Doctor George E. Walk,
AGO 40
Opinion No. 40
Pennsylvania Attorney General Opinions
Opinions of the Attorney General
March 16, 1932
Criminal procedure—Pa/role—Act of June 19, 1911—Escape-Commissioner of crime while on parole—Right to reparole—Conviction in, court not of record —Violation of parole rules—Commutation of sentence—Constitutional power of Governor.
1.The word "parole," as used in section nine of the Act of June 19, 1911, P. L. 1055, means release upon condition, and a prisoner paroled may not be retained in the penitentiary to serve a sentence imposed for another offense.
2. A prisoner who has escaped from the state penitentiary and is sentenced for that offense is not eligible for parole until he has served in full the maximum sentence imposed for his original offense and the minimum sentence imposed for the escape, unless such sentence be commuted by the Governor on recommendation of clemency by the State Board of Pardons.
3. Under section ten of the Act of June 19, 1911, P. L. 1055, as amended by the Acts of June 3, 1915, P. L. 788, and June 22, 1931, P. L. 862, a prisoner who while on parole is convicted in any court of record for another offense punishable by imprisonment, whether or not sentence is imposed thereon, may not be commuted, but his sentence may be commuted by the (3overnor on recommendation of the State Board of Pardons.
4. Conviction and sentence of a prisoner on parole by a court not of record, or violation of the rules of the State Board of Pardons governing his conduct, afford ground for his return to the penitentiary, but in such a case he is eligible for reparole.
5. The Governor's right to commute a sentence imposed, upon recommendation of the State Board of Pardons, is conferred upon him by the Constitution, and may not, therefore, be limited by act of the legislature.
Doctor George E. Walk,
Secretary, Board of Trustees,
Eastern State Penitentiary,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Sir: You have asked to be advised on two questions which frequently come before your board, sitting as a board of parole' for the Eastern State Penitentiary. They are:
First. If during his term in the penitentiary (the sentence having been a minimum and maximum sentence imposed under the Ludlow Act), a prisoner escapes and is sentenced for escape to a minimum and maximum term equal to that originally imposed, is...
