Jailed Draft Resister Sasway to Be Paroled

Ben Sasway, the first person since the Vietnam War to be indicted for failing to register with the Selective Service for the draft, will be released on parole Sept. 20 after serving six months of his 30-month federal prison sentence, U.S. Parole Commission officials announced Thursday.

Sasway, a 24-year-old Vista resident, entered the federal prison camp at Lompoc on May 1, almost three years after he was indicted for refusing to register for the draft in July, 1980.

A two-member panel of hearing officers reviewed Sasway’s record Aug. 20 and granted him a Sept. 22 release date, said Ira Blalock, assistant administrative hearing examiner at the U.S. Parole Commission in Burlingame. Sasway, who was credited for 40 days he served in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in San Diego after his conviction, will be released Sept. 20 because Sept. 22 falls on a Sunday.

Blalock said Sasway was rated a “very good risk” based on the lack of a prior criminal record and the fact he didn’t use drugs or try to escape.

“He’s not a typical prisoner, of course,” Blalock said.

Sasway’s mother, Dolores Sasway, said her son first learned of his pending release when the decision was posted on a prison bulletin board about a week ago, prior to his scheduled appearance before the parole commission on Thursday.

“He was very matter-of-fact about it, but then Ben has always been precise and calm and pretty well collected,” she said. “It’s the rest of us who went berserk.”

Rick Jahnkow, spokesman for the San Diego County Draft Resisters Defense Fund, said Sasway would be honored at a rally to be held in San Diego in early October.

“We don’t think he ever should have been there in the first place,” Jahnkow said. “We think six months has been long enough. We’re happy he’s going to be released.”

Jahnkow said he visited Sasway four times during his prison stay, and that Sasway remarked after learning about the parole that he “wouldn’t believe he’s out until he walks out the door.”