NC identifies 7 more inmates that could be freed

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Seven more violent criminals could potentially be freed because of a court ruling and good conduct credits, North Carolina prison officials said Saturday.

The men join 20 others who had been preparing for their release, but the future of all the prisoners remains uncertain.

Earlier this month, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in favor of prisoner Bobby Bowden, who argued a 1970s state law defined a life sentence as 80 years. Time-off credits allowed some like Bowden to get a day-for-a-day for good behavior, and 20 inmates qualified for release.

Their release had been scheduled for Oct. 29.

But that was put on hold after Gov. Beverly Perdue said prison officials didn’t have authority to apply the credits to inmates in prison for life. On Thursday, Perdue said that she was “appalled” by the court’s ruling, arguing that the General Assembly never intended to give the Department of Correction that kind of authority.

Now, Perdue is preventing their release until the issue was resolved in the courts.

The Associated Press has reported that the original 20 inmates have racked up more than 250 infractions in prison for offenses such as fighting, weapon possession and theft. Records show the violations go as far back as the 1970s but also appear as recently as 2008, raising questions about whether the prisoners are reformed.

Each one of the 20 inmates has at least two infractions, and combined they have a total of 256.

They have repeatedly been denied parole. Seven of the original inmates set for release were once on death row, and all but one of them have been convicted of murder or rape, including several who targeted young girls.

Of the seven inmates whose names were released Saturday, three have been on death row, and all have been convicted of either murder or rape. Officials are still working to notify their crime victims that they could potentially be released, prison system spokesman Keith Acree said.