The parole board consists of the commissioner of health and welfare and two members of the executive council designated by the Governor."

16

The members of the parole board with the exception of the commissioner of health and welfare, who receives no additional compensation for serving on the parole board, are paid $5 per day and their expenses during the time they are actually engaged in carrying on the work of the board. All supervision of parolees from the reformatory for men is in the hands of the superintendent of the reformatory and his assistant. Likewise, parolees from the reformatory for women are supervised by officers of that institution.

Provision is made for a "probation officer" to serve as a supervisor of parolees.1

Persons eligible for parole. The parole board may adopt such rules as it may deem wise or necessary for carrying out the provisions of the parole law. Convicts "may be paroled by the parole board only after the expiration of their minimum term of imprisonment with the deduction provided by law." 18

16 Id. 1931, ch. 216, art. III, § 5.

17 "The Department may appoint a State probation officer to serve during its pleasure and who shall perform such duties in connection with the employment, care and supervision of paroled convicts as the parole board may determine." Me. Rev. Stat. (1930) ch. 147, § 39, as amended by Me. Pub. Laws 1933, ch. 153, 10. Actually, two State probation officers have charge of parolees from the State prison. Each of the other State penal institutions has an employee who devotes part time to supervision of parolees from that institution.

18 Me. Rev. Stat. (1930) ch. 147, § 28, as amended by Me. Pub. Laws 1933, ch. 153, 1. Under the original parole act, persons who had "been twice previously convicted of a felony" were not eligible for parole. Me. Pub. Laws 1913, ch. 60, § 6. It is provided by the present parole law that when “any person shall be convicted of a crime the punishment for which prescribed by law may be imprisonment in the State prison, the court imposing sentence shall not fix a definite term in said State prison but shall fix maximum and minimum terms. The maximum term shall not exceed the longest term fixed by law for the punishment of the offense of which the person sentenced is convicted, and the minimum term shall not exceed one-half of the maximum term of imprisonment fixed by statute and shall not be less than 6 months in any case. The judge, before or at the time of pronouncing such sentences, shall ascertain by examination of the prisoner, and by such other evidence as can be obtained, any facts tending to indicate briefly the causes of the criminal character or conduct of such prisoner, which facts, and such other facts as shall appear to be pertinent to the case, he shall cause to be entered upon the minutes of the court." Me. Rev. Stat. (1930) ch. 147 § 25. It is also provided that when a person is convicted of crime and sentenced to imprisonment in the State prison, the clerk of the court is to forward to the warden of the prison a record of the case "together with a statement of any

Convicts in the State prison may be granted a good-time deduction of 7 days per month from the minimum sentence.19 The provisions of the parole law do not apply to a person who is convicted of "an offense the only punishment for which prescribed by law is imprisonment for life. Provided, that in all cases where the maximum sentence, in the discretion of the court, may be for life or any number of years, the court imposing sentence shall fix both the minimum and maximum sentence." The minimum term of imprisonment thus fixed by the court may not exceed one-half of the maximum term.20

The practice of granting liberty permits to inmates of the reformatory for women who have employment does not extend to those sentenced for more than 5 years.21

Though an inmate of the reformatory for men or the reformatory for women is eligible for parole at any time, parole is not usually granted to an inmate of one of these institutions until he or she has served about 1 year within the reformatory.22 Inmates of the reformatory for men are ordinarily considered for parole after serving 1 year.

fact or facts which the presiding judge may deem important or necessary for a full comprehension of the case, and a reference to the statute under which the sentence was imposed." Id. ch. 147, § 27. Any prisoner, other than a person sentenced to a life term, who was confined in a State prison at the time that the parole law of 1913 became effective under a definite sentence for felony and who has been convicted only once for a crime punishable by confinement in a State prison is eligible for parole and is subject to the same parole conditions and penalties which may be imposed on any other person who is confined under an indeterminate sentence. The definite term for which the prisoner was sentenced is, for the purposes of parole, deemed to be the maximum term. If the definite term for which the prisoner was sentenced is 2 years or less, his minimum term is 1 year. If the definite term is more than 1 year, the minimum term is one-half of the definite term. Id. ch. 147, 31, as amended by Me. Pub. Laws 1933, ch. 153, § 4.

19 Me. Rev. Stat. (1930) ch. 152, § 20, as amended by Me. Pub. Laws 1933, ch. 1, 329, ch. 182.

Me. Rev. Stat. (1930) ch. 147, § 26.

Me. Pub. Laws 1933, ch. 1, § 360.

"Men between the ages of 16 and 36 who have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to crime in the State or Federal courts may be imprisoned in the reformatory. Me. Pub. Laws 1933, ch. 1, § 366. When the reformatory was established in 1919 there was a maximum age limit for the persons sentenced to it; 16 years was the minimum age limit. Me. Pub. Laws 1919, ch. 182, § 1. Any person within the above age limits who has been convicted before any State court or trial justice of an offense punishable by imprisonment in a State prison, a county jail, or a house of correction may, within the discretion of the court or justice, be sentenced to the reformatory for men. When a person is ordered committed to the reformatory, the court or trial justice ordering the

Method of application for parole.-Application for parole "shall be made to the parole board upon uniform blanks prescribed by them, or to the warden of the prison. The warden, when requested by a prisoner whose minimum term of imprisonment has expired and who is eligible to parole, shall furnish such prisoner with a blank application for parole. The application shall be filled out and delivered to the warden, who shall immediately forward the same to the parole board with his recommendation indorsed thereon." 23

An inmate of the State prison must file a formal application before he is considered for parole. This application is usually filed after the inmate has served one-half of his minimum sentence less good-time deductions.

An inmate of either of the reformatories is not required to file a formal application for parole consideration.

commitment may not prescribe a limit to his period of confinement but the man may not be held for more than 5 years if he has been convicted of a felony. If he has been convicted of a misdemeanor he may not be held for more than 1 year, unless he is a second offender, in which case he may not be held for more than 3 years. If, through oversight or otherwise, any person is committed to the reformatory for a definite period of time, his commitment is not void; but he is subject to the above provisions concerning commitments to the reformatory in the same manner and to the same extent as if he had been given an indeterminate sentence. Me. Pub. Laws 1933, ch. 1, § 367.

The State reformatory for women is an institution "in which all women over the age of 16 years and under the age of 40 years who have been convicted of or have pleaded guilty to crime in the courts of the State or of the United States, and who have been duly sentenced and removed thereto, shall be imprisoned in accordance with the sentences or orders of said courts and the rules and regulations of said reformatory." Me. Pub. Laws 1933, ch. 1, § 354. (Under the original act providing for the establishment of the reformatory, a court or trial justice, in his discretion, might commit to the reformatory any woman over the age of 16 years who had been convicted of "an offense punishable by imprisonment in the State prison, or in the county jail, or in any house of correction." Me. Pub. Laws 1915, ch. 206, § 7). When a woman who comes within the age limits for admission to the reformatory is convicted of any offense punishable by imprisonment in a State prison or in a county jail or in a house of correction, the court or the trial justice may, in its or his discretion, order her commitment to the reformatory for women. "When a woman is sentenced to the reformatory for women, the court or trial justice imposing the sentence shall not fix the term of such commitment unless it be for a term of more than 3 years; and the duration of such commitment, including the time spent on parole, shall not exceed 3 years, except where the maximum term specified by law for the crime for which the offender was sentenced shall exceed that period, in which event such maximum term shall be the limit of detention under the provisions of this section, and in such cases it shall be the duty of the trial court to specify the maximum term for which the offender may be held under such commitment." Id. 1933, ch. 154, § 1; id. ch. 1, § 356.

23 Me. Rev. Stat. (1930) ch. 147, § 29, as amended by Me. Pub. Laws 1933, ch. 153, § 2.

24

Hearing: Prior investigation.-Upon receipt of the inmate's application and the recommendation, the parole board may make any investigation in the matter which they may deem advisable and necessary. A preparole investigation of the case of each applicant for parole from the State prison is made by the probation officer a short while before the case of the applicant is heard by the parole board. The board also has at its disposal the institutional records and a statement by the warden.

At the reformatory for men the commitment book entry and any other information which the superintendent has been able to collect constitutes the record in the case of the inmate who is being considered for parole. The economic and social background of the inmate and his criminal history are considered in determining whether parole should be granted. Some consideration is given to the accomplishments of the inmate in the reformatory school.

The superintendent of the reformatory for women and the parole officer of that institution prepare the record in the case of an inmate who is considered for parole. This record includes reports on institutional behavior and medical and psychiatric reports. A history of the inmate and a statement as to her prospective employment are also included.

Hearings: When held.-The parole board sits at the State prison and at the reformatory for men whenever cases are ready for consideration.

It does not sit at the reformatory for women, but acts merely upon the recommendations of the superintendent of that institution.

Hearings: How conducted.-At the State prison the hearings are attended by the warden, the probation officer, and the parole clerk (chief clerk). Each applicant for parole appears before the board. After an applicant has been heard, the board considers his record and then makes a decision in his case.

The superintendent of the reformatory for men attends the hearings at that institution and may question the inmates. Each inmate whose case is to be considered appears

24 Me. Rev. Stat. (1930) ch. 147, § 29, as amended by Me. Pub. Laws 1933, ch. 153, 2.

before the board. The board does not examine the record of the inmate's case prior to the hearing. The inmate tells his story, the superintendent makes a statement, and the board members examine any available material, including letters from parents or friends of the inmate.

Hearing: Disposition.-If, after a hearing at the State prison, the board decides to grant parole to a convict, he is summoned to the commissary on the following day for clothes measurements. If parole is not granted, no notification is given to the convict, though he may ascertain the reasons for its refusal from the warden. A convict who is granted parole is usually released within a week after his case is heard by the board. Before the parolee is released the warden talks with him and expresses his interest in the parolee's welfare. The probation officer meets with the group of parolees who are being released at a particular time and explains the conditions of parole to them and answers whatever questions they may have. He also talks with each individual parolee about his special problems. If, in the interim between the hearing and the time for release, the convict to whom parole has been granted violates the prison rules, or if it is discovered that employment will not be available to him, the warden and his deputy may, in their discretion, withhold his parole and retain him in the institution. They may withhold his parole for any other reason which they deem sufficient. However, parole is seldom withheld. Notice of the release or parole of a convict from the State prison is given to the State police, the sheriff of the county in which he will reside, and the local police. If parole is granted to an inmate of the reformatory for men, he is notified by the superintendent and his release is usually effected within a few days. If parole is denied, his case is continued indefinitely, or a date is set for another hearing. The superintendent always has an interview with the parolee before his release. The superintendent may withhold parole if, in the interim after the hearing, he discovers any fact which he believes warrants such action.

The decision as to whether parole from the reformatory for women should be granted is made almost invariably by the superintendent. She prepares the parole permits in those cases in which she believes that parole should be