http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/47128.html
Lucy Adams
"Politicians and victims have called repeatedly for greater transparency in sentencing and an end to automatic early release.
Currently, the parole board can choose to release prisoners serving four years or more on parole once they have served half of their sentence. Those considered to pose a risk are kept in custody until they have served two-thirds, at which point they are automatically released on licence regardless of the board's concerns.
Professor Jim McManus, chairman of the parole board, said release at the two-thirds stage of a long-term sentence should be made at the discretion of the parole board to avoid forcing the board to automatically release those still considered to be a risk to the public.
Scottish ministers have indicated they will end automatic early release, but the Sentencing Commission, which was appointed by the Scottish Executive and is made up of judges and criminal justice experts, has prepared seven models for the release of criminals, none of which include the automatic system.
They suggest far more radical options, including moving decisions on release from the parole board to the prison service.
Some of the models also propose an end to early release altogether for long and short-term prisoners.
At present, those serving less than four years are released after serving half their prison sentence. Of these short-term cases, only sex offenders or those on supervised release orders (SROs) have to agree to certain restrictions once released.
The models being considered by the Sentencing Commission include consideration of the systems in parts of the US and Australia where early release � not just automatic early release � has been removed altogether.
This followed calls for 'truth in sentencing' because of confusion about how long offenders a"
