“Probe: Mitt missed chance to keep Tavares jailed”
Following up on previous posts about ex-con killer Daniel Tavares (see here and here), who was released by a Mitt Romney-appointed judge, here’s the Boston Herald’s latest story on the case:
Former Gov. Mitt Romney’s administration failed to act on disciplinary recommendations that would have kept ex-con killer Daniel Tavares locked up another year - and behind bars at the time he was accused of killing a newlywed couple in Washington state.
Despite Tavares’ long history of violence, the Romney-led Department of Correction took no action on recommendations that he be stripped of “good time” because of assaults on prison guards in 2003 and 2005, said sources familiar with a state probe into the case.
Instead, Tavares was allowed to cash in on those 360 days of “good time” to get out of prison July 16, 2007, sources said. It was just 123 days later that newlyweds Brian and Beverly Mauck were slaughtered in Graham, Wash.
“If that time had been (served), he would still be incarcerated and would not have killed those two individuals,” said one source familiar with the probe launched by the Patrick administration. “Tavares’ pattern of behavior before and during incarceration pointed to a person who was going to do this.”
The revelations come one week before the Jan. 3 caucuses in Iowa, where Romney is counting on a strong showing to propel his GOP candidacy for president.
Romney has decried the early release of Tavares by a judge, but the “good time” could have been revoked administratively while he was governor under the state prison disciplinary process, sources said.
…The investigation into the Tavares case found that the Romney administration mistakes were part of a broader pattern of lapses that stretched back to 1993. Overall, the probe uncovered six disciplinary complaints against Tavares between 1993 and 2005 that should have kept him in prison a total of 720 days, nearly two years beyond his release in July.
The DOC’s failure to act on the recommendations stretched over the administrations of Republican Govs. William Weld, Jane Swift and Romney.
But sources said the single most egregious breakdown came under Romney in 2003, when administration officials missed a 60-day deadline for filing paperwork to strip Tavares of 300 days of previously awarded “good time.”
Mike Huckabee has far bigger lapses in this area, of course, but the Tavares case is still a significant problem for Romney.
Putting aside election-year politics, I find it highly ironic that soft-on-crime far left Democrat Gov. Deval Patrick is now outraged about the criminal revolving door.
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If Romney can’t keep track of one killer, how is he going to manage dealing with the complexities of various countries if elected? How will he deal with terrorists?
Whenever I look at Romney, I see a man who I think is saying what he needs to say in order to be elected; not what he believes. Hardly a quality I look for when I vote for President.
I don’t know about Washington, but here in Texas… Just because you have good time doesn’t mean you make parole. In fact, the parole board completely disregards good time in more than 70% of cases. Violent criminals don’t even GET good time. But the fault lies with the state and the whole idea of “state’s rights.” In my humble opinion, state’s rights is an obsolete power-sharing scheme, set up to reward those that sided with the founding insurgents (ahem, fathers) and things such as disparate prison sentences, drug laws, and identity card crises are going to continue (and worsen) as long as states get to do things “their way”. In my humble opinion, a centralized federal justice system is preferable. Then we wouldn’t have states where you get 18 DWIs until you kill someone on the 19th one, whereas in Texas you can get 25-99 or life in prison on the fourth DWI… In this case, Tavares would (should) have done 100% of his time, and probably would (should) have gotten additional time tacked on for each assault on a correctional officer, to be served consecutively (stacked). In fact, here in Texas, there are guys that went in with 5 year sentences and ended up getting life (stacked) for assaulting correctional officers… One inmate got an extra 45 years (stacked) just for having a cell phone… Point is, they (all states and the feds) need to get real serious about their justice system. Thats all.
He’ll explain this away. Watch and learn.
That’s the problem. He’s good at explanations. Why didn’t he do what was right in the first place?
The main reason I will not support Mitt is due to the fact Hugh Hewitt is so biased for him.
I find Mitt to be a little to slick in appearance and attitude. I can not place my fingure on it but something about him bothers me.
Maybe its the BIG DIG, or this appointed judge situation, or the gay marriage thing. I just find him to be not sincere in his platitudes.
The Left will always be “outraged” etc. if and when it see a chance to make points against the non-Left. Other than that, its business as usual.
This is bad for Romney. It was infinitely worse for the victims of Daniel Tavares.
Not too long ago I was leaning ever so slightly in Romney’s direction, but now I see him simply as one more hollow man, one more GBW-in-the-making who forever has his finger in the wind to see which direction it is blowing. The man simply is not ready for the the Presidency. He wasn’t even ready for the governorship of Mass, and who couldn’t handle that? I suppose the witty rejoinder would be: “So, who is, wise guy?” Let me put it this way: I voted for my last “lesser of two evils” in 2004. Never again. By voting at all, I was simply supporting this farce of a system.
Mr. Romney, you have been voted, if you will pardon the expression, off the island. Don’t let the door, etc.
Make that GWB, not “GBW.” Sorry.
Nothing here indicates a personal failing on Romney’s part. He inherited a moonbat civil service which is still in place and which continues to be condescending to public safety in order to promote PC ideological goals.
I’m surprised at the responses so far. There is no way a mayor, county supervisor, governor, president, etc. can keep track of every issue occurring within their jurisdiction. That is why there are levels of government, directors of prisons, parole boards, DMV managers, chiefs of police, etc. From what I can find this is not a case of Romney signing a law into effect or pushing for some change in the parole system that led to this tragedy or interceding on this murderer’s behalf. This is a simple case of a mid-level bureaucrat not doing his/her job. Governors of any state don’t have a clue who is in the state prisons unless someone brings it to their attention (barring high publicity cases). Unless petitioned by someone, when was the last time we ever heard about a governor getting involved in day to day prison/parole operations.
I’m not a Mitt supporter (although I do like him better than Guiliani, Huckabee or McCain) but let’s be fair here. Certainly the bureaucrat who missed the deadline should be terminated for not doing his/her job. But to lay this at the feet of the governor is silly and disingenuous.
Jeb Bush, we need you.
Yes, Mitt was wrong in missing the 60 day deadline that might have kept this creep behind bars another 360 days, but I doubt that any governor files these papers personally. At least he didn’t pardon the guy. Can anyone give me the name of an ex-governor who never had a prisoner paroled early and never had one commit a serious offense after being released? If you can find one, I think we should add his face to Mount Rushmore.
OK, so give me the name of a serious candidate for president who does not fit your description above. Would they hire managers and PR people if they didn’t have a message to spin or didn’t want to look more presidential than they really are?
I feel the same way about all of the leading candidates. Sometimes you have to vote for the lesser of two evils. But a BIG DIG that was started before Mitt was governor, and a paroled killer who was released after Mitt was governor may be a strike against him but does it rise to the level of “unforgivable sin”?
#9, deepdiver. I agree with your analysis. Personally I wounder why Senator Hunter isn’t doing better. His actions seem to match his speech, rare for a politician.
However, unless someone has record of an action on Romney’s part for a pardon or release this is a non-event. A lot of folks haven’t had to supervise a large number of agency’s where immediate supervision is NOT possible. And it is entirely possible laws were in effect that prohibited his interference in the process unless under dire circumstances. Don’t forget this is state government and not a small business. A governor can persuade, not demand….
Romney’s record cannot withstand any vigorous scrutiny.
As governor of one of the most liberal states in the country - if not the most liberal - I understand the compromises he had to make in order to govern effectively.
I don’t hold that against him as much as I despise his trying to obscure that record now. If you’re not proud of of how you have conducted yourself in public life - your positions on issues, your public personae - then why bother running for President?
Mitt Rawmoney is too busy accumulating wealth and power to note the nuance of making moral judgments. A quarter billion dollars says I’m right.
That’s why who and how you delegate people to take care of all those issues is so important. It’s those choices that show the mettle of the man/woman running the whole show. That’s why this is a big deal. If law and order is important to you, than you certainly put someone who shares those values in a position to watch out for the state and keep you informed. Romney apparently didn’t. That’s why this tragedy happened.
Remember the old saying, “The buck stops here”? Well, the buck stops with Romney and he will and should feel the heat, IMO.
Funny how only certain bucks, the spending variety, stopped at Rawmoney’s desk!
My comment was:
I am talking about being honest about what you truly believe not spinning to get elected or superficial appearance. Big difference. I never got that feeling about George W. Bush. I have always felt he was sincere about what he said whether I agreed with him or not. I always felt he was an honorable and honest man.
Why isnt’ the Huckster’s record being scrutinized. To do so will expose the next Jimmy Carta.
I agree. I can’t believe that any Republican is supporting him period with his supporting tax hikes, weak on illegal immigration, totally dimwitted about national security, etc. Good grief. He is the Republican Jimmy Carter. One was bad enough.
Exactly, I could’nt of said it any better than that. This is one of the problem’s I have with Romney beside getting in a who’s a better Christian shooting match with the Huckster.
If I read that correctly, it was the administration OFFICIALS that made the mistakes, not necessarily Romney himself. There are people in his administration that are supposed to do that sort of work and stay on top of such things. Not to make excuses, but the Governor, Mayor, Senator, President cannot be expected to know every single solitary item that goes on at every single solitary moment of the day. If someone drops the ball, and the head guy is not informed of it, then it is hardly the head guys fault.
Now, if Romney was informed of it, and decided to not let him stay behind bars, to allow him to get off with the good behaviour, then of course Romney should be held accountable. However, if there was a timeperwork, and the guy that was to be handling that paperwork dropped the ball and missed the timeline, then I hardly see how that was Mit’s fault. If this is supposed to be the Democrat’s “Willie Horton” moment, it ain’t gonna fly kids. They are going to have to do a great deal more than this. his is a governmental error, not a gubernatorial mandate. BIIIIIG difference.
The only thing I have to add is that this Tavares knew he could commit murder with impunity because the lame people of Massachusetts feel that murderous humans are a protected species. He should die ASAP. In front of every other murderer. Let them all watch.
Biggest Liberal state in the Union complaining about a Liberal law? Now if that isn’t the funniest damn thing I have heard all week I just don’t know what is.
The phrase “ex-con killer” says it all as far as I’m concerned.If he was a killer,how did he become anything but”ex-alive”?The death penalty is not a deterent if it is not used.Two people are dead because a POS like that was kept alive.
The history of mankind has been created by the living,not by the dead.Will the future of mankind be created by the righteuos or the degenerate?It appears as though our future is is going to be determined by the dregs of society,if the libidiots have their way.
Gee, wasn’t there someone asking what the big deal was about letting the 22,000 guys out in California 2 years early was?
Well here is our argument, where is yours?
How can anyone point out that Government should not handle health care because it is an inefficient bureaucracy, but then hold the governor accountable for decisions made about ten echelons below him by a flunky in the prison system? Come on now. Say what you will about the man, but do you really expect the governor to personally track the status of every prisoner? Of course not. At some point, the decision makers and executers are outside of his sphere of influence. That would appear to be the case here.
Reaping what they sowed, indeed.
Liberalism ALWAYS creates the exact OPPOSITE of its stated intent.
I am certainly no Romney fan, but let’s be fair here. The Tavares case is more a revelation on the liberal cesspool Massachusetts has become than an indictment on Romney.
Tavares murdered his mother. Yet a jury of his peers found that he should only receive a paltry 16 year sentence for a murder. 16 years for murder? Give me a break. The jury and judge in the case have a fair share of the blame here.
Massachusetts allows a murderer to accumulate good time credits. So the legislature of Massachusetts in its infinite liberal wisdom allows murderers out early if they are good boys and girls. Those men and women involved in passing this law share a portion of the blame.
The prison in which he was incarcerated apparently did not document all of his cases of violent behavior, which should have led to his losing his credits. The prison gets some of the blame here as well as an idiotic process that does not automatically rescind good time credits but instead requires some sort of hearing. Blame again to the legislature.
The a judge releases him against the strong objections of the State. The judicial system gets part of the blame here. Of course, the DA’s office screwed up by not arresting him for assault while he was still behind bars. And the parole system never had a clue as to where he was and allowed him to waltz out of the State. And the Massachusetts authorities couldn’t find him. Lots of blame here.
So, in light of all of this, Romney is now on the hot seat for not having some administrator sign a paper? Sorry, but the way I see it, it is Massachusetts’s out of control liberalism that caused the deaths of the young couple in Washington. If you need more evidence, just look at who they elected as governor - Deval Patrick.
Tavares would have served one more year-so two innocent people would have been butchered one year later.I think we are missing the point here folks.He had no business being released at all.Whoever you choice to blame for the early release,the fact remains that he would kill again.
I’m not horribly impressed with any of the Rep. front runners, but Mitt is the only one that I don’t trust. He obscures his record instead of running on it and he’s just too darn slick.
He reminds me of Clinton.
I’m wondering if MA is more than a little dissatisfied with Deval Patrick. Some of the local talk shows are less than kind to him lately.
Mitt obscures his record? I have my issues with him, but at least he has not run from his record like Huckabe and McCain have.
Whenever those two are called on their past actions and record, they go ballistic in the argumentum ad-hominum department.
I agree that Romney appears slick (or polished, depending on your preference), but are you going to focus on his appearance or his platform?