Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules Parole Planning Must Address Parolee Disabilities

On May 15, 2017, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that the Massachusetts Parole Board must address offender disabilities in parole planning. The ruling requires the Parole Board to ensure that parolees have access to community-based services to address impairments caused by their disabilities.

The ruling was in Richard Crowell v. Massachusetts Parole Board. In 1962, the plaintiff had initially been sentenced to life in prison, with possibility of parole; he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for being the getaway driver in a fatal armed robbery. The life sentence was later commuted to 36 years to life . . .