The furlough program has long been a source of controversy in Massachusetts. As the Dukakis campaign is quick to note, it began in 1972 under a Republican Governor, Frank Sargent. And the most controversial part of the program, the practice of giving furloughs to first-degree murderers sentenced to life without parole, was the result of a decision by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, which held that such inmates were eligible under the 1972 law that created the program because the statute did not exclude them.
For all of that, the Dukakis administration long supported, and at times actively defended, the practice of giving furloughs to inmates serving life terms without parole. In 1976 Mr. Dukakis refused to sign legislation that would have barred such prisoners from receiving furloughs and would have required a number of other restrictions. The Question of Risk
In the furor over Mr. Horton's arrest, the Dukakis administration stopped giving furloughs to the inmates until the program could be reviewed. But Mr. Dukakis officially changed his stance only last March, at the height of his campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination, when he was confronted with a resolute Legislature, a public outraged by the Horton case and the strong possibility of being overruled by a ballot initiative this fall.
At the heart of the debate over the furlough system in Massachusetts was the question of acceptable risk. Since the program began, 10,835 inmates have participated; 428 of them escaped and 219 returned late, according to the State Department of Corrections. Fourteen of them are still at large. No more than 55 inmates serving life without parole participated in the furlough program in any given year, according to the state; 11 of them have escaped, including Mr. Horton. Of those 11, 5 were convicted of other crimes committed after they escaped, according to a state legislative report, and one is still at large.
Mr. Horton is now serving two life sentences plus 85 years in Maryland for the attack on the Barneses. Escape Rate Has Declined
Massachusetts officials have defended the escape rate, which has declined in recent years as the program has been tightened. They describe the furlough program as a valuable tool to reintegrate prisoners into society, and say that prisoners in the program have a significantly lower recidivism rate than prisoners who are not. But critics say the Horton case proved the risk was too high for prisoners serving a sentence of life without parole.
Prison Furloughs in Massachusetts Threaten Dukakis Record on Crime
