BUILDING BRIDGES FEBRUARY 2012
http://prisonaction.blogspot.com to read the entire February 2012 issue
Summaries of the Articles which appear below (click on symbols to be taken to article, or scroll down):
1. Today’s “Incarcerated Man” is vastly different from the representative specimen of yesteryear. For the first time in “incarcerated man’s” history there are more notable success stories than failures, as evidenced by a dwindling prison population and the success of the many women and men in leadership positions in re-entry programs throughout the state.
2. Job Opportunity: Combine your desire to sharpen your skills and your commitment to fair criminal justice policies by training to become a media volunteer with the NYS Parole Reform Campaign. Free training.
3. How is the merger of DOCCS going to be implemented, and when? Who is overseeing the process? In this vast system with all its tensions and conflicts - between agencies, between management and unions -who is monitoring this monolithic entity? Building Bridges attempted to find out by attending, and reading testimony from, the Public Hearing on the Merger of DOCS and the Division of Parole into the new Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Thursday, November 10, 2011 and a hearing on the Public Protection portion of the 2012-13 Executive Budget, held by the State Legislature's fiscal committees on January 30, 2012.
4. Family member B. Russo took matters into her own hands and posted a petition in support of Senator Montgomery’s Merit Time Bill, S338, which would extend time off for good behavior to people with violent felony convictions. If you want to make your voice heard, please sign the petition.
5. Last chance to decide to attend the Caucus weekend workshops. The NYS Parole Reform Campaign of the Coalition for Fair Criminal Justice Policies has a room that holds 500. Think of the impression it would make if it was filled! But if you can’t get there, you can help to get your legislators to support the SAFE Parole Act. People are suffering in prison waiting for us to win this struggle. It won’t be easy, but it can be done if we ALL get involved!
6. Mass Incarceration and the NYS Prisoner Justice Movement: “Dear Prisoner Justice Network, I have been in prison for 27 years. My last parole hearing lasted 4 minutes.“ This is one of several letters quoted in the article, which calls for an end to mass incarceration.
7. Parole News: No stats this month, check back in March. Updates on current cases protesting parole denials based solely on the nature of the crime. Judge Lawrence H. Ecker hands down rulings calling for a new hearing where the nature of the crime is not the deciding factor.
ARTICLES:
1. “INCARCERATED MAN” JOINS THE RANKS OF SUCH HISTORICAL STALWARTS AS "PEKING MAN, CAVE MAN, RENAISSANCE MAN" AND OTHERS.j
In the January 15 edition of Building Bridges, I noted that my daughter Ariel was mentioned as a panel member on an upcoming Criminal Justice Series workshop presented by the the Coalition for Fair Criminal Justice Policies, scheduled for Feb 18 in Albany. [see Article 8 for details]
I was surprised to note a reference to me as “incarcerated man”. I enjoyed a laugh as I realized that I had suddenly joined the ranks of such historical stalwarts as “Peking Man, Cave Man, Renaissance Man” and others. These unnamed representatives of the rest of us serve as placeholders in time. I wonder if Ariel appreciates the significance of being living offspring of such a legendary figure - “Incarcerated Man.”
“Incarcerated Man” provides a useful link in this time and place and within the criminal justice issues of our day. Particularly issues regarding community reintegration and parole preparedness. These issues hold a greater significance today than at any other time in the last fifty years. Incarcerated Man is undergoing a transformation; he has reached the nadir of his misfortunes and a new paradigm is being created out of the hard work and sacrifice of the formerly incarcerated. Today’s “incarcerated man” is vastly different from the representative specimen of yesteryear. For the first time in “incarcerated man’s” history there are more notable success stories than failures, as evidenced by a dwindling prison population and the success of the many women and men in leadership positions in re-entry programs throughout the state.
Incarcerated Man remains tethered to the past however, through institutional indifference, fear, and misconceptions about community supervision. (This is incarceration by other means). New ideas about community reintegration, and efforts at rehabilitation while on the inside, represent progress, evolution, and hope for a better day to come for thousands. More is needed to heal and to create trust. For each step forward we must be prepared occasionally to take a step back.
The recent changes in legislation regarding parole and the merger of Corrections with Parole are positive steps toward a more realistic approach to public safety. However, as recent parole decisions have shown, there are still sharp differences between the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government regarding implementation. The courts rule one way, and the parole board pushes back in the form of negative parole decisions which seemingly fly in the face of both legislative intent and legal decisions. Perhaps the parole board sees such judicial decisions as an encroachment upon the parole board’s authority and relevance.
Enter the SAFE Parole Act, which offers a rational approach to public safety, community reintegration and parole readiness. The SAFE Parole Act offers transparency of process and accountability for both parole candidates and parole boards. It is cost effective, and focused on tangible results with respect to rehabilitation; the potential benefits outweigh any negatives.
The prospects for the future of Incarcerated Man and society are for the moment, potentially great. But there remains much work to be done. Change is almost always a slow process.
Ismail Igartua, 88A5099, Fishkill Correctional Facility
Ismail is a 50-year old New Yorker from Spanish Harlem. He has been incarcerated for 25 years. He earned a BA from Skidmore College in 1995 and a Masters in Professional Studies -MPS - from the NY Theological Seminary. His next parole board appearance is November 2013. He is appealing his most recent parole denial.
2. JOB OPPORTUNITY
NYS Parole Reform Campaign offers free training in media communications technology and methodology for a volunteer job with the Campaign. Learn to use communication platforms; build new skills in technology and culture; audience engagement online and on-site; and strategies for campaigns. We are looking for a highly motivated volunteer to help with media outreach, messaging and video interviewing, etc. Personal enthusiasm for the SAFE Parole Act is essential. You must be able to travel to Detroit in June for training (travel, registration and accommodations will be paid for). We are asking for at least a 6 month commitment of 3 volunteer hours a week working to pass the SAFE Parole Act. For more information or to apply, please write us at:parolereform@gmail.com. Deadline for applications is March 13.
3. HOW IS THE MERGER OF DOCCS, AND THE NEW INDEPENDENCE OF THE PAROLE BOARD WORKING OUT? BUILDING BRIDGES TRIED TO FIND OUT.
[Compiled from written testimony and a transcript of the Public Hearing on the Merger of DOCS and the Division of Parole into the new Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Thursday, November 10, 2011, and the hearing on the Public Protection portion of the 2012-13 Executive Budget, held by the State Legislature's fiscal committees on January 30, 2012.]
Assembly Member Jeffrion Aubry, Chair, Committee on Correction asked the questions and DOCCS Commissioner Brian Fischer and Parole Board Chair Andrea Evans gave the answers. [B.B. combined all three into this report, with exceptions where it seemed particularly important to know the exact source. ]
BACKGROUND FACTS:
The merger is expected to save $6.5 million in 2011-2012, and $8 M. a year after that.
DOCCS is now responsible for supervising a population of 95,000 people between those in prison and those on parole; 56,000 in prison, 38,000 on community supervision. The new agency has close to 30,000 employees, 29,000 inside prison, and 1,700 in community supervision. The Parole Board has 72 employees.
Their combined mission statement: To improve public safety by providing a continuity of appropriate treatment services in safe and secure facilities where offenders’ needs are addressed and they are prepared for release, followed by supportive services under community supervision to facilitate a successful completion of their sentence.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE NEW COMBINED DEPARTMENT:
A new Deputy Commissioner and an Assistant Commissioner for Community Supervision are part of the new agency’s Executive Team. In addition, DOCCS established 7 Regional Directors within Community Supervision, seen as equal to the 9 Supervising HUB Superintendents within Corrections. The Parole Board will function as a separate entity within DOCCS, retaining independence in its decisions. The Commissioner of DOCCS is mandated to provide the Board and its staff with the information and resources necessary to perform their role.
TAP (TRANSITIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY PLAN) AND COMPAS (A RISK AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT):
The goal is to better plan, provide and document treatment from day one through release and community supervision. These tools will provide a better understanding of what the treatment needs of our inmates are, and what programs have the greatest likelihood of reducing recidivism for those released. DOCCS is continuing to assess prison programs to determine which have the greatest impact on providing needed skills to inmates. Academic education and enhanced computer literacy are of primary importance. With facility parole staff working in unison with correction counselors, and field parole staff picking up on work done inside, information sharing has become easier and more informative for everyone. The goal is clear; meet the needs of the offender upon his/her arrival in the system, as he/she gets ready to be released, and while in the community. [Fischer]
TAP will be started upon an inmate’s first facility assignment, updated by both counselors and parole staff throughout his/her incarceration, used to provide the Parole Board or Community Supervision staff with identified needs and plans for providing a fuller assessment of each offender’s strengths, weakness and accomplishments and documenting them over time.
COMPAS: The use of COMPAS by both facility and field parole staff will help them assess risk factors, make better caseload assignments and maximize the use of graduated sanctions when called for. [Fischer] In Sept of 2011 all Board members received training in the use of the risk and needs instrument known as COMPAS. Come January 2012, everyone coming out will have a COMPAS done. [Fischer]
COMPAS will be used to assign caseloads, based on research and reality. High risk will require more intensive supervision: 1 officer per 25 people. Medium high supervision: 1-40. Regular supervision 1-80. Low risk at 1-160. A 1-10 will remain for SIST (Strict and Intensive Supervision) which is mostly given to sex offenders and can also be given to some violent offenders; 1-25 for regular sex offenders and those who are designated as SMI (Seriously Mentally Ill). In Fiscal Year 2012/13 we will begin to use a new risk instrument on all sex offenders under community supervision designed to highlight potentially negative changes in thinking and behavior. Such a tool will enable the Parole Officer to more quickly respond to changes in order to modify the offender’s supervision needs. [Fischer]
Together the Board of Parole and DOCCS have been developing the Transitional Accountability Plan (TAP) to be used by DOCCS staff to determine institutional programming and community supervision plans, and to measure the rehabilitation of persons appearing before the Board as well as their likelihood of success in the community when released. At the time of reception, a comparable risk/needs assessment tool, followed by a data-based treatment initiative for in-prison programming will be applied.
In July 2011 each Board member, and 700 counselors and parole officers received training in the use of the TAP instrument. Both facility staff and correction counselors have also trained in TAP and in COMPAS. The TAP is begun by a C.O. and a Correction Counselor, and is input by a Parole Officer. COMPAS is administered by Parole but can also be done by a Correction Counselor.
The use of these instruments (TAP and COMPAS) was to begin by Nov. 19, 2011 as a pilot project in 3 DOCCS facilities for the purposes of determining appropriate conditions of supervision. In the meantime, whenever and wherever a TAP has been prepared, the Parole Board has been instructed to use it.
When the pilot phase is over, TAPs will be used for all parole applicants to assess the appropriateness of their release to community supervision. Because the TAP indicates an inmate’s overall effort toward effecting his or her rehabilitation while incarcerated and draws upon information closely associated with the risk of reoffending and identifies what they need to successfully reintegrate, the Board’s written procedures will call for the use and careful consideration of these documents. In the interim the Board will use the TAP when and where it has been prepared. [Evans] TAP was ready to go but because it was not as quantitative as thought necessary, it was revamped, which set back the implementation date to July 1, 2011. By October 2011 it was expected to be in full use.
TAP was designed initially to be a motivational kind of open-ended discussion with the offender. What does this person need? What does this person want to do? What does this person need to be rehabilitated? Did this person succeed in his/her rehabilitation?
TAP will do away with the quarterly report. It will show the Parole Board member the entire progress from beginning to end. Added documentation and quantitative data on things like housing, education, employment, substance abuse, family, financial needs, leisure time activity, medical and mental health will be part of it. It designed to create a picture “based on what the offender talks about, not what we believe his needs are. “ [Fisher]
DIVISION OF LABOR:
Commissioner of DOCCS is to provide the Parole Board and its staff with the information and resources necessary to perform their independent decision making role. Board members will receive reports that have been prepared by former Div. of Parole staff (newly titled Rehabilitation Coordinators) , including information of criminal history, crime of conviction, institutional adjustment, programming and release plans. [Evans] Facility Parole Officers and Correction Counselors are now under the Deputy Superintendent for Programs..
APPEALS OF PAROLE RELEASE DENIALS:
The Board of Parole has created a Bureaus of Adjudication, comprised of administrative law judges and preliminary hearing officers under the immediate supervision of the Board’s chief administrative law judge, creating a closer working relationship between the Board and those who adjudicate alleged violations in the area of community supervision.
Parole Council’s office now serves as exclusive legal advisors to the board, and continues in its efforts to process appeals in a timely and most independent manner. [Evans]
CERTIFICATES OF RELIEF FROM DISABILITIES:
Granted by DOCCS; drafted in the facility, signed by the superintendent and given to the person when they leave. [Fischer and Evans]
MEDICAL PAROLE:
Both DOCCS and the Parole Board will work together to grant medical parole and will be using a new Parole Board Criminal History Report being developed with the Division of Criminal Justice for a more comprehensive review of an offender’s criminal and previous Parole supervision. In our joint opinion, there are some cases where we think a person should be on medical parole, but the problem is, where do you place them? Who will sign for Medicaid? And when a person is no longer competent to make health care decisions who becomes their guardian? There’s a review even before the Board gets the case. There’s a medical review. “I personally review the case,” said Fischer. Then it goes to the Parole Board.
REVIEWING INMATE FILES PRIOR TO A PAROLE HEARING:
It’s taking about 30 minutes to review a file. The Board gets access to them the day before. Some commissioners look at them the day before and some do it in the morning, in either case they have adequate time for review. One of the benefits of videoconferencing is that it gives them more time to sit with the files. They see an average of 23 cases in a given day. [Evans]
The TAP and the COMPAS should allow all of us, particularly the Parole Board to get a better, quicker review of the case. [Fisher}
WRITTEN PROCEDURES AS MANDATED BY LAW:
The Parole Board is mandated to develop written procedures to be used when making release decisions. Because the TAP instrument indicates an inmate’s overall effort toward effecting his or her rehabilitation while incarcerated and draws upon information closely associated with their risk of reoffending (COMPAS) and what they need in order to become successful, the Board’s written procedures will call for the use and careful consideration of these documents. [Evans}
QUESTIONABLE STATEMENT:
“The Parole Board, when they’re sitting in panels, continue to be allowed to make independent decisions ...we need to consider the type of inmates that we have, and as a result of sentencing restructuring and the focus on reentry, thousands and thousands of inmates have been released. We were left with violent felony offenders.” [Evans]
(Editor’s note: We hope Commissioner Evans is referring to the fact that violent felony offenders are the group least likely to recommit a crime. They are among the most educated, remorseful and rehabilitated of NYS prisoners. Therefore it makes sense to be releasing more of them. Do parole commissioners know that of the 368 people convicted of murder who were granted parole in NY between 1999 and 2003, only 6, or less than 2% returned to prison within 3 years for a new felony conviction, and none of these for a violent offense, according to a 2011 NYS Parole Board study?)
4. MERIT TIME BILL PETITION
The Merit Time Bill S338/A154, sponsored by Senator Velmanette Montgomery and co-sponsored by Senator Dilan is sitting in the Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee and in the Assembly’s Correction Committee, as is the SAFE Parole Act.
A family member has posted a petition online for those who would like to indicate their support for passage of this bill which extends Merit Time to people convicted of violent felony crimes:
Click here to sign.
Questions? Contact B Russo brusso86@yahoo.com
5. NYS PAROLE REFORM CAMPAIGN UPDATES
COME TO CAUCUS WEEKEND:
It’s not too late to plan a trip to Albany on Sat. Feb. 18 to attend the Coalition for Fair Criminal Justice’s workshop at the BLACK, PUERTO RICAN, HISPANIC & ASIAN LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS WEEKEND. We need to convince these legislators it would be good for everyone if they supported the SAFE Parole Act. We have a room that holds 500. Think of the impression we would make if it was filled! 10:15 am, Hearing Room B. Ask for directions at the Capitol’s Security check-in. There may still be room on the bus, or put yourself on a waiting list, call Larry White: 646-796-4203
If it’s impossible for you to attend, please call your legislators to tell them you want them to attend the workshop. The panel will offer a critique of current parole policies that disproportionately affect communities of color, and their suggestions for reforms. The actual title is CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERIES, Parole Release Decisions in the Era of Reintegration. 10:15am, Hearing Room B. Topic/Issue(s) to be discussed: Deficits in current Parole Board release policies and a proposal to correct them.
Moderator: Glenn E. Martin, The Fortune Society, Vice President of Development and Public Affairs
Panelists:
Incarcerated members of the Second Look Org. at Sullivan Correctional Facility (on video, or through a written statement)
Julia Long, The Coalition for Fair Criminal Justice Policies’ Policy Committee, former legislative aide
Larry White, Prison Action Network, Ending The New Jim Crow, Fortune Society Community Organizer
Jeffrion Aubry, Assembly sponsor of the Safe and Fair Evaluations (S.A.F.E.) Parole Act, A7939/S5374
Christina Hernandez, NYS Parole Board Commissioner
Ariel Igartua, High School student whose father was recently denied parole release
Some background to help you advocate for the SAFE Parole Act:
What’s REALLY important is for New Yorkers to convince the legislators in whose district they live that it’s important to you that they support The SAFE Parole Act, S5374/A7939, because when it comes time for a vote every possible one of them needs to vote for it.
There are a lot of legislators: 61 State Senators (there’s 1 vacancy) and 146 State Assembly Members (there’s 4 vacancies). That’s 207 people, and at least 104 have to vote yes for the bill to pass. (And then the governor has to approve it...)
But that’s the second step.
The first step:
It has to be passed by a majority of the Committee where it now sits. If they pass it, it goes before the full body for a vote. That’s when we need those 31 votes in the Senate, and 74 in the Assembly. If the Committee vetoes it, we have to wait until 2013 to start all over again -finding sponsors who will reintroduce it.
The SAFE Parole Act is now in the Assembly’s Corrections Committee and the Senate’s Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee.There are 14 members on the Corrections Committee and 10 on the Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee. We need a majority in each of those committees to vote for it.
To see the members of the Corrections Committee:www.assembly.state.ny.us. To see members of the Senate Committee:www.nysenate.gov. If one of them represents you, you are VERY important to this campaign. Our bill depends on your ability to persuade that person to support the bill, Senate Bill S5374 same as Assembly Bill A7939.
Explore www.parolereform.org. It has all the tools you’ll need. You can always email us or call 518 253 7533.
6. THE NYS PRISONER JUSTICE NETWORK COLUMN
This month’s New York State Prisoner Justice Network column is an article by NYSPJN that appeared in the February issue of the Syracuse Peace News. It was written to promote a panel and community discussion presented by members of the Prisoner Justice Network, hosted by the Syracuse Peace Council and the Center for Community Alternatives. The program was entitled, “What’s Wrong with New York’s Prison System, and What Can We Do About It?” The extraordinary turnout of over 70 people was an indication of the growing public concern about mass incarceration, and a sign that Syracuse can play a strong role in building a statewide voice for prisoner justice.
MASS INCARCERATION AND THE PRISONER JUSTICE MOVEMENT IN NEW YORK STATE
Dear Prisoner Justice Network, I have been in prison for 27 years. My last parole hearing lasted 4 minutes.
Dear New York State Prisoner Justice: We, New York’s incarcerated prisoners have gone 70 years without a pay wage increase. Our pay is about $4 a week...
Dear Brothers and Sisters, My reason for writing this letter is what the black and latino prisoners are going through which is a series of staff assaults, sexual harassment and racialism. It would be appreciated if this is published. Maybe someone would do something to help us.
Dear Prisoner Justice, I was convicted for a burglary. No weapon was involved, nobody was home, and nobody was hurt. I was sentenced to 12 years to life.
Dear Friend: Injustice can make a person insane, when a person feels that nobody is listening to them and they have no court for the redress of their grievance.
These are a tiny sampling of the dozens of letters received by the New York State Prisoner Justice Network. Who are these incarcerated women and men, why are they in prison, what happens to them while they are there, and what happens when (and if) they get out?
New York’s 56,000 prisoners: 75% are people of color; 96% are male; the great majority have never had a trial (they were convicted on plea bargains); around 2/3 are poor; about half are from New York City. Some are innocent, some have committed serious crimes, and many are somewhere in between. Very few have done anything as terrible as what is being done to them in the name of justice.
Mass incarceration clearly does not do what its backers say it does – it does not keep our communities safe. It does not protect our kids from gun violence or police abuse. It does not protect women from sexual assault. It does not heal mental illness; it does not create paths to dignity and economic sustenance. It does not interrupt violence -- it feeds the cycle of violence. Mass incarceration is a false solution that gets in the way of real solutions.
Instead, the real agenda behind mass incarceration is repression, racism, power, and greed. The prison boom of the 1970s and 1980s followed the mass social justice movements boom of the 60s and 70s.
7. PAROLE NEWS
Note: It’s February and as we warned you in January, there are no parole release statistics published in this issue. They are not released to the parole website until too close to our deadline to complete the work involved. December was an exception. In March we will publish January’s releases.
Douglas Thwaites reports that the Asst Attorney General is appealing Judge Ecker’s ruling in which the Judge ordered the Parole Board to hold a new hearing for Mr. Thwaites with a different panel within 30 days of the decision dated 12/21/11. Thwaites is challenging the appeal. He thanks all who have written in support and asks us to keep faith alive. His next parole hearing is scheduled for March 2012.
On January 26, 2012, Judge Lawrence H. Ecker issued a similar ruling in the matter of Newlley Velasquez v. NYS Board of Parole, citing the same arguments, drawing the same conclusions, and ordering the Board to take the same actions as in Douglas Thwaites’s case.
Graziano does not give up!
It is not the end of the road yet. Lawyers are waiting for a date to argue their federal case to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. They also plan to request leave to appeal the state case to the New York Court of Appeals.