U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Back From the Dead: Backing the Progress of Kentucky's Furman-Commuted Death Row Population

NCJ Number
114350
Date Published
December 1986
Annotation
This report tracks the legal status of 23 Kentucky death row inmates who had their capital sentences commuted following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Furman vs. Georgia (1972).
Abstract

Of these, 17 eventually were paroled, 5 are still incarcerated, and 1 died in prison. Of the paroled offenders, 11 performed well enough that their continued close supervision was not warranted; and they were placed on inactive supervision. Three parolees violated the conditions of their release: two were arrested, one was convicted, all received probation hearings, and two were returned to prison. Four parolees were arrested and convicted of new crimes. None of the offenders again committed murder: Armed robbery was the most serious of their new crimes, although one was sentenced to jail and the rest were sentenced to prison. All of the recidivist activity of this group of parolees was attributable to offenders who had originally killed police officers during an armed robbery. However, there were three other parolees who had committed this type of offense, yet did not cause any problems during their parole supervision. Overall, the recidivism rate for this group was no worse than that reported for other homicide offenders on parole.

Date Published: December 1, 1986