost Ford the presidency. The President could have ap pointed the committee from among prominent private and government economists and statisticians, just as did President John F. Kennedy when he named a review committee in 1961. Julius Shiskin, commissioner of labor statistics, said he is among those who advocated such a move. Prof. Robert A. Gordon, who headed the 1961 committee that ap proved some of the procedures used today, said he also favored a review. Shiskin said he made his recom mendation when he first took office Business Analysis more than three years ago, and that he believed John Dunlop, labor sec retary, passed it on to the White House for action. He said he then continued to press for the commit tee. Among the criticisms made of the statistics is that the seasonal adjust ment, based on a formula designed to offset temporary factors so that the underlying trend can be detected, is arbitrary and often inaccurate. Last year, for example, the high est monthly jobless rate was thought throughout the year to be 9.2 per cent in May, but in January of this year was revised downward by three-tenths of 1 per cent to 8.9 per cent. Critics note that a change in the jobless rate by precisely the same amount in July of this year, from 7.5 per cent to 7.8 per cent, is believed to have seriously damaged Ford’s campaign. Yet that change too is sub ject to revision, after the elections. Albert Sindlinger, president of Sindlinger & Co., Media, Pa., an outspoken critic of seasonal adjust ing, maintains the public interest would be better served by supplying the raw figures and comparable fi gures for the prior several years. Gordon, past-president of the American Economic Association, be lieves a review should be considered because, he said, hundreds of mill ions of dollars of federal revenues are distributed on the basis of faulty local employment statistics. 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Tuesdays: Chicken 'n dumplings served in a crock, with plenty of cornbread for soppin’ Wednesdays: !/ 2 BBQ chicken plus beans, potato salad, pickle, onion and Texas toast Every Night: Choice steaks, cooked to per fection, served with Texas toast, a baked potato (or roastin’ ear) and a salad of your hxin’. 3C BAE-B-QUE Open 11 to 9:00 every day except Monday across the tracks/nearly downtown Bryan You are invited to attend a reception honoring MONDEL ROGERS and JOE and BETTY MOORE on the occasion of the publication of OLD RANCHES OF THE TEXAS PLAINS paintings by MONDEL ROGERS Number One: The Joe and Betty Moore Texas Art Series Thursday, September 9 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Rudder Center Exhibit Hall original paintings from the book on exhibition Autographing Special discount to Aggies SPONSORED BY The Memorial Student Center Directorate AND THE Texas A&M University Press