marshallnewsmessenger.com : Judge scolds parole officials over sex offender classification.
A federal judge on Thursday issued a stern rebuke to state corrections officials for the way they classify some parolees as sex offenders even though the defendants have never been convicted of sex crimes.
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks also voiced frustration with state parole officials for ignoring earlier court decisions and a previous directive by him and ordered the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to review whether to leave parolee Ray Curtis Graham on sex offender restrictions. Graham, who served time in prison for burglary and attempted murder, was never convicted of a sex crime.
Sparks said,"The undisputed evidence established no official involved in the ... process has ever made the necessary finding that Mr. Graham constituted a threat to society by his lack of sexual control."
"I think this case displays the arrogance of power that permeates the parole board," said Bill Habern, one of Graham's attorneys.
