November 10, 2009

Update on the case of Shu'aib A. Raheem

An appellate court panel has upheld an Albany County Supreme Court ruling that the state’s Board of Parole was within its rights to reconsider the parole of Shu'aib A. Raheem after hearing new testimony from the victim’s family members.

It would appear that despite every effort an inmate has made while incarcerated, the victim's impact statement has become the single overriding factor which can keep an inmate in prison.

The full text of the decision from the Appellate Department, Third Division may be found here.

See also:
Uphold withdrawal of parole for cop-killer after family objects (Chief Leader, November 6 2009).
Cop killer's parole gets put on hold (NY Daily News, October 30 2009).

November 07, 2009

Ortloff sentencing delayed again until March 8th 2010

The sentencing of former Assemblyman and NY Parole Commissioner George “Chris” Ortloff has been delayed yet again, this time for a further four months.

His sentencing was originally adjourned from April 23rd until August 11th, then was delayed and was due to take place on November 9th 2009 at 2 p.m.

Now according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Spina, Ortloff's sentencing has once again been delayed and will now take place on March 8th 2010 at 11.30 a.m. at the federal district court in Albany.

"The parties need some additional time to address some sentencing issues," Spina said in a telephone message.

See also:
Ortloff sentencing delayed again (Albany Times Union, November 9 2009).
Ortloff sentencing delayed again (Press Republican, November 5 2009).
Ortloff’s sentencing delayed a third time — now to March (Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 5 2009).
Ortloff sentencing delayed again (WCAX.com, November 5 2009).

November 01, 2009

Building Bridges - November 2009 edition

The November edition of Building Bridges is now available from the Prison Action Network.

Items covered in this issue include:

1. Activities around NYS
2. CFFCJP reports
3. Gardening at prison
4. ICARE column
5. Job opportunities
6. Lady Penumbra and Ty Conscious
7. Legislation
8. Lifers and Longtermers Clearinghouse
9. Obituary
10. Parole news
11. Post-conviction sealing hotline seeks input
12. Prison media
13. Prisoners of the census
14. Telephone rates lowered
15. Transportation to prisons

There are no further updates on the Graziano v. Pataki class action case.