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Lynch criticized for parole board moves
CONCORD — Cornerstone Action, the political arm of the issues group Cornerstone Policy Research, blasted Gov. John Lynch Thursday for replacing two members of the Adult Parole Board who were critical of legislation limiting the latitude of that board.
That legislation, Senate Bill 500, has been since repealed.
House Speaker D.J. Bettencourt also criticized the governor.
Lynch has decided not to re-nominate Adult Parole Board members Alan Coburn and Gregory Crompton and has nominated former Commissioner of Safety Richard Flynn and former New Hampshire Speaker of the House Donna Sytek. A confirmation vote could come as early as Aug. 24.
Coburn and Crompton were outspoken critics of what Cornerstone Action called “the severely flawed SB 500 law, which allowed for the mandatory early release of violent and sexual offenders.”
Last year the new law came under fire when it was revealed that sexual and violent offenders were beingy released into the community nine months prior to their maximum sentence.
Even though Lynch insisted at the time that the law was not releasing these offenders early, and that it was about getting them rehabilitation in the community under intense supervision for those nine months, members of the Adult Parole Board disagreed with the governor’s assessment. They were publicly critical of the law and asked for more discretion over the early release of offenders.
Crompton told the New Hampshire Union Leader Wednesday that there were flaws, and that his comments were made in the context of a room that included victims who wanted the parole board to do more to protect them than it could.
The early release to supervision became a political issue in the gubernatorial election, with Lynch taking heat from Republican John Stephen for his support of SB 500.
This year the House and Senate passed SB 52, which made critical changes to the SB 500 law in that it gave the Adult Parole Board the discretion they requested over the early release of sexual and violent offenders, as well as greater discretion over parole violators.
“Even though Governor Lynch signed SB 52 into law, thereby admitting that SB 500 was flawed and needed changes, he chose to replace the two most outspoken critics of the early release law at yesterday’s Governor and Council meeting,” said Cornerstone Executive Director Kevin Smith on Thursday.
“Rather than commending his board members for pointing out a severe flaw in the original law, the governor chose to punish them instead for their public dissent,” he added.
“Once again, this is just another example of John Lynch’s failed leadership and incompetent management of those who work for him,” Smith said. “Rather than just admitting that he was on the wrong side of the early release law to begin with, Lynch chose to play petty politics with the parole board by replacing its two most vocal critics — even though he signed into law the very changes those two members were asking for.”
House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt commented on the New Hampshire Union Leader website that while he was thrilled that fellow Republican Sytek, “one of my personal heros,” had been nominated, “What would Democrats say if this were (House Speaker William O’Brien) instead of John Lynch tossing dissenting voices off an important commission?”
Bettencourt said his objection was not to the qualifications of the governor’s replacements in Flynn and Sytek, but that “it is disturbing that differing opinions do not appear to be tolerated in the Lynch administration.”
Colin Manning, spokesman for the governor, said this was not about politics.
“This is about picking the best-qualified people for the job, and Donna Sytek and Dick Flynn have tremendous credentials, and no one can argue with that,” he said.
That legislation, Senate Bill 500, has been since repealed.
House Speaker D.J. Bettencourt also criticized the governor.
Lynch has decided not to re-nominate Adult Parole Board members Alan Coburn and Gregory Crompton and has nominated former Commissioner of Safety Richard Flynn and former New Hampshire Speaker of the House Donna Sytek. A confirmation vote could come as early as Aug. 24.
Coburn and Crompton were outspoken critics of what Cornerstone Action called “the severely flawed SB 500 law, which allowed for the mandatory early release of violent and sexual offenders.”
Last year the new law came under fire when it was revealed that sexual and violent offenders were beingy released into the community nine months prior to their maximum sentence.
Even though Lynch insisted at the time that the law was not releasing these offenders early, and that it was about getting them rehabilitation in the community under intense supervision for those nine months, members of the Adult Parole Board disagreed with the governor’s assessment. They were publicly critical of the law and asked for more discretion over the early release of offenders.
Crompton told the New Hampshire Union Leader Wednesday that there were flaws, and that his comments were made in the context of a room that included victims who wanted the parole board to do more to protect them than it could.
The early release to supervision became a political issue in the gubernatorial election, with Lynch taking heat from Republican John Stephen for his support of SB 500.
This year the House and Senate passed SB 52, which made critical changes to the SB 500 law in that it gave the Adult Parole Board the discretion they requested over the early release of sexual and violent offenders, as well as greater discretion over parole violators.
“Even though Governor Lynch signed SB 52 into law, thereby admitting that SB 500 was flawed and needed changes, he chose to replace the two most outspoken critics of the early release law at yesterday’s Governor and Council meeting,” said Cornerstone Executive Director Kevin Smith on Thursday.
“Rather than commending his board members for pointing out a severe flaw in the original law, the governor chose to punish them instead for their public dissent,” he added.
“Once again, this is just another example of John Lynch’s failed leadership and incompetent management of those who work for him,” Smith said. “Rather than just admitting that he was on the wrong side of the early release law to begin with, Lynch chose to play petty politics with the parole board by replacing its two most vocal critics — even though he signed into law the very changes those two members were asking for.”
House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt commented on the New Hampshire Union Leader website that while he was thrilled that fellow Republican Sytek, “one of my personal heros,” had been nominated, “What would Democrats say if this were (House Speaker William O’Brien) instead of John Lynch tossing dissenting voices off an important commission?”
Bettencourt said his objection was not to the qualifications of the governor’s replacements in Flynn and Sytek, but that “it is disturbing that differing opinions do not appear to be tolerated in the Lynch administration.”
Colin Manning, spokesman for the governor, said this was not about politics.
“This is about picking the best-qualified people for the job, and Donna Sytek and Dick Flynn have tremendous credentials, and no one can argue with that,” he said.