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Ruling to Allow Release of Nearly 200 Inmates

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From Times Wire Reports

Nearly 200 prison inmates serving time for murder, rape and kidnapping will be eligible for immediate release after a ruling by the Delaware Supreme Court that some life sentences should be considered 45-year terms.

The ruling by the court in Wilmington applies only to sentences of life with parole handed down for crimes committed before mid-1990.

That was the year Delaware clarified its sentencing laws.

Before 1990, a sentence of life with parole was considered a 45-year term for purposes of calculating good-time credit and setting a parole date.

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Prosecutors maintained that if an inmate was repeatedly denied parole, he could be held until he died.

Delaware Atty. Gen. M. Jane Brady said the ruling would affect nearly 200 inmates.

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