Mark David Chapman | Fab forum

This isn't going to be a popular view, and I make no apologies for that.

I'm in favor of granting Chapman his release.

I blogged about it yesterday on my website, and my reasons are these:

1) Chapman has, by all accounts, been a model prisoner.  He's not the twenty-five year-old mentally ill person that he was.  He got the help that he needed and he has rehabilitated.

2) He was sentenced to twenty years to life.  He has now served twenty-nine years.

3) New York State has no compelling interest in continuing to incarcerate him.  Yes, Yoko Ono has stated, again, that she fears for her life and Sean's life, but there's no evidence that Chapman has any interest in them whatsoever -- or that he would pose any danger to society.

4) Had Chapman killed anyone else on December 8, 1980, he would have been released a decade ago.  Saying that "It was John Lennon and Lennon matters more" is a reason for denying parole is an appeal to emotion and it sets a standard that is both unfair and impossible-to-meet.  Chapman is being held for political reasons that have more to do with thirty and forty years ago and nothing to do with today.

5) Chapman would, at fifty-five, fade back into the obscurity from whence he came if released.  If not released, the world will continue to be reminded of his existence every two years when he comes up for parole yet again.  If Beatledom truly wants to forget that he even existed, releasing him is the best thing.  But if Beatledom wants to tear at the emotional wounds from now until who-knows-when, leave him behind bars.

I can see one viable reason for continuing to keep Chapman behind bars -- it's the only way to ensure his safety.  But is that really New York State's responsibility?

As I said, this is an unpopular and controversial view and I don't air it lightly.   I don't expect that Chapman will walk free this year or even two years from now.  But I think that, viewed objectively, releasing Chapman is the right thing -- and the humane thing -- to do.