Kathy Boudin Denied Parole

Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

Thursday August 23 09:27 AM EDT (via Yahoo)

Parole Denied for Kathy Boudin

by Karen Matthews

NEW YORK (AP)--Passions are still strong among supporters and opponents of
former Weather Underground radical Kathy Boudin, who was denied parole for
her murder conviction in a 1981 armored car heist.

"I'm just relieved," said Diane O'Grady, widow of police Sgt. Edward
O'Grady, one of three men killed by the robbers. "I'm glad for everyone's
sake that justice is being served and she's staying in."

"It's a sad day for Kathy," Boudin's lawyer Leonard Weinglass said after
Wednesday's ruling by the state parole board. "She was sentenced to 20 years
by a judge who sat on her case for 21/2 years and knew all the facts, and
she did her 20 years with honor. And for the system now not to keep its
promise to someone who has been on exemplary behavior for two decades
undermines respect for the law."

Other residents of suburban Rockland County, north of New York City, where
the robbery and subsequent shootout took place, were pleased with the
board's decision to delay parole for at least two years.

"We're convinced that justice was served," Sheriff Jim Kralik said. "The
penalty requires much more than just a minimum of 20 years for a
well-thought-out, well-planned murder of police officers and a security
officer. It comes down to a very important question of redemption versus
justice and penalty. We weren't interested in vengeance."

Boudin, 58, is serving a 20 years-to-life sentence. She was part of the
getaway team for six armed radicals who robbed a Brink's truck of $1.6
million on Oct. 20, 1981.

O'Grady and fellow Nyack police officer Waverly Brown were gunned down when
the gang's truck was stopped at a roadblock in Nyack at an entrance to the
New York State Thruway. Brink's guard Peter Paige had been killed during the
robbery earlier that day.

Parole officials, who interviewed Boudin at the Bedford Hills state prison
for women in Westchester County where she has been held since 1984, said her
release would "undermine respect for the law."

Supporters argued that Boudin had turned her life around while in prison,
working to help inmates with AIDS and earning a master's degree in adult
education.

Boudin, who had a year-old son when she was arrested, also developed a
program on parenting behind bars and helped write a handbook for inmates
whose children are in foster care.

Norma Hill, who witnessed the officers' murders, testified against Boudin
and later, as a prison volunteer, met and befriended Boudin, said she was
"deeply disappointed" in the ruling.

Still, Hill said, "I feel optimistic that she will make it the next time,
and I will continue to support her."

While the parole board noted her good behavior in prison, the officials also
said that "due to the violent nature and circumstances" of the crime, "your
release at this time would be incompatible with the welfare of society and
would serve to deprecate the seriousness of the criminal behavior."

Boudin had been considered a long shot for parole given the notoriety of her
crime. Also, in New York only about 5 percent of inmates serving time for
murder are paroled when they are first eligible.

 
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nytrad-08.23.01-22:26:31-9021