APPENDIX
TO
"An Analysis of Prisoner Release Data
for the
State of Ohio"

	In the section dealing with ethnic release data on pages 11 through 13 there was an accidental failure to clarify one point so as to be easily understood. This data relates to the parole of Black prisoners. In this section the fixed quota for Black prisoners at Orient Correctional Institution for the years 1993 through 1996, was 185. The two minor deviations can be attributed to errors in record keeping on the part of the Ohio Adult Parole Authority.

	This same area shows a chart which itemizes the percentages of ethnic groups released on parole. For the Black prisoners there is a nearly 5% greater release rate than the intake figures show should exist. The DR%C's intake percentages show 54+ to 56+% for Blacks. The actual release rate is nearly 61%. Where do these extra Blacks come from? Is the DR&C deliberately deflating the Black population? The answer is "partially." These extra Black prisoners result from the O.A.P.A.'s parole and parole violation policies. As noted in the charts showing releases by number of convictions the A.P.A. releases prisoners they know will reoffend. This gives them an inflated parole rate since approximately 1500 of these men are violated and returned to prison each year. This is itemized in the included DR&C literature. These 1500 men are then added back into the prison's populations. Because these men already have numbers they are not reflected on the DR&C's yearly intake figures. They are excess. When you compare the number of these repeat offenders that are paroled against the number of parole revocations! it is surprising that more of them aren't violated. These men are placed under very close scrutiny and violated for the slightest technical offense.

	The Ohio Adult Parole Authority is deliberately releasing less Whites which violates the civil rights of every White prisoner who was qualified for release and was not due to the color of his or her skin. Expanded to a system-wide context the 8% fewer White releases can amount to hundreds in a single year.

	In the same context the fixed quota for Blacks also ignores their qualifications for release. If 350 men in a given year are qualified to go home under the guidelines and only 185 are released, the civil rights of the others who were denied release on the basis of the color of their skin have been violated also.

	It is well known by all the prisoners in the Ohio system that the pat excuse for a "flop" is "nature of the offense," no matter what that offense is. This gives the Parole Board a rather shaky justification under their complete and unbridled discretionary powers. The truly upsetting aspect of this is that first offenders, both Black and White, are left to sit while men who have shown a definite tendency to reoffend are released only to be violated. These are wasted paroles which could have gone to first offenders the Parole Board knows stand an excellent chance of never returning. But this would be counterproductive to the DR&C and OAPA goals of building more prisons and establishing a greater budgetary and political power base. The "Kiddie Parole Board" shows their intent to start destroying lives at a much younger age in order to increase their potential adult prisoner base. "Vocational" programs within the prisons will turn into Ohio Penal Industries factories and the prisoners will be the new slave labor of the coming century.

	If you doubt this ask yourself three questions: Why would any government agency want more crime and more prisons in their own society? Why, in an age that is becoming more technical, are "mind programs" such as college forbidden while "manual labor programs" such as vocational education mandated? Why does the DR&C spend $400 million on new prisons and only $4 million on drug programs when the DR&C itself says that 80% of prisoners have drug and/or alcohol related problems which led to their incarceration? Wouldn't it seem a lot more intelligent and much more beneficial to society, our society, to work on curing the problem rather than building more cattle pens?