Long Road to Freedom: Factors Delaying Prisoners’ Early Release from Prison

• DOI: 10.1177/00328855211029880
• Published date: 01 September 2021
• Date: 01 September 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/00328855211029880

The Prison Journal

2021, Vol. 101(4) 466 –487

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DOI: 10.1177/00328855211029880

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Article

Long Road to Freedom:

Factors Delaying

Prisoners’ Early Release

from Prison

Uri Timor1 and Ety Elisha2

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify the factors that delay the granting

of early release to prisoners who are eligible for early release according to

the Israeli law. The study is based on participatory observations of parole

board hearings, interviews with parole board members, and content analysis

of protocols of parole boards and legal rulings. The main factors identified

in delaying release are related to the numerous postponements of hearings

and delays in receiving documents from relevant parties. These factors are

discussed in detail, offering recommendation for improvement and thus

increasing the number of early releases.

Keywords

prisoners, early release, parole board, reintegration, licensed inmate,

community supervision

Introduction

Parole is the release of a prisoner into the community before completion of

the entire term of his/her sentence. It is a privilege granted on the basis of

positive behavior in prison, during which the licensed inmate must meet

1Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel; Ashkelon Acdemic College, Israel.

2The Max Stern Yezreel College, Yezreel Valley, Israel

Corresponding Author:

Ety Elisha, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Department of Criminology, Yezreel Valley

1930600, Israel.

Email: etye@yvc.ac.il

1029880TPJXXX10.1177/00328855211029880The Prison JournalTimor and Elisha

research-article2021

Timor and Elisha 467

certain conditions during the period of the residual prison term (Petersilia,

2003). Over the years, additional considerations and conditions have been

added that have led to the delay and reduction of the early releases of prison-

ers, both in Israel and elsewhere (Caplan, 2007; Tzeng, 2014), as detailed

below.

The Law of Conditional Release from Prison in

Israel

The early release of prisoners was introduced in Palestine by the British even

before the establishment of the state of Israel. The Prison Ordinance of 1946

allowed prisoners to be paroled automatically after serving two thirds of their

sentence (Prison Ordinate No. 3, High Commissioner to Palestine, 1946). In

1954, the automatic release was abolished and replaced by parole boards

whose task was to assess prisoners’ requests for early release. At that time,

the boards had three representatives—a district court judge, a representative

of the Israel Prison Services (hereinafter: IPS), and a physician or educator

(The Penal Law Amendment [Methods of Punishment], section 38, 1954).

In 2001, a new law was enacted in Israel, which is valid to date, that regu-

lated the early release from prison. This law provides that any prisoner sen-

tenced to a period of more than 6 months, including a life sentence whose

sentence has been imposed, and who has served at least two thirds of the

sentence, is entitled to apply for an early release to the parole board. The

parole board will then consider the early release request based, on criteria

specified in the law, which includes the individual’s chances of rehabilitation

and the lack of danger to public (The Israeli Parliament, Law of Conditional

Release from Prison, 2001).

This law also specifies the members of the parole board, its functions,

powers and considerations. That is, the parole board has four members,

headed by a judge (usually retired), and two public representatives who are

knowledgeable and experienced in applicable professional fields—criminol-

ogy, social work, psychology, or education. The fourth member is a represen-

tative of the IPS, who is entitled to participate in the board’s discussions but

does not have voting rights (The Israeli Parliament, Law of Conditional

Release from Prison, 2001).

In Israel, the parole board is not subordinate to any governmental author-

ity; its members are independent and make decisions to the best of their

objective judgment. Also, there is no permanent composition of the parole

board. Its members vary in each committee, and thus a deliberation that is

postponed does not necessarily take place before the same panel that met in