Parole
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Parole can have different meanings depending on the context. All of the meanings derive from the French parole meaning word. The term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their word of honor to abide by certain restrictions.
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Criminal justice
In criminal justice systems, parole is the supervised release of a prisoner before the completion of their sentence. This differs from amnesty or commutation of sentence in that the parolee is still considered to be serving their sentence, and may be returned to prison for misbehavior.
The exact nature of parole varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In the United States, courts may specify in a sentence how much time must be served before a prisoner is eligible for parole. This is often done by specifying an indeterminate sentence of, say, "15 to 25 years," or "15 years to life." The latter type is known as an indeterminate life sentence; in contrast, a sentence of "life without the possibility of parole" is known as a determinate life sentence.
In most states, mere good conduct while incarcerated in and of itself does not necessarily guarantee that an inmate will be paroled; other factors may enter into the decision to grant or deny parole, most commonly the establishment of a permanent residence and immediate, gainful employment or some other clearly visible means of self-support upon release (such as Social Security if the prisoner is old enough to qualify). Many states now permit sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (such as for murder), and any prisoner not sentenced to either this or the death penalty will eventually have the right to petition for release (one state - Alaska - maintains neither the death penalty nor life imprisonment without parole as sentencing options).
California has a notoriously harsh parole system. The California Supreme Court has held that the Board of Prison Terms has carte blanche to refuse to parole an indeterminate life prisoner for any reason, including the vicious nature of the act upon which the original conviction was based, and the refusal of the otherwise well-behaved prisoner to stop proclaiming his innocence (which the Board is entitled to use as evidence that he is not rehabilitated). In re Dannenberg, 34 Cal. 4th 1061 (2005). Since crimes that get an indeterminate life sentence are usually vicious to begin with, the Dannenberg holding means that most indeterminate life sentences in California will become de facto life sentences.
During parole, the parolee must periodically meet with his or her parole officer, who assesses the behavior of the parolee and determines whether the parolee is violating any of his or her terms of release (typically these include being at home during certain hours, maintaining steady employment, and sometimes, abstaining from alcohol). In some cases, a parolee may be discharged from parole before the time called for in the original sentence if it is determined that the parole restrictions are no longer necessary for the protection of society (this most frequently occurs when elderly parolees are involved).
Parole is a controversial political topic in the United States; during elections, politicians whose administrations parole any large number of prisoners (or, perhaps, one notorious criminal) are typically attacked by their opponents as being "soft on crime". The US Department of Justice stated in 2002 that about 45% of parolees completed their sentences successfully, while 41% were returned to prison, and 9% absconded. These statistics, the DOJ says, are relatively unchanged since 1995; even so, some states (including New York) have abolished parole altogether for violent felons, and the federal government has abolished it for all offenders convicted of a federal crime, whether the crime was violent or not. The average annual growth of parolees was an increase of about 1.5% per year between 1995 and 2002.
A variant of parole is known as "time off for good behavior," or, colloquially, "good time." Unlike the traditional form of parole - which may be granted or denied at the discretion of a parole board - time off for good behavior is automatic absent a certain number (or gravity) of infractions committed by a convict while incarcerated (in most states the released inmate is placed under the supervision of a parole officer for a certain amount of time after being so released). In some cases "good time" can reduce the maximum sentence by as much as one-third; it is usually not made available to inmates serving life sentences, as there is no release date that can be moved up.
In China, prisoners are often granted medical parole, which releases them on the grounds that they must receive medical treatment which cannot be provided for in prison. Often, the medical condition is not serious, and medical parole is used as an excuse to release a prisoner, particularly a political dissident, without the government having to admit that the sentence was unjust.
References
- US Department of Justice, "Probation and Parole in the United States, 2002" (pdf file) (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ppus02.pdf)
Military law
In military law, a prisoner of war may be released from confinement, or paroled upon promising certain conditions, such as remaining in a specified place or not attempting to escape or not taking up arms again in the current hostilities.
U.S. immigration
In U.S. immigration law, the term parole has special meaning. A person who does not meet the technical requirements for a visa may be allowed to enter the U.S. for humanitarian purposes. Persons who are allowed to enter the U.S. in this manner are known as parolees. Another use related to immigration is advanced parole, in which a person who already legally resides in the U.S. needs to leave temporarily and return without a visa. This typically occurs when a person's application for a green card (permanent residency) is in process and the person must leave the U.S. for emergency or business reasons. In the wake of September 11, 2001, there has been greater scrutiny of applications for parole and advanced parole. [1] (http://uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/advisories/advisory.htm)
Linguistics
Parole (French, meaning "speech") is also a linguistic term used by Ferdinand de Saussure which, as opposed to langue, describes language in use rather than language as a system.