The Mississippi Parole Board can deny parole to people in prison if its members consider a judge’s sentence too low, Meridian-native Julia Monteele Norman told the Mississippi Senate Corrections Committee during her confirmation hearing on Feb. 13. She is the most recent addition to the board at a time when Mississippi’s incarceration rates are rising even as parole rates have plummeted.
Gov. Tate Reeves appointed Norman to the board for a term that began on July 15, 2022, and the Senate confirmed her to the position one week after the Senate committee meeting. According to Norman’s Linkedin profile, she was in charge of government affairs for the City of Meridian from 2018 until her recent appointment. She was an insurance agent for nine years before then.
At the Feb. 13 confirmation hearing, Senate Corrections Committee Vice Chairman Daniel H. Sparks, R-Belmont, expressed concerns about what he called the “troubling” increase in people appearing before the parole board and getting denied.
“When you guys look at a case history, it’s concerning for me as an attorney that we don’t know what agreements were made with district attorneys, we don’t know what participation maybe the person had that kind of reduced the sentence or things of that nature, but when you see variations on a crime versus a sentence, do you factor that in or are you just trying to simply call balls and strikes and look and see, have they behaved well while in custody and have they met the requirements?” Sparks asked.
“Absolutely, time served for the crime is something that we consider,” Norman replied. “Insufficient time is an option that we can choose to deny parole. If it’s a violent crime and you got a short sentence, this parole board may like to see you finish that sentence off, so it varies; there are so many variables it’s hard to pontificate specifically on it.”
Mississippi Parole Board Member Julia Monteele Norman told Senate Corrections Committee members on Feb 13, 2023, that the board can deny parole for people with sentences they consider too short. Photo courtesy Julia Monteele Norman
