HARRISBURG - With a Luzerne County family at his side, Gov. Tom Corbett on Tuesday signed a law that allows crime victims and their families to testify in person before the state parole board decides to release a prison inmate.
The family of murder victim Robert "Bobby" Curley, poisoned to death by his wife Joann in 1991, lobbied for the change for years and is credited with inspiring the legislation.
"It's like a dream come true. My heart is pounding like crazy," Mr. Curley's 89-year-old mother, Mary Curley of Plains Twp., said moments after Mr. Corbett signed the law, turned and shook her hand.
Limited to letters
Under current law, prison inmates are able to meet face to face with members of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, but crime victims and their family members are limited to writing letters. When the bill takes effect Sept. 1, victims and their families will have the same right.
Mr. Corbett, a former U.S. attorney and state attorney general, acknowledged the state Legislature has been too slow to strengthen the rights of crime victims, but this law is a big step forward.
"I don't want to say this is a culmination, because I know we have more to do. But this is certainly a mountain top when it comes to victims," Mr. Corbett said during a bill signing ceremony at the state capitol. "Hopefully, we can move forward and hear the voices of victims across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
The Curley family had previously resorted to a letter-writing campaign in its attempt to block parole for Joann Curley, one of Luzerne County's most notorious killers.
Mrs. Curley systematically poisoned Mr. Curley, 32, by slipping thallium - a colorless, odorless and tasteless poison - in his drinks during their 13-month marriage while they lived in the Miners Mills section of Wilkes-Barre. Following a five-year investigation, Mrs. Curley was charged with homicide. After pleading guilty to third-degree murder in 1996, she was sentenced to a 10- to 20-year prison term.
Mrs. Curley, now 49, has applied for parole five times but has been denied each time. Her maximum sentence expires Dec. 12, 2016.
Look them in the eye
Mr. Curley's sister, Susan Hooper of Plains Twp., said she looks forward to finally getting the chance to look parole board members in the eye and beg them to keep her brother's killer in jail for every possible second.
"We have waited a long time for this. It has been a very long and difficult journey. I am here representing my brother, Bobby, because he cannot be here. I am his voice," Ms. Hooper said during the bill-signing ceremony. "I have been his voice for the last 21 years, eight months and 22 days."
About three years ago, Ms. Hooper solicited the help of state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Twp., to change the parole law. Ms. Baker urged colleagues to support her effort and a Senate bill she sponsored was unanimously approved in April. The bill Mr. Corbett signed Tuesday was a companion House bill, though Mr. Corbett made it a point to note Ms. Baker was instrumental in changing the law.
Ms. Baker called it a "milestone day in Pennsylvania history."
"A system that is truly just requires the full consideration of the concerns and views of crime victims. Or, as the cases that prompted this legislation, their survivors," Ms. Baker said at the ceremony. "This law will matter very much to families who confront the unsettling possibility of a perpetrator coming back into the community earlier than justice warrants."
Contact the writer: bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com