Some kids get the names of presidents and heroes, to lift their eyes to high expectations. Some get names handed down like heirlooms, to remind them of the family trees over their shoulders.
Jesse James Cowans got a name like leg-irons - and spent his life living down to it. Way down.
On Sept. 2, he was arrested for the murder of Clara Swart, 69, whose fatal mistake was to live near the Monroe Township home where Cowans moved when he was paroled from prison less than four months earlier.
Pictures of him scuffling with court deputies came as no surprise to cops, prosecutors and judges. For nearly 30 years, they knew him as a punk-troublemaker who never grew up, only grew worse, a bad-actor hard case with a lifetime reservation at the Lucasville College of Criminal Knowledge.
Prison ''shrinks'' and guards have filled a phone book with warnings that yell ''Danger!'' to anyone who listens.
But for some strange reason, members of Ohio's Parole Board were deaf or deliberately derelict. They ignored the alarms and let him loose. Twice.
Here's their explanation from a story by Enquirer reporter Kristen Delguzzi:
''This guy - I don't know what happened to him,'' Margarette Ghee, chairwoman of the parole board, said, sighing deeply. ''I was just appalled. It's really tragic that this woman lived to be 69 years old and had to die like this. This is bothering everybody.''
She said they relied on prison records, substance-abuse counseling and psychological tests that indicated he was unlikely to commit another crime.
You have to take their word for it. Prisoners have privacy rights. Their records are secret.
But this time the secret leaked. I've seen a copy of the Jesse James Cowans record - and it shows that the parole board made a fatal mistake and let the wrong man walk.
The Parole Board's own March 29, 1995 risk assessment, a year before Cowans was granted his second parole, rated him in 10 categories, such as prior felonies, alcohol and drug abuse, and prison behavior. In every category but one, he had the highest risk-score possible. On a maximum-risk scale that stops at 40, he had a 37. On a scale of 1-4, with 4 as the highest possible risk, Jesse James Cowans rated a 5 - which was inked out and ''corrected'' to a 4.
On the Parole Board's quick-glance matrix, 4 means: ''Usually Will Not be Released Until After Two (2) or More Continuances'' (added time). A 5 means, ''Release is Not Appropriate.''
The Hamilton County Prosecutor's office said as much in repeated letters telling the parole board that ''this office strongly opposes any type of parole, furlough or release of the defendant, Jesse James Cowans.''
Cowans was raised in Over-the-Rhine with 17 brothers and sisters. A report noted, ''All but one of Cowans' male siblings have been . . . sent to the penitentiary.''
He started his own outlaw legend at age 8, when he was arrested for armed robbery, using a gun he found in a car to hold up a store. That's right, 8.
By age 16, he had five more convictions, including forgery, assault, menacing, trespassing and repeated runaways from foster homes.
In 1977, at age 16, he strangled a wheelchair-bound friend, robbed the man's wallet, ring and watch from his corpse, then turned up the gas on a stove in the dead man's apartment and tried to set a fire.
He was sentenced to 15 years to life for aggravated murder and robbery. A prison psychologist said he had lived a life of ''basically . . . raising hell,'' and recommended maximum security: '' . . . officials can expect a host of rules violations, covering the entire spectrum.''
They were not disappointed. Prison records tell the story: threats to prisoners and guards; caught with a weapon, an 8-inch spike; set fire to cell; ''threw urine and defecation'' at guards; attacked guards with a steel bucket; charged guards with pencils; fighting with inmates and guards; tried to scam a woman with letters asking for ''protection'' money.
''Attitude hostile and angry,'' incident reports said. ''Really bad attitude.''
Cowans said he was high on alcohol, pot and ''reds'' when he committed the murder. ''Chemical dependency is the root cause,'' a counselor declared.
Yet his record shows repeated punishments for ''drinking hooch'' and using drugs - in prison.
Still, he was paroled in 1989 after serving 12 years and four months of his ''life'' sentence. He lasted 16 months on the outside before he was caught with a knife, pills and marijuana after leaving the scene of an accident. Back in prison, he piled up six more violations, including ''seductive and obscene acts,'' fighting, two drug violations and four involving ''intoxicants.''
This is the parole model who was turned loose on Clara Swart's neighborhood. Five out of four for risk - off the meter in the danger zone. And Jesse James rides again.
There's a name for something like that, but I can't print it here.
Peter Bronson is editorial page editor of The Enquirer. If you have questions or comments, call 768-8301, or write to 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
