Parole Project offers second chance.
Written by Deborah Lynn Blumberg
Art by Edel Rodriguez
Back in 2019, Maria Alvarez (not her real name) was up for parole after serving seven years for aggravated assault stemming from a domestic altercation with an abusive partner. In prison, Maria had taken classes, held a job, and mentored incarcerated younger women. She had worked hard to improve herself and, if a case for her rehabilitation could be argued before a parole board, she might have a chance, just a small one, of earning her release. But Maria had no lawyer and, ultimately, her application was rejected.
“We have no idea precisely how many women have legal representation for parole reviews in Texas, but it is a very small percentage,” says Helen Gaebler, a lecturer and senior research attorney at the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law.
That’s where Texas Law’s Parole Project comes in – a pro bono initiative, now in its sixth year, in which students, supported by supervising attorneys, prepare comprehensive parole packets on behalf of incarcerated women and represent them in hearings. Gaebler directs the program and touts its remarkable success: approximately 70% parole approval rate over the project’s lifetime.
It’s now the largest provider of pro bono parole services in the entire state of Texas.
Justice for All
“They’re instrumental,” says Elizabeth Henneke ’07 of the Parole Project’s efforts. Henneke is the founder and chief executive officer of the Lone Star Justice Alliance, an advocate for reforms in the criminal justice system who is steeped in the problems plaguing Texas’ overwhelmed parole and pardon processes.
“Women are especially disfavored in the parole system,” Henneke observes, “because the most critical elements relevant to parole release – for instance, the mitigating circumstances of the original offense – might not be in the record due to prior prejudices around women who were victims of crime or intimate partner violence.”
Lone Star Justice Alliance is part of a broad and bipartisan coalition seeking to reform parole and pardons, including groups as varied as The Texas Public Policy Foundation and the interfaith policy network Texas Impact. Polls show that Texans overwhelmingly support pardons and timely parole for those who demonstrate rehabilitation and pose no threat to others.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott also made a significant gesture to ease pathways for women out of prison when, in 2020, he established a clemency application for survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence. “Gubernatorial pardon plays an important role in the redemption process,” said Abbott at the time. “It offers a second chance for survivors with criminal convictions resulting from their abuse or exploitation.”
Parole reform is also an economic imperative. Recent analysis suggests that it costs taxpayers up to $62,000 a year to hold a person in prison. “That’s a lot of money if people are ready to return home,” notes Henneke, “but are instead languishing in cells and costing taxpayers increasing amounts as they age.”
A Second Chance
When Maria, the woman denied parole in 2019, came up for parole again in 2020, she had Karen Yang ’23 and Danny Woodward ’23, both 1Ls at the time, fighting on her behalf. They reworked Maria’s case, updating her parole packet with new letters of support and a stronger presentation. This time, parole was granted.
“Sometimes the board simply wants to see how such clients handle extra time in prison,” Yang says, explaining that Maria “excelled in her last year in prison with the same hope and courage that made her a model prisoner in the previous years.”
“Parole is unique in that it’s mitigation work,” says Gaebler. “You’re trying to humanize the client and provide a fuller picture of the context of their life, what brought them (there) to begin with.”
“I tell students to think of it as a closing argument,” Gaebler adds.
Building on Success
With more than 70,000 parole cases reviewed in Texas every year, demand for the representation Parole Project students can offer is high. Gaebler has her sights set on expanding the program by forging partnerships across Texas.
That effort is led, in part, by Cassie Geiken ’22. “The Parole Project was my favorite part of law school,” says Geiken, who served as a fellow with the project for two years, supervising students and leading outreach to encourage the private bar to take on parole cases.
“An attorney can step in and make a huge difference in someone’s life,” Geiken says. “There is a massive need.”
Geiken is now an attorney at Texas Defender Service helping the organization launch a new statewide pro bono parole network. She hopes this network will both address parole representation and offer a resource for people to better advocate for their own parole or on behalf of a loved one coming up for parole review.
Achieving reforms in pardon and parole systems as large and complex as Texas’ will take years of progress, setbacks, and recalculations. In the end, all parties want what’s best for Texas and Texans. That goal remains the animating force driving students and alumni to take it on and stay the course.