(Thf CnrrttyUlfNeiys greenville piedmont "est Available Copy c-y- Section Markets Television Thursday, January 1, 1987 arole braird urdleas Victims, others put pressure on panel prison overcrowding, have decreased the parole rate, said Sanders, who is leaving office Thursday. Many non-violent offenders who would be up for parole are instead released. "So what we're hearing more from (at parole hearings) are violent offenders," Sanders said. The other reason for the lower parole rate is the victim's movement, he said. "More and more victims are showing up at parole hearings." The inception of CAVE in February 1984 and its quick growth "unequivocally" played a part in the drop in the parole See Parole, Page 17C The Associated Press COLUMBIA The number of inmates paroled in South Carolina has plummeted because of increased pressure from crime victims and citizens, along with early inmate-release mechanisms, a state official says.
In the early 1970s, the Parole Board set free 70 percent of the inmates who asked for paroles. Recently, the board has granted only a fourth of the paroles requested. The board's recent refusal to release Reginald Mack is a case in point. When Mack became eligible for parole Dec. 17, the sister of the Charleston liquor store owner Mack killed and the Citizens Against Violent Crime were prepared.
year, the board voted to parole 894 inmates, or 27 percent, said Frank Sanders, executive director of the Department of Parole and Community Corrections. The percentage of inmates paroled in the past five years has steadily decreased: 47 percent in 1981-82, 39 percent in 1982-83, 36 percent in 1983-84 and 32 percent in 1984-85. In 1973-74, the parole rate was about 70 percent, Sanders said. Early release mechanisms such as supervised furlough and the governor's emergency powers act, intended to reduce tenced to life in prison." The 14 years Mack has served in prison "is not enough," Grego said Tuesday. CAVE, which acted after Betty Turner, Moluf's sister, asked for its help, also presented the board with petitions signed by people opposed to Mack's parole.
And two CAVE officials went with Ms. Turner to the parole hearing Dec. 17, Grego said. Four board members voted for parole and two voted against, but it takes five votes for an inmate to be released. In 3,255 hearings during the 1985-86 fiscal Citizens Against Violent Crime paid for an advertisem*nt in the local newspapers that described the 1972 armed robbery and shooting of Joseph A.
Moluf and asked sympathetic readers to write members of the parole board to urge them not to release Mack. "We wanted to let them (parole board members) know that the community was very interested in this case and didn't feel the punishment has been rendered," said CAVE founder James Grego of Charleston. "Josey Moluf is dead. Mack was sen Esttn anthiKDinis 11 w-it i'" i i i -F'." 1... "I Mini (I'i i I affiloir Summaries Computer to keep tabs from beginning to end Staff photographer A correctional officer lines up the camera now using color film for clearer pictures By William Fox The Greenville News A computer system soon will track inmates through the Greenville County Detention Center, and new measures are in place to thwart the mistaken release of any more prisoners, off icials said.
On Wednesday, the detention center was slightly below its capacity of 213 inmates, and the detention center director attributed the easing of crowded conditions to a population control officer. Detention Center Director Perry Eichbr estimated 50 fewer inmates are packed into the facility each day since an officer was assigned this summer to keep inmates moving through the system. 4 THIS IS K2T SUHjCB KiMa 'u Dsan C3 rr voua am Ysrn C3 cjn way LJL.mimiiLM I mm milium I im WliiiHH' On Wednesday, the population was approximately 201, which was about as low as it has been in years. Populations of about 300 had been common, Eichor said. The population control officer makes sure inmates eligible for personal recognizance bonds are freed and those who want to plead guilty and begin serving time can do so.
Reducing the jail population has meant less crowded conditions and a savings to taxpayers, Eichor said. Keeping tabs on inmates will be easier when the five computer terminals installed around the jail are completely on line. They will give automatic access to records to determine the incoming inmate's prior criminal history and whether he is wanted by authorities anywhere in the country. Previously, those records could take up to a day to retrieve from various locations, Eichor said. Medical files also will be stored on a separate system to give jail officials immediate information on any past medical problems the inmate experienced during previous incarcerations at the detention center.
The computers will be used to track the inmate through the system, Eichor said. In the meantime, several steps taken during the past three months should make sure prisoners are not mistakenly set free in place of the correct inmates. During the past 15 months, four prisoners have walked out of the maximum security jail because of mistaken releases. A color photograph is taken of each in- I ft ts. mate when he is booked, and the picture is checked when the inmate is released.
The camera has also been mqved two feet closer to the inmate, which improves the clarity of the shot, Eichor said. Previously, lesser quality black and white photographs were used. The color film costs an additional $7,000 to $8,000 a year, Eichor estimated. Wrist bands are attached to each inmate. The bands are similar to those worn by hospital patients and cannot be removed without being destroyed, Eichor said.
Any inmate caught without a wristband is locked into a holding cell to await being fingerprinted so that he is correctly identified, he said. In addition, inmates now are weighed and measured when they are booked into, the jail and when they are released. The two sets of figures are compared to ensure that the correct inmate is being released. Previously, jail officials used height and weight information supplied to them when the inmates was booked, and this information was not compared when the inmate was released. ..4 Signs set rules for inmates Inmates wear wristbands Companies agree to pay for cleanup Smokers in public places face fines in the Midlands 3 charged with fraud in management of funds of Hilton Head Holdings The Associated Press HILTON HEAD ISLAND Hilton Head Magistrate Rita A.
Simmons has issued three criminal warrants in connection with the transfer of about $850,000 under the care of Hilton Head Holdings Corp. The warrants charging breach of trust with fraudulent intent were issued Monday against Luke M. Taylor, former chairman and chief executive officer of Hilton Head Holdings; Patrick "Pat" Ammirati, executive vice president of Cuyahoga Wrecking Co. of Great Neck, N.Y.; and Myron Blumenthal, an accountant for Cuyahoga Wrecking. The wrecking company Is owned by Philip B.
Schwab, principal investor in Hilton Head Holdings Corp. I Ammirati, a long-time executive vice president of Cuyahoga Wrecking, came to the island this summer to head a management team brought in by Schwab to turn around Hilton Head Holdings' financial See Warrants, Page 17C ning said, adding that the firms were "the most reasonable defendants I've ever dealt with in a cost recovery case. They're pretty good corporate citizens as far as I'm concerned." The suit also named as defendants four members of the Medley family and the Medley Concrete Works. They have not joined in the settlement, Manning said. The EPA cleaned up more than 4,500 of the 55-gallon steel drums of industrial waste on the site in the Corinth community of Cherokee County, along with empty barrels, 24,200 gallons of liquid waste and 2,132 cubic yards of contaminated soil.
Toxic wastes such as benzene, cyanide and polychlorinated biphenyls were found in the waste on the site. The settlement will release the companies from responsibility for past costs but will not release them from future costs associated with any new work at the site. Contamination of groundwater at the Medley farm site has been found, and the site has been proposed for further cleanup and study. The Associated Press SPARTANBURG Eight companies tentatively have agreed to repay $560,000 the Environmental Protection Agency spent to clean up a Cherokee County toxic waste site. The EPA filed a suit through the U.S.
Justice Department last year asking to be reimbursed for the money the agency spent in 1983 to clean up a site located on property owned by Ralph Medley. The companies agreeing in principle to an out-of-court settlement are Milliken Chemical National Starch and Chemical Unisphere Chemical ABCO Industries, BASF Ethox Chemical Tanner Chemical Co. and Polymer Industries. The companies will split payment of the $560,000 settlement, Steve Manning, a Justice Department attorney, said Wednesday. Manning said he does not know how much each of the defendants will pay.
The eight companies have not admitted to liability for the site, he said. "All we wanted to know was we needed $560,000 and we will be reimbursed," Man Retail and department stores, excluding food-service areas and hair salons within the stores. Elevators. Hospitals, except in private patient rooms. Public schools.
Public theaters, motion picture theaters and other public auditoriums. Public transportation, except for taxis. Buildings owned by Richland County or any of its political subdivisions. The ordinance allows smoking in public restrooms, as well as some public areas defined as "any reasonable area of a public place which has been set aside by a person, or his agent, having See Smoking, Page 17C The Associated Press COLUMBIA After Jan. 31 smokers in unincorporated areas of Richland County risk a $100 fine for lighting up in public places such as schools and theaters but smoking in public restrooms remains legal.
The Clean Indoor Air Ordinance was passed 6-5 Tuesday by the County Council, which had listened to some 20 people discuss the proposal. "One thing we want to make clear is that we are not endorsing an ordinance for prohibition," Councilwoman Candy Waites said. "You can smoke 29 cigarettes a minute if you want to, but not in front of me. If you want to smoke in an environment that does not affect others, that's fine." Beginning Jan. 31, smoking will be prohibited in: Reid's showing in race raises few eyebrows New Year's baby boy debuts at 12:01 a.m.
Greenville greeted its first baby of 1987 when Jacob Sanders Robertson was born at 12:01 a.m. at Greenville Memorial Hospital. The parents are Mr and Mrs. Michael Robertson of Marietta. The baby weighed 7 pounds, 3' ounces.
"Mother and child are doing well," according to Dave Partridge, director of public relations for Greenville Hospital System. Keown and Reid will be vying for the seat vacated by former sheriff Jimmy Gable, who was removed from office in October after he was convicted of embezzling two U.S. Treasury checks. Gable was sentenced to six months in prison. He is scheduled to begin serving his sentence by Jan.
5. Barring an effort by a write-in candidate, the winner of the runoff will become sheriff after the Feb. 17 special election. There is no Republican opposition. No figures were available Wednesday on the total number oflack and white voters, but many residents said it was a heavy black turnout that put Reid on top.
Reid and Keown both said they don't think race was a factor in the election. The campaign was controversial. When Gable was suspended from office in August after he was indicted, Keown, as county coroner, became acting sheriff. On Nov. 24 Keown was arrested and charged with trying to bribe Reid, then chief deputy with the Sheriff's Office, to drop out of the race.
The next day he was sjk McCormick, Pe 17C By Jennifer Miller The QreenvHIe News McCORMICK There was little surprise in McCormick Wednesday that George Reid was the top votegetter in Tuesday's Democratic primary race for sheriff. Some local residents attributed Reid's strong showing to an apparently heavy turnout of black voters. "What i heard indicated to me that the blacks would turn out like they did," said Dillard Madden, owner of Madden's uor Store In downtown McCormicl Reid, 33, the only black candidate, was the top votegetter in Tuesday's primary with 957 votes, or 46 percent of the votes cast. Reid faces Jack Keown in a runoff election Jan. 13.
Keown received 659 votes, or 32 percent of the votes. The runoff is mandated because neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the 2,080 votes cast. Don Neal, a former lieutenant with the Polk County, Sheriff's Department, finished third in the race with 464 votes, 22 percent of the total. j(.
