Did Sara Jane Moore get out?

October 15, 2007 12:31 PM

Wikipedia says that Sara Jane Moore, who tried to assassinate President Ford on September 22, 1975, was due for parole on September 21, 2007. I did a little searching, but I couldn't find any other mention of it. Does anybody know what happened? Or did Wikipedia get it wrong?
posted by 314/ to law & government (12 comments total)

She's been denied parole every two years since 1985. Maybe it's just not newsworthy anymore?

(From the link, you have to love this defense:

"I'm a first time offender. It was a single shot.")

It was THE PRESIDENT, ma'am.
posted by luser at 12:52 PM on October 15, 2007

Interesting - the federal inmate finder continues to show her with a projected date of Sep 21, 2007.
posted by phearlez at 12:52 PM on October 15, 2007

Further searching yields the schedule of the DOJ's US Parole Commission, who are now in charge of Federal parole issues. Interestingly it doesn't quite mesh with the above linked article since here's the dates the commission was at her facility:

Dublin FCI, CA 02/05/07 06/04/07 10/01/07

So that would be either Feb or June, not March. However I don't know how this works, so perhaps she petitioned in Feb and gets the answer in Oct?

Either way, I think wikipedia's expression of "scheduled for parole" is inaccurate. It would seem it should say "eligible for parole," though her petitioning back in 85 would seem to indicate that's not quite right either...
posted by phearlez at 12:58 PM on October 15, 2007

I found this:

Moore could be released on Sept. 21 if she applies for parole and the U.S. Parole Commission decides she has a good prison record and is not likely to commit another crime. "If she does apply, we can still say 'no,'" said Tom Hutchison, the commission's chief of staff.

posted by smackfu at 12:59 PM on October 15, 2007

And...they will. No one who attempts to assassinate a President is getting out of jail. Ever.
posted by agregoli at 1:05 PM on October 15, 2007

Sometimes they get to go have sleepovers with mommy and daddy, however.
posted by phearlez at 1:26 PM on October 15, 2007

John Hinckley isn't in jail.

According to the WaPo last December,
Moore, who also escaped for a few hours in 1979, will be 77 in February and is eligible for release in September from her low-security federal prison in Dublin, Calif., according to the U.S. Parole Commission. That could change if the commission finds further serious institutional misconduct or determines that she is likely to commit another crime.

I would say that means that she may petition for release, but the commission would still have an opportunity to veto it.
posted by dhartung at 2:29 PM on October 15, 2007

In a NY Times article about her first parole hearing in 1985, it says "A spokesman for the commission said it continued her request for parole until the year 2000". Does that mean they said, see us in 15 years?
posted by smackfu at 4:48 PM on October 15, 2007

Sara Jane (Sally to those that really know her) had two years added to her 30 year (to life) sentence when she beat up one guard, supposedly beat up her accomplice and then was captured five hours later.

Otherwise she would have had her hearing in 2005.

Yes, the DOJ site still lists her "projected" release date as Sept. 21, 2007. Doubt it.

Only in the past six years has she been a cooperative inmate. Up until then she has had an uneven record of challenging the guards and being put in lock-up, a hungar strike for excessive isolation, unwilling to be searched before visitors (very few) and stealing kitchen equipment.

She has calmed down mostly due to ill health.

On the bright side, has an IQ of 140, she has been able to master SAP financial software on her own and keeps the prisons supplychain records (she is an accountant) and basically manages the production office of FCI Dublin Prison Industries.

Too bad all that talent was thrown away--along with the well being of her last child (I'll keep his name confidential).
posted by jajika at 9:36 AM on October 24, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I saw a post from a newspaper called "Lede" that had an interesting statement: There was a release, although I have not seen it anywhere, that Sara Jane may be released in January 2008.

Stange that this information is so quiet, unless of course this is not true, just someone trying to get some publicity.

Guess we'll see. I'm not eager to see her out on the street for personal reasons. She is very angry with me for researching and writing a book about her. Even though it was her idea for me to write it.

Be careful what you ask for???

http://sarajanemooresauthor.blogspot.com/
posted by jajika at 7:12 PM on November 12, 2007

Let's get this post up to date and quick asking "Did Sara Jane get out?"....We already know her projected date is January 2008...So let's take this old news off, already.
posted by jajika at 12:25 AM on November 17, 2007

She's out.
posted by fandango_matt at 5:18 PM on December 31, 2007