‘Disastrous’: No bodies, no parole laws, unfair to innocent prisoners, says Folbigg

NSW’s ‘no body, no parole’ laws have been called ‘disastrous’ by Kathleen Folbigg, the woman who spent 20 years behind bars for a wrongful conviction over the deaths of her four children very young.

Folbigg signed his name to an open letter calling for reform of ‘no body, no parole’ laws so that the National Parole Authority can regain the power to release a prisoner even if it has not cooperated to the location of homicide victims.

The letter was organized and distributed by RMIT University’s Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative.

The laws, which were changed in 2022, were intended to incentivize prisoners to bring closure to victims’ families.

“There is little evidence of their effectiveness in achieving this goal.

“Instead, no parole law is disastrous for prisoners who continue to assert their innocence, exacerbating what is commonly referred to as the ‘innocent prisoner’s dilemma,'” the letter said.

Before the reform, the parole board considered disclosure by the prisoner of his victim’s remains, but retained the discretion to release the victim. The 2022 change removed this discretion.

Folbigg’s name joins that of 114 other academics, lawyers, advocates and criminal justice professionals, including former NSW Court of Appeal judge and president of the Center for Public Integrity, Anthony Whealy K.C.

Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, who was wrongly convicted of murdering her baby Azaria Chamberlain, also signed the letter.

The letter stated that innocent prisoners were already at a disadvantage, because if they did not admit responsibility or express remorse, they could be denied parole.

If they accept responsibility, express remorse and participate in pre-release programs, this could be considered an admission that would jeopardize “all options they have to have their conviction overturned.”

“No parole law creates additional injustice for people who have been wrongly convicted of homicide,” he said.