Bill seeks input before governor releases convicts

The Sun Herald, 2/3/9

A bill that passed the Mississippi House says the state Parole Board would make a nonbinding recommendation before a governor could suspend or commute the sentence of a convicted inmate.

Rep. Brandon Jones, a Democrat from Pascagoula, persuaded his colleagues Tuesday to add the provision to a bill originally designed to keep the Parole Board in existence.

Jones said people in south Mississippi were upset last July when Gov. Haley Barbour suspended the life sentence of Michael David Graham, a convicted murderer who had worked as a Governor’s Mansion trusty.