By C1 Staff
ALBANY, NY — Despite an inmate’s exemplary behavior, a parole board decided to not grant him parole based on the severity of the crime that put him behind bars.
The New York Law Journal reports that inmate Samuel Hamilton is currently serving time for the death of a police officer during a robbery. Hamilton was working with two others, but ended up being the only suspect convicted of the crime.
He was not aware the victim of his crime was a police officer, at the time; Hamilton was allegedly only the lookout during the crime, and did not pull the trigger that killed the officer.
Since his incarceration, Hamilton has earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, worked as an adjunct instructor and academic assistant through Nyack College and completed every rehabilitation program offered to him.
Still the parole board found him wanting.
“The record establishes that the board acknowledged petitioner’s extensive rehabilitation success along with the additional statutory factors, but placed greater emphasis on the seriousness of the petitioner’s crime in its determination that release would be incompatible with the welfare of society and so deprecate the seriousness of the crime as to undermine respect for the law, as it is entitled to do,” one justice wrote in Hamilton v. New York State Division of Parole, 518301.
This is the seventh time Hamilton has been denied parole.
One justice felt that the parole board’s decision was being predicated on “errors of fact,” such as believing that Hamilton was the shooter despite evidence to the contrary.
“This commission implied that someone must continue to be punished for the unfortunate death of this police officer and, absent the ability to punish the most culpable party, petitioner must continue to pay the price in his stead,” she wrote. “Manifestly, such punitive considerations find no support in statute and have absolutely no relevance to the decision to grant or deny parole.”
Hamilton is due for his next regularly scheduled parole interview in August.