ALBANY – A State prison inmate with an extraordinary record of institutional achievement and a network of supporters ranging from top corrections officials to the prosecutor who put him away in the early 1980s will remain behind bars after a deeply divided upstate appellate panel embraced a hands-off approach to parole reviews.
Although the justices of the Appellate Division, Third Department, noted that Samuel Hamilton has an exemplary record and unprecedented support, the 3-2 majority held that the court must yield to the discretion of the Board of Parole.
