Governor Fires Parole Board

(Wilmington, Massachusetts) Last month, 60-year-old Woburn Police Officer Jack Maquire was gunned down during an armed robbery by a recent parolee, Domenic Cinelli.

As a result, Gov. Deval Patrick fired the Parole Board.

Cinelli, a former heroin addict and career criminal, was also killed after he robbed a Kohl's department store the day after Christmas. The incident drew headlines nationwide and immediately brought sharp criticism down on the state's parole board, a board that determines whether prisoners should be released before their prison sentences are complete.

Patrick accepted the resignations yesterday of five members of the state's Parole Board, including its chairman, who voted to parole Cinelli in November 2008. Cinelli, who was serving three concurrent 15-years-to-life sentences, was released four months after the vote.

Patrick also fired several parole department employees who were involved in the handling of Cinelli's parole.

Cinelli was serving three life sentences and, still, the state of Massachusetts couldn't keep him locked up. Maybe it's just me, but one would think that three life terms would automatically eliminate parole of any kind.