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GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester,MA

 January 25, 2011 

Opinion: Parole proposal a test of Beacon Hillresolve

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No parole system will ever be perfect.

But the Massachusetts system obviously could and should be better. Theshooting death of a Woburn police officer by a career criminal who wasparoled while serving three life sentences is proof enough of that.

So it is encouraging to see that a reform package coming out of theLegislature that will toughen standards for parole has bipartisan support.

Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and some fellow senators,including Steven Baddour, D-Methuen, unveiled a bill Monday that woulddeny parole to anyone serving more than one life term.

 The bill would also increase the time an inmate serving a life sentence wouldserved before being eligible for parole, from 15 to 25 years. It would requirethat at least three of the seven-member Massachusetts Parole Board have alaw enforcement background. And it would require that the board notify theattorney general, district attorney, local police chiefs and victims' next of kin60 days before a parole hearing.

 Those changes would address some of the most egregious failures that led tothe killing of Woburn police Officer John Maguire in December by paroleeDominic Cinelli during a botched jewelry heist. Cinelli also died in the

shootout.

Cinelli had been paroled in 2008 on a unanimous vote by the parole board.Middlesex Attorney General Gerard Leone said his office was never notifiedthat Cinelli was scheduled for a parole hearing.

In the aftermath of the killing, the entire parole board resigned. As Tarr saidlater, that was a "necessary first step." But clearly it is not sufficient.

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If, as Tarr also said, sentences are going to "mean something," then a lifesentence ought to mean much more than 15 years.

Baddour was also correct when he said that while those convicted of crimesdeserve a second chance, "nobody deserves a third and fourth and fifth

chance."

Indeed, the fact that anyone serving three life sentences would ever beeligible for parole is absurd — in this case, tragically absurd.

As the bill moves through the system, legislators should also consider therecommendation from Attorney General Martha Coakley, who last weekurged Gov. Deval Patrick to name a crime victim or victim advocate to theparole board.

 That ought to be a requirement. There are plenty of advocates for criminals

who come before the board. Victims deserve a voice as well.

Nobody should expect that these reforms will eliminate all tragedies. Butthey should make them extremely rare. They deserve the approval of theLegislature and the signature of the governor — soon.