NC DOC recalculates good conduct credits for 27 inmates

Bobby Bowden’s attorney Staples Hughes calls challenge a political war

By: Arthur Mondale | WNCT-On Your Side
Published: November 20, 2009

The NC Department of Corrections says 27 killers and rapists who were supposed to be released early, will stay put for now. They've recalculated all good conduct credits.
The DOC says it's a complicated situation because reducing already awarded “good conduct credits” will ultimately be for the courts to decide.
The governor agrees, currently the law defines a life sentence as 80 years, but Gov. Bev Perdue says prison officials were never supposed to give credits that cut the length of an inmates sentence.
"Somebody interpreted the law the way the law wasn't supposed to be interpreted,” Gov. Perdue said. “I think we'll keep the prisoners in jail I hope."
While the DOC awards good conduct credits, they were supposed to be used to give inmates a more favorable status in prison, eligibility for parole and when the governor commutes a sentence. The DOC recalculated the credits, with a new release date of 2054.
But Bobby Bowden’s attorney Staples Hughes whose appeal lead to the original court ruling, calls it a political war, “It's simply exploiting, for pain tragedy that grew out of these crimes and it's despicable.”
Several of the 27 inmates who originally qualified for release are challenging the new count. The first court case is scheduled for December 3rd.