From USA Today:
“Michelle Carter, who encouraged
boyfriend to kill himself, denied early release from prison”
Michelle Carter, the
Massachusetts woman serving 15 months in prison for encouraging her boyfriend
through text messages to kill himself, was denied early release by the state's
parole board Friday. Two members of the
Massachusetts Parole Board wrote the decision for the seven-member panel,
saying "the (board) is troubled that Ms. Carter not only encouraged Mr.
Conrad to take his own life, she actively prevented others from intervening in
his suicide." Carter, 22, appeared before the board Thursday to ask for
early release in the high-profile case that stems from the 2014 suicide death
of Conrad Roy III, then 18 years old. She's been in prison since February after
being convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2017. "Ms. Carter's self-serving statements and
behavior, leading up to and after his suicide, appear to be irrational and
lacked sincerity," the one-page decision reads. "Ms. Carter needs to
further address her causative factors that led to the governing offense.
Release does not meet the legal standard." Carter was 17 at the time of
Roy's death in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. She pressured him incessantly by text
messages to kill himself leading up to his death, which was caused by inhaling
fumes in a generator that he put inside a truck. Roy had attempted suicide
multiple times and had struggled with depression and mental illness. Carter, of Plainville, Massachusetts, had a
lengthy phone call with Roy when he was parked in a Kmart parking lot, where
the death occurred, and later texted a friend that she told him to "get
back in" the vehicle after he had stepped out. "Given subject's
behavior in facilitating victim's death, release not compatible with best
interest of society," wrote one of the parole board members, whose name
was unidentified. "Did not provide sufficient insight into reason for lack
of empathy at time of crime and surrounding time period." Members of Roy's
family attended Thursday's parole hearing, which was not open to the public. "At the time of sentencing, we
recommended a much more severe sentence due to the egregious nature of the
crime and the defendant’s refusal to acknowledge the gravity of the crime she
committed," Gregg Miliote, spokesman for the Bristol County District
Attorney's Office in Massachusetts, said in a statement on the board's
decision. "It’s unfortunate that in the five years
since Conrad’s death, the Parole Board found she still does not have sufficient
insight into her crime and lacks empathy.
As always, our concern is for the Roy family and the public’s
safety." Carter has filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to
overturn her 2017 involuntary manslaughter conviction by a state court. It was
upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in February. Joseph Cataldo, Carter's attorney, said the
board's decision was "obviously premised on an incorrect and dangerous
prior legal ruling of the Supreme Judicial Court. To that end, we have filed an
appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. "Additionally, it is never in
society's best interest to incarcerate anyone for the content of their speech
where there wasn't a specific statute criminalizing such speech at the time the
speech was made." The troubling case reentered the spotlight this summer
with HBO's release of a two-part documentary, "I Love You, Now Die: The
Commonwealth v. Michelle Carter." With the backing of Roy's mother, Lynn
Roy, Massachusetts state lawmakers are considering legislation, dubbed
"Conrad's Law," that would would criminalize suicide coercion in the
commonwealth. Massachusetts is one of 10 states that lack laws that explicitly
punish individuals who induce others to kill themselves. Rather than being
subject to manslaughter, like Carter, the bill would impose a new criminal
liability specifically for a person who intentionally "encourages or coerces"
a suicide or suicide attempt.
^ Carter is clearly a very disturbed
woman. Not only should she not receive early release for her 15 month sentence,
but she should be placed in a mental institution and never let out after her 15
months in jail. This case will hopefully show the 10 States (like
Massachusetts) that don’t’ currently have laws making it illegal for people to
encourage others to kill themselves. ^
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