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Gov. Bev Perdue said Thursday that a group of violent offenders who are serving life sentences from the 1970s won't be released from prison until at least 2054.

Perdue said the N.C. Department of Correction will not award time off for good behavior, which was a key point in a court's determination that a Fayetteville inmate who was serving a life sentence for a double homicide is due for release.

Perdue's new math will surely lead to a lawsuit from the inmates since she had previously announced that her administration was required to release them.

The inmates were due for release for two reasons. For a five year period in the 1970s, state law defined a "life sentence" as 80 years. And the Department of Correction was applying a calculation of time off for good behavior that essentially cut those sentences in half. The department's action strips the good behavior credit from those inmates.

Her vows to block the release of inmates who were convicted of murder, rape or other serious violent crimes has been a popular issue for Perdue.

"I will continue to pursue all legal means of preventing the release of these inmates without any review by the parole board or any post-release supervision," Perdue said in a news release.

Update: Staples Hughes, the state's Appellate Defender, called Perdue's announcement a political ploy.

"We believe that it is simply an extension of the state's political efforts to buttress the governor's sagging poll ratings by defying the rule of law. We don't believe they will be able to substantiate their opinion in a court of law before impartial judges."

Update: Post now accurately reflects that Perdue did not issue an order about the change. 

Lawyer Staples Hughes has been cleared of any wrongdoing in revealing a dead clients' confession that he believed could help prove a man innocent of murder.

Hughes said today that the N.C. State Bar cleared him last week after a lengthy investigation about his disclosure. He said the bar dismissed a complaint against him finding no probable cause, Titan Barksdale reports.

Hughes was trying to help prisoner Lee Wayne Hunt, who was convicted of killing a Fayetteville couple 21 years ago, and sentenced to life in prison.

During a hearing to seek a new trial for Hunt, a Cumberland County Superior Court judge warned he would report Hughes to the bar over his testimony about the confession. Hughes testified that his client, Jerry Cashwell, told him that he acted alone in killing the couple.

Hunt, whose case has gained national attention after he appeared on "60 Minutes," is still fighting to prove his innocence. Hughes' testimony was rejected by the judge, and the N.C. Supreme Court recently denied Hunt's request for a review of his case.

Hunt's attorneys are planning to appeal his case to federal court.

Lawyer Staples Hughes was trying to do the right thing when he disclosed information that could help prove a man innocent of murder.

Now it may cost him his law license, Titan Barksdale reports.

Hughes, the state's appellate defender, disclosed earlier this year that his client, a co-defendant in the murder, had confessed 20 years earlier that he alone killed Roland and Lisa Matthews in Fayetteville.

After his client, Jerry Cashwell, died, Hughes spoke up. The confession, coupled with challenges to how bullet evidence was analyzed, could get a new trial for Lee Wayne Hunt, who was convicted of the slayings 21 years ago and sentenced to life in prison.

It also puts Hughes in a fight for his career. (N&O)