A landmark decision has been reached in the long-running Graziano et al v. Pataki et al civil rights case, which aims to restore fairness to the parole hearings of inmates convicted of violent felonies.
There have been many setbacks and disappointments in this case including a recent tentative settlement which was subsequently retracted by the defendants.
However, in a ten-page ruling on December 6th Judge Charles L. Brieant denied the defendants' motion to dismiss the case on the grounds of mootness and ruled that the suit can proceed as a class action, representing the interests of hundreds of state prison inmates who contend that they were wrongly denied parole.
Trials and tribulations: local lawyers win two major rulings
