NY Leftist Radical Denied Parole After 35 Years

New York's Parole Board has denied the release of a former Weather Underground leftist radical who drove a getaway car in a 1981 Brinks armored car robbery that left three people dead. Judith Clark has served 35 years of a 75-years-to-life sentence for the suburban New York heist, which led to the deaths of two police officers and a security guard, the AP reports. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo commuted Clark's sentence in December to make her eligible for parole. Nearly 10,000 people signed a petition opposing release. Opponents were led by four Republican state senators who said the 67-year-old woman should stay in prison.

Clark's lawyer Steve Zeidman said Friday the decision ignores her record of achievement and transformation behind bars. He said more than 1,000 people have written letters calling for the release of Clark, who founded an HIV program, obtained degrees, and helped train service dogs in prison. "My mother did not kill anyone and it's hard for me to understand who is served by making her die in prison," said her daughter, Harriet, per the New York Daily News. The parole board said Clark, who will be eligible to apply for parole again in 2019, remains a symbol of a "violent and terroristic crime" and her "personal growth" is not yet enough to overcome her past. (More Weather Underground stories.)