Parole (or what remains of it) after ten years of reform

Abstract

The reform that Organic Law 1/2015 operated on conditional release should never have taken place, as we already suspected in advance before the legislator turned it into a form of senseless suspension of sentence. Ten years later, we confirm that the academy was right to assume that the change would result in a mortal wound for this institution, which has ceased to be the preferable form of extinguishing sentences despite being the one that offers the greatest potential for resocialization: serving sentences in third–degree –and, especially, in its telematic modality– has become the new predilection of convicts who aspire to extinguish their criminal responsibilities by avoiding at all costs the dangers and uncertainties of the –not so new anymore– parole regime.