An uneasy release

Killer gets out of prison despite objections

One of the challenges of the legal system is that one can sometimes agree with an interpretation of law but still find discomfort in the result that interpretation produces.

A case in point from decades back: It’s unquestionable that the protection of free speech, if it is to be meaningful, must protect even repulsive expressions. But few people of any decency would celebrate the 1977 march of Nazis in Skokie, Ill., which the city’s leaders attempted to block with passage of an ordinance. Skokie had become home to a large number of Holocaust survivors whose prior experience with Nazis threatened their very existence.

Free speech, however, is free speech. Protecting it promotes a valuable American principle, even when the specific instance at hand is disturbing.

We agreed in principle with the Supreme Court rulings four years ago and subsequent changes in state law that got rid of mandatory life sentences, without possibility of parole, for juveniles convicted of murder. The High Court ruled people younger than 18 who are tried as adults should at least be given consideration for parole.

One always hopes a young person’s life can be redeemed.

But let’s face it: Releasing someone who stabbed his victim 16 times amid other injuries for $30 from her purse will never feel right, even if the killer was 16 years old when it all happened in 1977 on Elm Springs Road just outside Springdale.

That’s the background of James Dean Vancleave, the now-54 years old killer of 23-year-old Debra King. Judge Mark Lindsay last April resentenced Vancleave again to life in prison, but with the possibility of parole after 30 years. That made Vancleave immediately eligible. Despite the objections of today’s Washington County prosecutor, Matt Durrett, and King’s family, the state Parole Board decided Vancleave should be released from prison.

Durrett lamented a lack of any demons t ra ted remorse from Vancleave, but acknowledged not knowing what happened with the parole board. “Perhaps he did in front of the parole board. I hope so. I would hate to think that the perpetrator of such a vicious crime would be released into our community without at least a showing of remorse for the life that he took.”

Durrett spoke of the disappointment involved in the case. “I feel for Debra’s family. No amount of time has been able to ease the pain of losing a loved one, especially in such a violent manner,” Durrett said. “They were able to take comfort all these years knowing that her killer would never get out. Now that’s gone.”

It’s difficult to understand what the parole board might have heard to make Vancleave’s release the best option for Arkansas’ residents. His release is a chilling outcome of a reasonable legal standard, but we would hope the Parole Board would give more weight to the local leaders’ views when the crime visited such violence on a family and community.