Judge refuses to stop Ky.'s early-release program

Restraining order request rejected FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd yesterday refused to issue an order to stop the state from releasing felons from prison and parole supervision under an early-release program. In a three-page ruling, he said Attorney General Jack Conway, who sought the order, failed to prove that irreparable harm would occur without a temporary halt. He said Conway noted, in the lawsuit he filed against the program, that certain individuals will commit new crimes regardless of when they are released from prison. Shepherd said in his ruling that "no evidence was offered that there would be any net increase in crime." The state has released more than 3,600 felons from prison and parole supervision since the end of May in an effort, authorized by the legislature's budget bill and... [read full story]