NC Governor Blocks Early Release Of Violent Prisoners

These 20 inmates were scheduled to be released due to a recent court ruling that sided with Bobby Bowden; one of the inmates scheduled to be released. The court agreed that based on the laws in the 1970s and 1980s, these prisoners had earned enough credits to be released early. Read more about the court ruling here.

From China, Perdue approved the blocking of the release of these inmates on Thursday. Perdue is on a trade mission trip in China.

In a statement released by Perdue, the governor spoke the feelings of many throughout the state. "I believe life should mean life, and even if a life sentence is defined as 80 years, getting out after only 35 is unacceptable."

Perdue went on to state the basis the state is using to keep these prisoners behind bars. "The real question is whether the General Assembly intended for the DOC (Department of Corrections) to have that kind of authority;" Perdue continues "I do not believe they did."

The governor is saying that these inmates sentenced prior to the 1981 Fair Sentencing Act are not eligible for the credits provided in the act. Therefore these inmates that were sentenced to life, are not eligible to earn good conduct credits to use for early release.

Based on this reasoning, Gov.Perdue is blocking these violent prisoners from being released early from jail. They will now apparently stay in prison till the courts decide on if they were eligible to earn credits that would result in them being released from prison early.