He Says He’s No Murderer. That’s Why He’s Still in Prison.

The New York Times, December 2, 2021: He Says He’s No Murderer. That’s Why He’s Still in Prison.

“When Joseph Gordon, a 78-year-old man who has spent nearly three decades in prison for murder, went before the New York State parole board in March, among the letters supporting his bid for freedom was an extraordinary appeal.

In addition to endorsements from corrections officers, civilian prison employees and a psychiatric social worker (who wrote that Mr. Gordon had changed the lives of many mentally ill prisoners), was a letter from a former superintendent at Fishkill Correctional Facility, in Beacon, N.Y. The superintendent, Leroy Fields, noted that in his more than 37 years as a corrections official, Mr. Gordon was only the second inmate he had ever recommended for release. Joseph Gordon, he wrote, has ‘the character and moral compass to return to society as a productive member of his community.’

The parole board remained unpersuaded. ‘Your release at this time is not compatible with the welfare of society,’ the panel ruled, ‘and would so deprecate the serious nature of your crime as to undermine respect for the law.’ It was the fifth parole denial Mr. Gordon had received since 2017, when he completed the minimum term of his sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

In their decisions, board members focused chiefly on a single and apparently unforgivable flaw: He insists he is innocent of the crime that sent him to prison. Mr. Gordon, who is Black, was convicted of the 1991 murder of a white Westchester County doctor. His refusal to admit guilt, the parole panels ruled, showed that he lacked remorse for his crime.”

Additional reading:

Carmel Journal, January 25, 1993: Baseball Cards at Issue In Bizarre Murder Trial