No parole? No problem

Hooray for M. Jodi Rell. She happens to be the governor of Connecticut, a Republican. On Friday, she did something that more politicians in both parties should do. She used common sense.

Rell banned parole for violent inmates until the state’s broken system is fixed. Several recent parolees have — surprise! — committed more crimes, including the ghastly triple murder in a home invasion in Cheshire that made national news.

Critics said Rell’s move could cause the state’s prisons to become overcrowded. That would be funny if it weren’t so serious.

Hmmm, let’s see: We could inconvenience some thugs for a few weeks or months longer, or we could let more innocent people be raped or brutalized or killed?

Even Homer Simpson could figure that one out.

Rell laid it out in plain English: “I will not allow public safety to be jeopardized because parolees return to a life of crime.”

There is a place for parole in our judicial system. It should be given to inmates who have shown they won’t hurt anyone else. If they can’t do that, they can stay behind bars till they're 90.

That’s not cruel, it’s humane. It puts the emphasis where it should be — on the rights and safety of law-abiding folks.

It’s not complex either, it’s simple common sense.

Thank God a few politicians in this country still have it.