Panel Rejects Ex-Rep. Hansen’s Plea for Eased Parole Restrictions
The U.S. Parole Commission on Tuesday refused to ease parole restrictions on former GOP Rep. George Hansen of Idaho, who has been on a hunger strike since last week, when he was jailed for violating those limitations.
“This puts the focus on the White House,” said Hansen, 56, who served seven terms in the House. He wants a pardon from President Reagan.
The commission’s decision stems from Hansen’s petition for unsupervised parole and exemption from filing financial reports. The decision has been pending since Hansen was released from Petersburg Federal Corrections Facility in Virginia last December.
The commission voted 8 to 0 against his request, said Justice Department spokesman Joe Krovisky, who said the restrictions on Hansen are standard for all federal parolees.
In 1984, Hansen was convicted by a federal court jury on charges of falsifying financial disclosure statements to Congress. He surrendered in June, 1986, at the Petersburg facility to begin serving a five- to-15-month sentence, and was paroled in December.
Hansen was arrested by federal marshals in Omaha, Neb., last week after speaking to a group of supporters.
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