With strong criticism of the state parole board, Supreme Court Justice Richard Mott in Columbia County on April 12 ordered officials to grant former political consultant Hank Morris a new hearing, and to do so no later than April 22. Mott held that the parole board’s apparent reliance on the instant offense, failure to consider the statutory factors for parole release and failure to abide by recent legislation entitle Morris to prompt reconsideration.
Morris, who has served 25 months of a 1 1/3-to-four-year sentence and paid $19 million in restitution in connection with a pay-to-play scandal involving the state pension system, has been before the parole board five times. After his last hearing, the board acknowledged that Morris has a low risk of recidivism and an unblemished prison disciplinary record, but still said there is a chance the inmate "would not live at liberty without violating the law" and that his release would be incompatible "with the public safety and welfare of the community."
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