Parole Board in Limbo After Judge Agrees It Lacked Quorum

A V.I. Superior Court judge’s ruling Tuesday threw recent and future parole decisions into question after the V.I. Justice Department secured a temporary restraining order against the territory’s Parole Board on the basis that it hasn’t had a quorum for two and a half years.

The ruling came as the board was set to consider parole applications by multiple people convicted of serious offenses, including three incarcerated participants of the so-called Fountain Valley Massacre of 1972: Warren Ballentine, 76; Beaumont Gereau, 68; and Meral Smith, 74. Each was sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences more than 50 years ago.

A Parole Board hearing was initially scheduled for Monday to consider their applications and that of 74-year-old Tydel John, who was convicted of aggravated rape in 2015 and sentenced to multiple 15-year terms concurrent with a 50-year term. All four applied for parole under a somewhat recently enacted law codifying eligibility for parole on medical, geriatric, and nonmedical geriatric grounds, which Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. signed into law as Act 8791 last January.

On Friday, Bryan, through the Justice Department, filed an emergency motion to halt the parole proceedings, arguing that retroactively applying Act 8791 “unconstitutionally violates the separation of powers, and is therefore invalid under the Revised Organic Act.” Furthermore, Assistant Attorney General Christopher Timmons argued that the board is supposed to comprise seven voting members and have at least four members to achieve a quorum.