by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“A parole hearing is all about storytelling and who can tell a better story, but the story of the crime is so far out in the lead, so powerful, most people requesting parole are rejected,” said Correction author Ben Austen. In a Feb. 3 conversation with Sewanee Review editor Adam Ross at the McGriff Alumni House, Austen talked about parole’s role in the criminal justice system and his new book, “Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change.” Correction tells the parole stories of Michael Henderson and Johnny Veal, imprisoned for nearly a half century for crimes committed when they were teens.

Austen described a parole hearing as a scene of high drama. The families of the accused and the victim sit side by side, along with those who have no personal stake in the outcome but hold strong feelings about why the accused should remain incarcerated — or not. They all have stories to tell. There is also the story about the accused’s decades in prison and who the accused became as a result. But Austen stressed, “Every parole hearing begins with a ‘statement of facts,’ information passed down from the prosecutor and police. They tell the story of the crime, and it doesn’t matter how long ago it was, it feels present tense and like the crime needs to be punished.”

“The United States locks up more people than anyone else in the world, about one in six of all incarcerated people,” Austen said. “Tennessee has a higher incarceration rate than every single country except El Salvadore, but it’s beaten by five other southern states.” As governor of California, Ronald Reagon pressured the criminal justice system to reduce prison overcrowding with parole. Then the state with the highest number of inmates, 27,000, California reduced its prison population by 10,000, nearly half. But not long after, parole fell into disfavor, attacked from all sides. Liberals and inmates argued parole was racist, and an indeterminate sentence of 25 years to life meant forever. Conservatives argued parole was too lenient and longer sentences were needed to reduce crime. “One third of the states eliminated parole,” Austen observed. “And every state limited who would come up for parole.”

Austen provided an overview of two new practices that evolved. Fixed term sentences allowed inmates to earn their way out with good behavior. “It’s a numeric formula rather than a person [deciding],” Austen said. In another innovation, mandatory minimum sentences got longer and frequently required an inmate to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence. Federal Truth in Sentencing legislation required states to adopt mandatory minimums to receive federal funding for correctional facilities.

Citing an argument for parole, Austen pointed to prison overcrowding, the high annual cost of incarcerating an inmate ($106,000), and an aging prison population with costly medical needs. Ross asked Austen if he was a “journalist” or an “advocate.” “I’m a journalist,” Austen said, “but you get immersed in these stories, and you’re not neutral.” Austen’s previous book, “High-Risers,” about a failed inner-city Chicago housing complex, touched on the murder of two police officers and resulted in his being contacted by the friend of a man convicted of the murders: Johnny Veal. Veal was coming up for parole and claimed he was innocent. Over the course of the next year, Austen attended every parole hearing in Illinois. He interviewed Johnny Veal over 100 times. “I don’t know if he’s innocent,” Austen said. “What I know is he spent 50 years in prison, has this remarkable record, and was convicted not as the shooter but the accomplice. To me that equals freedom. Part of the problem [of parole] is focusing on the crime. We need systems with second chances.”

But Austen is clear eyed about the complexity of the problem. While he proposes it is unlikely a man in his 70s will return to a life of violent crime, he acknowledges the pain and needs of victims’ families. “The thing victims’ families often say is ‘You didn’t murder my son for 30 years. You murdered him forever,” Austen said. One family member told him, “Many families have weddings and funerals that connect them. We have parole hearings.”

“I saw how the system fails those families,” Austen insisted. “Someone has been punished 50 years, and they felt no different than they did at the start. They feel no level of vengeance or sense of comfort and healing ... That doesn’t feel like justice. We have to do more for people. We have a system called restorative justice which is also about healing.”

“What do we want a prison sentence to do?” Austen asked. “We don’t have an answer for that.”

“Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change” is available from the University Bookstore and numerous online vendors. Ross said of Correction, “You read this book, and you have a better understanding of what it means to be an American in the best and worst of ways.”