Parking brake won't release

[cubewhiz]

With the pedal at the floor, I pulled the release and it wouldn't release. I tried pulling on the cable itself under the truck and it wouldn't budge. Eventually, I got pissed off and cut the front cable. At least I was able to drive home. However, the pedal is still to the floor and won't release. It's a tight spot so I can't really get a good look in there. Anybody have any ideas as to why it won't release? Now that the cable is cut, I don't understand how there can be any tension on the pedal. :/

 

[adsm08]

The pedal (and by extension the tension on the cable) is held by a ratchet on the pedal. Either the ratchet is stuck or the release is broken.