Fewer Mass. Inmates Being Granted Parole

The number of Massachusetts prison inmates granted parole has dropped significantly in the year since the state parole board was overhauled in response to the murder of a Woburn police officer by a paroled criminal.

Prisoner advocacy groups tell The Boston Globe that 435 inmates were released on parole in 2011, down from 1,028 in 2010.

Between April 2011 and March 2012, just 12 percent of the nearly 140 inmates serving sentences of 15 years to life were granted parole.

Those granted parole have not been told, a situation the board's chairman blames on a backlog of work.

Gov. Deval Patrick overhauled the parole board in February 2011 following the December 2010 shooting of Woburn police officer John Maguire by Domenic Cinelli, serving three life sentences at the time of his 2008 parole.