Please scroll down to get to the Building Bridges monthly newsletter.
Posted August 28:
Tune in to Black Entertainment Television (BET) this Friday, August 29, 2008 at 11:30pm to watch the Fortune Society's Vice President of Development and Public Affairs, Glenn E. Martin, featured in an important and timely documentary "Locked Out: Ex-Cons and the Vote." In the midst of one of most historic presidential campaigns, the program takes an in-depth look at the voter disfranchisement of men and women with criminal records across the country. The Fortune Society's David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy (DRCPP) and the Brennan Center for Justice were approached by BET to help shed light on the myriad laws and practices that bar people with criminal records from the polls and lead to de facto disfranchisement of thousands of eligible men and women in our country. The program is being aired as part of BET's companion coverage for the Democratic National Convention.
About "Locked Out: Ex-Cons and the Vote"
In what is undoubtedly another historic election year, as the nation continues its ongoing discussion about the power of the Black vote, BET News correspondent Samson Styles investigates how these laws continue to affect African American votes at the polls. As one of the 5.3 million people in America who has lost the right to vote due to a criminal conviction, Styles sets out on a journey to regain his own voting rights, explore the state-to-state differences of disfranchisement laws, and investigate the national effects of such legislature.
Posted August 25:
If you are at all concerned about the fact that our schools spend more on "security" than on education, and that our school children are treated much the same as people in jail, then you will probably find the video below to be of interest.
Support The Youth, Ensure their Futures, Urge New York City Council Members to sign on and support the School Safety Act. Let's break the School To Prison Pipeline, Let's bring about more Transparency and Accountability within the actions being taken by the School Security Guards and the NYPD, Let's ensure those with Learning Disabilities are not Targeted, Let's Create a more Healthy place for our Youth to Learn in.
For more information on the School to Prison Pipeline: The Student Safety Act, please click on link on the right of this page.
Posted August 6:
Jennifer Arena is gone from the Parole Board, much to the relief of everyone who knew that she lacked the minimum qualifications specified for the job. She has been replaced by Joseph Crangle, who since 2000 has been an Assistant Court Analyst with the New York State Office of Court Administration assigned to the Domestic Violence Part of the Buffalo City Court where he monitors defendants compliance with court orders. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Crangle was a Probation Officer with the Genesee County Probation Department, where he oversaw the Pretrial Release Under Supervision program. Mr. Crangle received his BA from Canisius College and his JD from the City University of New York. There is now one vacant seat on the Board.
Dear Reader,
It’s been decided. Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC will be held on Saturday October 25, 2008 from 9-4 at the Columbia Law School. The theme is “Taking Action to Bring Our Loved Ones Home”. George Alexander, Chairman of Parole, will be the keynote speaker. He will report on “The State of Parole Today”. This is an opportunity for the families of incarcerated people in NYS to meet the head of parole, hear his point of view, and ask questions. (Be sure to listen to his interview on the Fancy Broccoli radio show [#10] on August 17, when he’ll also be taking questions. Any questions left unanswered can be asked in person on Oct 25!) Before we leave FED4-NYC we will have crafted a plan, with help from a team of advisors representing parole, legislative action, and media, for a strategy to obtain fair and just parole decisions. It’s imperative that everyone with a loved one in prison, especially who have indeterminate sentences, represents them at this year’s event. It will be the kickoff event for a major campaign, which cannot be accomplished by only a few people.
We believe that the people who are most invested in the outcome are the logical people to pay for the gathering. So that’s you, and we need your donations. There is no admission charge because incarceration puts a heavy financial burden on families, but IF you can send anything, please do. Is there anyone reading this who can’t spare a dollar or two? Please send it to us. Small donations add up. But larger donations are also necessary. Please be generous. Our victory will require some sacrifice. Checks should be made out to Prison Action Network and sent to our new address, see below. Thank you to those who have already donated.
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF ADDRESS FOR PRISON ACTION NETWORK:
Our new address is Prison Action Network, PO Box 6355, Albany NY 12206
In this Issue:
#1 Judge Brieant has died
#2 Crime rates decline in NYS and NYC
#3. DNA test finally possible for Everton Wagstaffe
#4 F.R.E.E. is looking for organizations to speak to school children
#5. Looking for Ms. Keough
#6 Legislative Updates
#7 Lifers and Longtermers Clearinghouse
#8 New York Theological Seminary graduation
#9 Parole updates
#10 Prison Radio
#11 Recommended reading
#12 Telephone Justice Campaign reports on contract
#13 Transportation to prisons
#14 What’s happening in NYS
#15 FED4-NYC information.
Send an email for a copy of the FED4-NYC FLYER to duplicate and distribute far and wide
1. JUDGE CHARLES BRIEANT, IN WHOSE COURT GRAZIANO VS. PATAKI WAS BEING HEARD, DIED ON JULY 20 2008 AT THE AGE OF 85.
Judge Brieant was a great man and a great judge. We are very saddened by his death. According to news reports he had been ill for some time and had not been in court for the last couple of months, which probably explains all the changes in the schedule of hearings during the last year. The cause of his death was not disclosed.
New readers may not know that Judge Brieant was hearing the Graziano vs Pataki lawsuit charging Pataki, and subsequent administrations who did not change the alleged policies, with imposing an unwritten and unlegislated policy of denying parole to A1 Violent Felons based solely upon the nature of their crime.
The case will be assigned to a new judge. In the meantime, the legal team is proceeding with the final stages of discovery.
2. CRIME STATISTICS SHOW NY STATE’S CRIME RATE DECLINED STEADILY FROM 1998 TO 2007. THE LARGEST DECLINE WAS IN THE RATE OF VIOLENT CRIMES. NYC HAD A MUCH LARGER DECLINE THAN COUNTIES OUTSIDE OF THE CITY.
Over the past 10 years, the crime rate in New York State has declined steadily. The largest reductions in crime rate were reported for motor vehicle theft, burglary, and robbery. Overall, the rate of index crimes per 100,000 resident population has declined 33% since 1998; the rate of violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) fell 35% and property crimes (burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft) were down 33%.
While New York State’s crime rate has decreased greatly over the past 10 years, New York has also reported a significant reduction in the actual number of crimes reported. Since 1998, the number of major crimes reported has fallen every year to the lowest levels recorded since statewide reporting began nearly 40 years ago. In 2007, there were 190,052 fewer crimes reported than in 1998, while the population of the State has increased by over one million since 1998.
Not all areas of the State have benefited equally from the historic reduction in crime. The decline in Index crime in New York City was much larger than that experienced in counties outside of New York City.
Given the greater decline in crime in New York City, the proportion of statewide crime that each region accounted for has shifted dramatically. The counties outside New York City now account for 56% of the reported crime statewide, as compared to 37% in 1990.
While a higher proportion of the State’s violent crimes occurred in New York City, that region reported a 41% drop in violent crimes since 1998, while the Non-New York City counties reported a decline of 3%. While all violent crime categories declined in New York City between 1998 and 2007, the Non-New York City region reported increases in both murders and rapes over the last 10 years.
Recent Statewide Crime Trends: 2006 vs. 2007
The most recent 2007 crime data show that crime volume in New York State declined for the 17th consecutive year. In 2007, New York State reported an overall drop of 4% in the seven major Index crimes as compared to 2006. Violent crimes dropped by 5% and the largest decline was reported in murders Property crimes were down 4% driven by a 13% drop in motor vehicle thefts.
The Non-New York City region reported larger declines in index, violent and property crimes between 2006 and 2007 than the New York City region. This marks the first time since 1993 that the annual crime decline outside of New York City exceeded the decrease reported within New York City.
3. DNA TEST FINALLY POSSIBLE FOR EVERTON WAGSTAFFE WHO HAS REFUSED TO SEE THE PAROLE BOARD BECAUSE HE CLAIMS HE IS INNOCENT AND THEREFORE CAN’T EXPRESS REMORSE FOR A CRIME HE DIDN’T COMMIT.
Everton Wagstaffe says he is completely innocent of the crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to 12 - 25, of which he has served 16.5. He refuses to see the parole board because he won't express remorse for the crime he says he didn't commit. When the case was tried DNA testing was new and so not used on evidence that fortunately still exits. He fought to find a way to have tests done, and finally in June the Legal Aid Society agreed to pay for them. He credits his success to the kindness of strangers, who listened to him and were moved to help.
4. FAMILIES RALLY FOR EMANCIPATION & EMPOWERMENT (F.R.E.E.) OFFERS OPPORTUNITY FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO GET INVOLVED IN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AT OUR WORLD NEIGHBORHOOD CHARTER SCHOOL IN ASTORIA.
The school's current character education program is called the "Pillars of a Positive Community". Each month a pillar is emphasized through various activities, writings and lessons in the classroom. This year we wanted to take it a step further by inviting groups who reflect one of the pillars into our schools to speak with our students and provide opportunities for our students to further understand the pillars through hands-on learning.
The pillars are: Sept: Respect; Oct: Courage; Nov: Kindness; Dec: True Friendship; Jan: Truth; Feb: Responsibility; March: Self Discipline; April: Fairness; May: Citizenship; June: Perseverance
Does your organization reflect one of these pillars and which one? Would you be willing to come to our school and speak to students about your work? Is it possible that our students would be able to get involved with your organization throughout the year to further understand the meaning of each pillar?
Our World Neighborhood Charter School (www.owncs.org) is located in Astoria/Long Island City, 31-20 37th St. Astoria, NY, first exit off Triboro, near the V train.
Please reply to: cbarnes@owncs.org, or Denise B., Families Rally for Emancipation & Empowerment (F.R.E.E); 81 Willoughby St. #701; Brooklyn, NY 11201; (718)852-0012)
5. MS. KEOUGH, WHO FORMERLY TAUGHT BASIC ADULT ED AT EASTERN C.F.
Building Bridges would like to pass on a message from a good friend who was one of Ms. Keough’s former students. Please email Building Bridges if you have any information. Thank you.
6. LEGISLATIVE UPDATES ON BILLS PERTAINING TO PRS, HIV/AIDS INFORMATION, JOB DISCRIMINATION, UNANIMOUS PAROLE BOARD DECISIONS, REENTRY TAX CREDIT, 2 MERIT TIME BILLS, PRIVACY OF INFORMATION, WORKING WHERE ALCOHOL IS SOLD, and FREE RAP SHEET.
[Status of several other bills was mentioned in July Building Bridges] (For copies of any of these bills, please email us)
Note that not many of these were signed into law by the governor. Some passed in both houses but are not yet signed; some passed in only one house and need to be reintroduced at the next legislative session which begins January 2009; others stayed in committee and also need to be reintroduced.
PASSED AND SIGNED INTO LAW BY THE GOVERNOR:
S8714/ A11764 - Nozzolio, Aubry: PRS BILL. Passed and Signed into law. This bill, pertaining to Post Release Supervision, was described in the July Building Bridges.
Building Bridges congratulates all the people who worked in support of this and other important bills! (Even though Post Release Sentencing is a controversial issue, we feel the revised bill is fair and offers timely judicial remedies to those who were never required to be under PRS.) We know it took education, persuasion, compromise and much difficult work to bring these bills from conception into law. We appreciate our representatives who drafted these bills, applaud the Senate members who voted for them, and commend Governor Paterson for his wisdom in signing them. And we don’t take our support in the Assembly for granted either. But it takes everyday people like you and me who are willing to work tirelessly to convince our representatives in government that there is enough support for bills like these to make it safe for them to sponsor them or vote for them. Let us learn from this that we too can change things! Join us at Family Empowerment Day 4 with your ideas, and then roll up your sleeves for a lot of work in the year ahead.
PASSED IN BOTH HOUSES, NOT YET SIGNED BY THE EXECUTIVE:
S8508/ A.8849 - Montgomery, Peoples: DISTRIBUTION OF HIV/AIDS PREVENTION INFORMATION to Persons In Prison & Upon Release. Requires New York correctional facilities to provide people in prison with information about the prevention of HIV, and how to obtain HIV-testing and counseling services upon release.
A10288A / S7638A - Aubry, Volker: THE EMPLOYER EDUCATION ACT requires employers to provide a copy of Article 23-A of the Correction law—which makes it illegal to automatically deny employment to qualified job seekers with criminal records and provides guidance on how criminal history information can be appropriately and legally considered amidst the hiring process—to job applicants if they run background checks during the interview process and to post Article 23-A in the workplace, which also requires that any Credit Reporting Agency (CRA) providing information about a job-seeker’s criminal history must also notify employers of their obligations under New York State Law to give the application fair consideration.
Fortune Society's David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy asks that you please take a moment out of your busy schedule to call the Governor’s office at 518-474-8390 to voice your support for the Employer Education Act (S7638A/A10288A). And if you have another minute, email them to let them know you called:
PASSED IN ONLY ONE HOUSE, NEED TO BE REINTRODUCED IN JANUARY 2009 WHEN THE NEXT LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS:
S06908 - Nozzolio: Requires, among other things, a UNANIMOUS PAROLE DECISION to release an incarcerated individual convicted of any class A. felony. The bill passed the Senate in April, was delivered to the Assembly where it languished.
A05438A/ S2956B - Jeffries, Montgomery: REENTRY TAX CREDIT establishes a re-entry employment incentive tax credit, providing a $10,000 tax credit to employers who hire individuals released from New York correctional facilities in full-time jobs at 140% of the state minimum wage. It passed in the assembly; was delivered to the Senate in June where it remained in committee.
NEVER MOVED OUT OF COMMITTEE. STILL NEED TO BE INTRODUCED FOR A VOTE:
S7889 /A10716 - Montgomery, Aubry: MERIT TIME BILL, affords inmates with the ability to earn a reduction of their sentence after completing significant programming and maintaining a positive disciplinary record. Current law only allows inmates with certain nonviolent convictions to earn merit time. However, the availability of merit time allowance motivates inmates to complete necessary programming and maintain a good disciplinary record. The program has been shown to reduce prison violence and studies show that inmates granted merit time and released early have lower recidivism rates. Therefore, this bill expands the availability of the merit time program to all inmates. 4/28/08 referred to crime victims, crime and correction.
S3578 - Montgomery: MERIT TIME BILL INTRODUCED IN 2007, didn’t move out of committee. Reintroduced in Jan.’08. Provides for vesting of merit time allowance and release for prisoners with good behavior with certain limitations; provides commissioner of correctional services shall promulgate rules and regulations for merit time allowance to determine which inmates are good candidates for release. Didn’t move out of committee again this session.
S7660/ A10866 - Volker, Aubry: AMENDS THE NYS HUMAN RIGHTS LAW so that individuals are not required to divulge information pertaining to Youthful Offender adjudications and sealed violation convictions. In other words, to clarify that individuals are not required to divulge sealed information about arrests or prosecutions terminated in favor of the accused, youthful offender adjudications, and sealed non-criminal violations. It never moved out of committee.
S8022B - Winner: allows qualified individuals with criminal records to be employed in certain establishments that hold liquor licenses. Never moved out of committee.
S4970A/ A6387A - Volker, Aubry: RAP SHEET BILL requiring the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and the Department of Correctional Services to provide a rap sheet, free of charge, to every individual being released from a New York State correctional facility, on the day of release. Each rap sheet should be accompanied by instructions for how to read, understand, and review the rap sheet for errors. Never moved out of committee.
7. LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS CLEARINGHOUSE: CALL TO ACTION! WE NEED THE FAMILIES, LOVED-ONES AND SUPPORTERS OF INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS TO BE INFORMED ABOUT A SPECIAL MEETING THAT HAS BEEN ARRANGED BETWEEN THEM AND THE CHAIRMAN OF THE NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF PAROLE.
This special meeting is designed to accomplish three immediate goals: 1) to bring together at one place and time those who are willing to represent and speak for those who are incarcerated in the New York State prison system, 2) to use this meeting as a first step in organizing a grassroots movement to empower these representatives and give voice to their call for a more just and equitable parole system, and 3) to establish a continuing dialogue between those communities that contribute a disproportionate percentage of the state prison population and who have a personal stake in the public safety of the environments where they live and raise families, and the corrections and parole agencies whose policies and practices have a more direct impact on these communities than other jurisdictions.
The articulation of these three goals and the on-going efforts to reach a consensus between the primary community stakeholders involved (family and community representatives, incarcerated members of the community, and the organized criminal justice advocates) about how to achieve them, constitute the initial stages of a unified strategy to bring about just and equitable parole laws and procedures.
Regarding the three primary community stakeholders, the incarcerated community members have a crucial role to play despite their imprisonment. It is the task of the incarcerated community members to notify their families and supporters about the October 25th Family Empowerment Day 4-NYC meeting with the Chairman of Parole, and to convey to them how vital it is that they attend and register.
The initial mobilization of the families and supporters of the incarcerated begins with their attendance and registration on October 25th and it is the responsibility of the incarcerated to contact them and insist that they participate in Family Empowerment Day 4-NYC.
Most often the dialogue between the incarcerated and their families and supporters regarding parole is based on complaints and commiseration, with little that family and supporters can do but echo the grievances of the incarcerated. Well now the situation calls for a dialogue based upon a discussion of objective steps to be taken by each, and the up-front role the families and supporters are required to play in a face to face meeting.
FED4 announcements providing information about the events scheduled to take place are being made available to lifer and long-termer organizations and key individuals. Word about FED4-NYC should be spread on the buses and visiting rooms and emphasis given to the importance of having an enormous turnout of families and supporters. We have enough time to make this happen!
Larry White, Co-Chair
PAN Clearinghouse Project
8. NEW YORK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY GRADUATES TWELVE AT SING SING PRISON
Congratulations to the New York Theological Seminary's Class of 2008. The 12 graduates from the 26th graduating class at Sing Sing were: Daniel Callahan, Jae Choi, Gregorio (Koko) Cruz, Theodore (Theo) Harris, Gaston (the Judge) Jones, Joseph Mazzaferro, Robert Rose, John Royster, Warren Streeter, Nicholas Tellone, John (Divine G.) Whitfield, Juan Williams. We wish the graduates the best.
9. PAROLE BOARD ADDS MARY ROSS AND MICHAEL HAGLER; YEAR-TO-DATE A1VO PAROLE RELEASES; FACILITY STATISTICS FROM ARTHUR KILL, GROVELAND, MID-ORANGE AND WYOMING PRISONS
Parole Board Appointments:
In our July issue we reported that Joseph B. Crangle and Mary Ross had been nominated and were awaiting Senate confirmation. Apparently Crangle was not confirmed but Ms. Ross was, on June 19, to a 5 year term. There's no mention of Mr. Crangle on the Parole website. It does show that there are now 18 commissioners, and the last one to be confirmed before Mary Ross was Michael A. Hagler who was nominated by Spitzer and confirmed on 10/22/07 for a 6 yr term. He had previously served more than 30 years in law enforcement, as a senior investigator with the Office of the New York State Attorney General, as a member of the Metro Rochester Firearms Suppression Unit (Project Exile) and on the security detail for then Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in upstate New York. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Commissioner Hagler was an investigator sergeant with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the department’s liaison with all local, state and federal law enforcement agencies as well as community groups. We regret there is not comparable information available for other appointees.
Parole Releases for A1VO (unofficial research from parole database)
SUMMARY FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2008
707 interviews were held, of which 92 were initial appearances and 615 were reappearances
86 people (4 of them women) were granted parole
5 people (1 woman) were released on their initial interview,
81 (3 women) were released on a reappearances
20 (1 woman) people were released on their 2nd board, 16 (2 women) on the 3rd, 14 on 4th, 6 on 5th, 12 on 6th, 5 on 7th, 3 on 8th, 4 on 9th, 1 on 11th
JUNE A1VO PAROLE RELEASE SUMMARY:
140 interviews of which 17 were initial appearances and 123 were reappearances
17 people (none women) were granted parole
1 person was released on his initial interview (on a 25-Life)
16 were released on a reappearance.
THE 17 June A1VO PAROLE RELEASES BY PRISON:
Adirondack - M2 with 15-life on his 6th board
Adirondack - M2 with 22-life on his 6th board
Clinton - M2 with 20-life on his 2nd or 3rd (?) board
Elmira - M2 with 27.5-life on his 2nd board
Fishkill - M2 with 20-life on his 5th board
Green Haven - M2 with 25-life on his 4th board
Groveland - M2 with 15-life on his 4th board
Hudson - M2 with 25-life on his 3rd board
Mid Orange - M2 with 22-life on his 4th board
Mid Orange - M2 with 15-life on his 7th board
Mid Orange - M2 with 15-life on his 2nd board
Mid Orange - M2 with 15-life on his 6th board
Otisville - M2 with 15-life on his 6th board
Riverview - M2 with 15-life on his 3rd board
Sing Sing - M2 with 25-life on his 1st board
Wallkill - M2 with 15-life on his 3rd board
Woodbourne - M2 with 15-life on his 3rd board
JUNE-JULY 2008 RELEASES BASED ON PRISONERS' REPORTS:
ARTHUR KILL
July-August - Ferguson, Arena, Thompson
60 saw the board, 5 were granted parole
25 were initial interviews; 3 were granted parole
34 were reappearances; 1 was granted parole
1 parole violator was released
GROVELAND - video conference hearing - word of mouth report
June
21 long-termers saw the board; 1 was released on 4th board
MID-ORANGE
June [20 - 30 minute hearings]
43 saw the board; 12 (4 A1V0) were granted parole
All 31 who were denied were given 24 months
July- [5-10 minute hearings] - Ferguson, Lemons, Hagler
18 had hearings; 1 (A1VO) released after 28 years on a 15 - life.
The 17 who were denied all got 24 months.
WYOMING -
June - Vanessa Clarke, Kevin Ludlow, Jenifer Arena
65 saw the board; 15 were granted parole
35 were initial interviews; 7 were granted parole
19 were reappearances; 0 were granted
11 were merit boards; 8 were granted
July - William Smith, Patrick Gallivan, Gerald Greenan
38 saw the board; 6 were granted parole
23 were initial interviews; 4 were granted parole
10 were reappearances; 1 was granted
5 were merit boards; 1 was granted
10. PRISON RADIO - LISTEN TO AMY BARASCH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR NYS OFFICE FOR THE PREVENTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; PRISON ACTION NETWORK, CPR, AND OTHERS TALK ABOUT PAROLE; GEORGE ALEXANDER TAKE QUESTIONS FROM CALLERS.
Amy Barasch and George Alexander will be on the Fancy Broccoli Show on August 3 and 17 respectively.
“Fancy Broccoli” airs on WVKR, 91.3FM, Poughkeepsie NY on Sundays from 3 - 6 pm, Eastern Time, and streams online - go to www.WVKR.org and click on (or near) the word 'LISTEN'.
Visit archives www.fancybroccoli.org to find lots of other good interviews. Write Fancy Broccoli Show, WVKR, Box 726, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0726
Members of PAN, CPR, and others will be guests on On The Count, August 9, at WBAI-NY 99.5FM from 10:30 'til noon. We’ll be discussing Parole and the upcoming Family Empowerment Day 4 which will Take Action to get parole releases for our loved ones.
11. RECOMMENDED READING: "NOT THE USUAL SUSPECTS: THE POLITICS OF THE PRISON BOOM ", BY MARIE GOTTSCHALK, THE LEAD ARTICLE IN THE JULY 2008 PRISON LEGAL NEWS. IS A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF HOW WE GOT TO BE THE “WORLD’S WARDEN, INCARCERATING A HIGHER PROPORTION OF ITS PEOPLE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY.”
An interesting point Gottschalk makes is that we’ve had an “erosion of the separation between state and society in the making of penal policy, allowing blunt measures of public passions, such as opinion polls, to be accorded a central role. This facilitated the prison boom by deflecting attention from the central question of what are the limits, if any, to the state’s power to punish and kill “
[Prison Legal News, 2400 NW 80th St. #148, Seattle WA 98117, 206 246 1022]
12. TELEPHONE JUSTICE CAMPAIGN REPORTS ON LATEST DEVELOPMENTS WITH THE NEW PHONE CONTRACT.
As most readers know, the NY Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) prison telephone contract is supposed to change this year to comply with the Family Connections bill, which we all worked together last year to get passed. Originally we thought it would switch over on April 1, 2008, because the current contract with Global Tel Link was supposed to officially end on March 31, 2008. The last we knew, DOCS was taking 90 days to switch over the contract and had told us it would change in June.
The contract turnover has now been delayed again. GTL has challenged the award of the new contract in court (apparently this is typical in the world of multi-million dollar government contracts), and there is currently litigation pending that is prolonging the implementation of the new contract. DOCS is expecting resolution over the dispute this month, but because of the litigation they have not been able to start any of the work they need to do in advance of the change in contract. DOCS now expects the new contract to be up and running in September.
lauren melodia | center for constitutional rights | 666 broadway 7th floor | ny ny 10012 | 212.614.6481 | lmelodia@ccrjustice.org
13 TRANSPORTATION TO PRISONS
From the Capital District:
NEST Prison Shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow CFs on Sat, Aug 2 ($35 adults, $25 children), Coxsackie, Greene, and Hudson on Sat, Aug 9 ($20 adults, $15 children) from Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, then to Albany Greyhound bus station at 7:15. Trip to Utica (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) on Sat, Aug 16 leaving Troy at 5 AM. Sullivan trip (Ulster, Eastern, Woodbourne, Sullivan) on Sat, Aug 23 leaving at 6:30 AM ($45 adults, $30 children). Reservations: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
Door to door, free rides are offered from Albany to prisons within 150 miles by a volunteer of FUUSA’s Justice Committee. Please contact us at 518 253-7533 if you need a ride.
CarPooling: Please call 518 253 7533 if you would be willing to take a passenger or if you want a ride.
Statewide: DOCS Free Bus - to find out how to sign up, from NYC area: Deacon Mason on Tues. &
Fri., 212 961 4026 and from Albany: on Wed & Thurs., 518 485 9212; from Buffalo area: Rev. Roberson 716 532 0177, x4805; from Syracuse: Sister Patricia: 315 428 4258
14, SAVE THE DATE!
Saturday October 25 2008
Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC
"Taking Action to Bring Our Loved Ones Home"
TIME: 9 - 4
PLACE: Columbia Law School, Jerome Greene Building, 435 West 116th St. (corner of Amsterdam)
MAKE SURE YOUR FAMILY IS THERE!
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Board of Parole Chairman George Alexander
"The State of Parole Today"
followed by Q & A session
DOCUMENTARY FILM:
"The Visitors"
featuring families making the bus trip to upstate prisons
followed by a panel discussion with filmmaker and members of the cast, formerly incarcerated people,
and an analyst to 'connect the dots'.
GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS - STRATEGY SESSION with a TEAM OF ADVISORS
*FREE ADMISSION AND LUNCH
*Networking
*Action Tables - Every table will have an action you can take on the spot
Your support is crucial. Please send your CHECK OR MONEY ORDER MADE OUT TO
Prison Action Network
PO Box 6355
Albany NY 12206
FOR AN ATTRACTIVE FLYER, PLEASE EMAIL PRISON ACTION NETWORK .
Prison Action Network thanks the Community Church of NY, Unitarian Universalist, for their support.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
JULY 2008 EDITION
Please scroll down to get to the Building Bridges monthly newsletter.
Posted July 8: Family Empowerment Project of Prison Action Network announces:
SAVE THE DATE!
It's official:
Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC
"FED4:Taking Action to Bring Our Loved Ones Home!"
Saturday October 25 2008
9 - 4
Columbia Law School, Jerome Greene Building
435 West 116th St. (corner of Amsterdam), Manhattan
MAKE SURE YOUR FAMILY IS THERE!
Posted July 8:
The Jailhouse Lawyer Manual is now available online. A link appears on this site, in the right hand column.
THE JULY 2008 EDITION OF BUILDING BRIDGES
Dear Reader,
Prison Action Network believes the law is our most powerful tool. We work hard to keep you updated about legislation that is proposed, from its introduction until its passage (or not). We hope you use that information to try to persuade your state senator and assemblyperson to do what is right. I’ve heard that if a legislator gets eight pieces of mail about an issue, he or she believes it’s one that matters to his/her constituents. Most of us are letter writers. That’s how we keep in touch with our loved ones on the other side of the wall. So I challenge you. Next time you learn about something related to incarceration that distresses you, write one more letter a week. A letter to your representative; a letter supporting the changes you want to see. There will be a workshop at Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC on writing these kinds of letters. There are articles below about legislation that affects us.
On another note, it’s time to start sending your donations for FED4. Last year it cost us $4777. All the donations came from people in prison and their loved ones. We don’t get any other funding for this event and we don’t charge for it. You came through last year, and we have faith you will again. Please contact us at prisonactionnetwork@gmail.com to find out how to donate.
Thank you for all the suggestions you sent last month. We will consider them all on July 5 when we make our final decisions about the venue and the agenda. Our strength depends on our commitment to work together and work hard!
Please share your copy of Building Bridges. We all need to be on the same page! [If you want more information about anything you read here, please contact us at prisonactionnetwork@gmail.com and we'll send you whatever we have.]
In this Issue
1. Joe Bruno leaving the Senate
2. Commission on Sentencing Reform
3. From the Inside
4. Higher education in NYS prisons
5. Intake centers opening in two new locations
6. Ion scanner research
7. Legislative review
8. Lifers and Longtermers - housing
9. Marijuana penalties
10. Medical Parole ineligibility
11. Oath mistake results in reversal
12. Parole
13. Paterson repeals past Executive Orders
14. Prison Radio
15. Sentencing Commission report postponed
16. Transportation to prisons
17. Website news
18. What's happening around NYS
1. JOE BRUNO RETIRING
On June 24, Gov. Paterson announced that Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno had decided not to seek reelection. On June 25, Senate Republicans, in a vote of 22 to 20, chose Dean G. Skelos, known as a "tough on crime" legislator, to replace Mr. Bruno as majority leader. Having been chosen by such a slim majority, and with an election coming up in November in which the Democrats are strongly fighting to take control of the state legislature, it remains to be seen how long he will retain his new position. It will depend on the will of NYS voters.
2. COMMISSION ON SENTENCING REFORM IS SCHEDULED TO RELEASE THEIR FINAL REPORT AT THE END OF THIS YEAR, IN A POSTPONEMENT FROM THE ORIGINAL DATE OF MARCH 1 2008.
An unsigned letter to Al Chessman from the Division of Criminal Justice Services, dated May 29, states that in order to provide the Commission on Sentencing Reform adequate time to thoroughly research and prepare a report of comparable depth and quality to its Preliminary Report, the deadline has been extended from the original date of Mar.1 '08. Instead they intend to issue the report in Dec. 2008. It will address sentencing issues discussed in the the Preliminary report, taking into account the testimony provided earlier this year at hearings conducted in Albany, Buffalo and NYC. This report will be made available to the public and for review in each correctional facility's law library.
3. FROM THE INSIDE: SUGGESTIONS FOR THE GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATORS WHO CARE ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN NYS PRISONS
We're sick of complaining. We want you to come where we are and experience what it's like. Here are some ideas of what you could do:
1. If you're the governor or a legislator, who has the authority to make unannounced visits, come see us. Spot check the correctional facilities and mental health facilities in NYS. Don't give notice you're coming. Check the bathrooms on the tiers; check the kitchens. Come at mealtime and share the food.
2. Go through processing to enter the visiting rooms and watch how people are treated. Ask them if anything unusual happened on this occasion, since you were there. In the visiting room, notice how other visitors are allowed to interact; ask family/friends of the incarcerated about their experiences. Ask them and the staff for suggestions on how to improve the visitation experience.
3. Visit more than once, notice how the rules differ from day to day and prison to prison. Go through the metal detectors. Wear the same clothes and shoes each time, with the same jewelry. Ask about the rules regarding packages, look for consistency.
4. Send identical reading material to several inmates at different facilities,and see what happens. Call prisons or mental facilities and ask about the rules regarding what inmates can receive.
[Of course, you'd have to do some of this incognito. You won't be treated like our families if they know your true identity. Guaranteed.]
Then explain to us the justification for all of it. - Anonymous
4. ON MAY 12 NYS DOCS SPONSORED A FORUM ON DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS FOR POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION IN NY PRISONS. A SURPRISINGLY LONG LIST OF CURRENTLY AVAILABLE PROGRAMS WAS REPORTED.
Interested stakeholders began a conversation about forming partnerships among facilities, institutions of higher education, community groups and charitable foundations to sponsor college programs as integral components of DOCS' reentry initiatives. About 80 participants - colleges, facilities, community organizations and formerly incarcerated individuals attended.
It was reported that these college programs are already available at NYS prisons:
ALBION: Marist College, federally funded thru the Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offenders Grant
ARTHUR KILL: Rising Hope, Inc. - 1 yr cert. in ministry and human services. Credits can be transferred to Boricua College, privately funded
AUBURN: Cornell Univ.- college credits and transcripts. privately funded
BAYVIEW: Bard College - Associate's and Bachelor's degrees, privately funded
BEDFORD HILLS: Marymount Manhattan College, a consortium of 13 schools. Associate's and Bachelor's Degrees, privately funded
EASTERN : Bard College - AA & BA degrees, privately funded
FISHKILL: Rising Hope, Inc. - 1 yr cert. in ministry and human services, privately funded
GREEN HAVEN: Rising Hope, Inc. - 1 yr cert. in ministry and human services, privately funded
GREENE: Marist College, federally funded thru the Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offenders Grant
MID ORANGE: Rising Hope, Inc. - 1 yr cert. in ministry and human services, privately funded
SING SING: Hudson Link - Mercy College and Nyack College - AA & BA degrees, privately funded New York Theological Seminary - Masters of Professional Studies Program, privately funded
TACONIC: Nyack College - Liberal Arts credits, funded thru College Mission
WASHINGTON: Marist College, federally funded thru the Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offenders Grant
WYOMING: the Consortium of the Niagara Frontier - Niagara Univ., Canisius College & Daemen College - Associate's and Bachelor's Degrees, funded thru Legislative Member Items
WOODBOURNE: Bard College - AA & BA degrees, Rising Hope - 1 yr cert. in ministry and human services, privately. funded
5. TWO NEW DOCS INTAKE CENTERS OPENING - WILL SAVE MONEY FOR TAXPAYERS IN WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW YORK BECAUSE IT WILL LOWER THE COST FOR COUNTIES TO TRANSPORT PEOPLE TO STATE PRISON
DOCS plans to open one intake center at Albion Correctional Facility, a women’s prison in Orleans County, and another at Auburn Correctional Facility, a men’s prison in Cayuga County, on July 1.
When county jail inmates are sentenced to serve a prison term in a New York State correctional facility, the county Sheriff is required to transport them to one of a few designated prisons for processing by state correctional officials. Last year, county Sheriffs and the New York City Department of Corrections transported to such designated State prisons 27,702 offenders who either were convicted of a new crime or violated the conditions of their parole.
Sheriffs across the State currently transport female county jail inmates to Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County, the only DOCS “reception/classification” center for women. Albion is much closer to counties in Western and Central New York. The New York State Sheriffs Association anticipates considerable savings to those counties through reduced transportation and manpower costs, while DOCS anticipates only nominal additional costs.
DOCS Commissioner Brian Fischer decided to open Albion and Auburn as intake centers after a recent Sheriffs’ Association-sponsored training conference at which a number of Sheriffs told him they must make lengthy trips to deliver inmates into State custody.
DOCS is providing some new beds at Albion and Auburn for intake purposes, but the Department already runs regular buses between correctional facilities to transfer inmates and will simply place intake inmates on buses already headed to reception/classification center correctional facilities the next day.
For example, Sheriff’s Offices will drop female inmates at Albion the day before a weekly DOCS bus runs between Albion and Bedford Hills. DOCS also runs regular buses between Auburn and Elmira, which is one of three main male reception/classification centers along with Downstate Correctional Facility in Dutchess County and Ulster Correctional Facility in Ulster County.
Reception/classification centers provide an array of medical and mental health screening and assessment services to help DOCS officials determine the most appropriate State correctional facility to place each inmate. The reception/classification centers also provide each new inmate with an orientation program on prison rules and regulations. 6-22-08
6. RESEARCH PROJECT ON ION SCANNING OF PRISON VISITORS WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES.
Alison Coleman reports that Prison Families of NY will be doing research and related work on the ION scanner, which has been an instrument of fear and worry for many NYS DOCS visitors. Please contact intern Melissa Borgos (mborgos1113@earthlink.net) if you know of anyone who would like to talk about their experience or if your agency would like to pass on any research or collaborate with us or if you have had contact with NYS DOCS on this matter and would like to share what you have learned.
7. THE LEGISLATION BELOW WAS INTRODUCED THIS SESSION BUT MOST PASSED IN ONLY ONE HOUSE. THOSE BILLS HAVE TO BE RESUBMITTED TO THE ORIGINATING HOUSE IN JAN 2009 WHEN A NEW 2-YEAR TERM BEGINS
DEATH PENALTY LEGISLATION S - 4632 same as A8157
6/18 Senate passes, Delivered to Assembly, Referred to Codes
The State Senate passed legislation, sponsored by Senator Dale Volker (R-C-I, Depew) and Anthony S. Seminerio (D-Queens) that would amend the state’s death penalty law to bring back the death penalty and change a provision that was ruled invalid by the state Court of Appeals. In 2004, the Court of Appeals overturned death penalty sentences, saying that judges were improperly required to instruct jurors in capital cases that if they deadlocked and failed to reach a verdict during the penalty phase of a trial, the judge would impose a sentence that would leave the defendant eligible for parole after 20 to 25 years.
Bill S4632/A8157 would restore the death penalty as an option and in addition to life in prison without parole, juries would be given a third option of imposing a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole, when sentencing convicted murderers. If a jury is deadlocked, a sentence of life without parole would be imposed, and juries would be told of that provision before sentencing.
All pending death penalty cases, as well as crimes committed prior to the effective date of any change in the law, would be affected by the changes included in this bill.
REQUIRES 24-MONTH NOTICE OF PLANNED PRISON CLOSURE - S7467 same as A10361
6/18 Senate passes, Delivered to Assembly, Referred to Correction
This legislation, sponsored by Senator Betty Little (R-C-I, Queensbury), and Assemblymember Tim Gordon (I-Bethlehem) increases the amount of notice the Commissioner of DOCS must provide - to local governments, labor organizations and certain managerial employees - from 12 months currently required to at least 24 months prior to a correctional facility closing, and to report on an adaptive reuse plan for the facility at the time of such notice (currently 6 months are required).
ALLOWS COLLECTION OF DNA UPON ARREST - S6726A same as A10361
6/10 Senate passes, Delivered to Assembly, Referred to Codes
Sponsored by Senator John A. DeFrancisco (R-I-C-WF, Syracuse) it would allow for the collection of DNA samples upon an individual's arrest, whereas formerly it could only be obtained at conviction. This bill would ensure that law enforcement officials can collect DNA samples from “designated offenders” upon their arrest and expand the definition of "designated offender" to include anyone who is arrested of an offense where fingerprints are required to be taken, adjudicated as a youthful offender or compelled to register as a sex offender. This legislation sets procedures for collecting DNA samples and penalties for those who fail to provide a DNA sample. It would also require the sample to be forwarded to a forensic DNA laboratory for testing and analysis and require such a sample to be included in the State DNA identification index.
This comprehensive bill would also establish the Commission for Exoneration Review, which would review recent cases where convicted defendants were subsequently exonerated by DNA evidence.
ALLOWS CRIME VICTIMS TO KNOW WHEN PERPETRATORS ARE UP FOR PAROLE - S268-A Same as A1821
5/28 Senate passes, Delivered to Assembly, Referred to Governmental Operations
This bill would allow crime victims, upon request, to be notified of a parole hearing involving the perpetrator of the crime. The bill, sponsored by Senator Jim Alesi (R-C, Perinton), would provide victims, and in some cases family members, notice of the hearing to be sent by first class mail at least 60 days prior to the hearing.
TO KEEP REPEAT VIOLENT FELONS BEHIND BARS - S435A Same as A 4479-A
4/3 Senate passes bill, Delivered to Assembly, Referred to Codes
Sponsored by Senator (and the new Senate Majority Leader) Dean Skelos (R, Rockville Centre), it would require judges to sentence persistent violent felons to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This legislation will require that a defendant who has been separately convicted and sentenced to three or more violent felonies, and who is determined by a court to be a persistent violent felony offender, be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
POST RELEASE SUPERVISION - A11764 - Same as S 8714 [Too long to print; here’s the Existing law summary and the Sponsor’s Memo; send SASE for the text of bill]
06/24 Senate passes, Delivered to Assembly, Assembly passes, Returned to Senate
06/25 Delivered to Governor, who has 10 days (not counting Sundays) to sign. If he fails to sign by then it automatically passes into law.
Existing Law: Criminal Procedure Law §380.20 provides that the court must pronounce sentence in every case where a conviction is entered. Penal Law §70/45(1) provides that each determinate sentence "also includes, as a part thereof, an additional period of post-release supervision."
Sponsor’s Statement in Support [Sponsored by Nozzolio and Aubrey]:
In 1998, the New York State Legislature enacted Jenna's Law, which was named for Jenna Grieshaber, a twenty-two-year-old nursing student who was murdered by a violent felon released from prison after serving only two-thirds of his sentence. Jenna's Law amended the Penal Law to end "indeterminate sentences" - i.e., sentences running between certain minimum and maximum periods set by the court at the time of sentencing - for criminal defendants convicted of violent felonies. Instead, Jenna's Law required "determinate" sentences, and also created a schedule of mandatory terms of PRS to be included as a part of the determinate sentences of violent felony offenders. In many cases, judges informed defendants, at the time of sentencing, that they would be subject to a period of PRS following completion of their determinate sentence; in other cases, they did not, and DOCS simply included the PRS pursuant to the terms of the Penal Law. Over time, offenders challenged DOCS's calculation of PRS as part of their determinate sentence, and courts throughout the State were split on this legal issue -with some finding that PRS automatically was a part of the sentence by operation of law, and others finding PRS had to be expressly imposed by the sentencing court. On April 29, 2008, the New York State Court of Appeals issued two decisions (Matter of Gamer v. DOCS and People v. Sparber) that finally resolved some of the legal issues associated with the imposition of PRS. Most notably, the Court ruled that only the sentencing judge has the authority to impose the PRS component of an offender's determinate sentence, and that the period of PRS must be stated by the judge at the time of sentencing in the offender's presence. The Court in Garner also ruled, however, that its holding was "without prejudice to any ability that either the People or DOCS may have to seek the appropriate resentencing of a defendant in the proper forum." Since then, DOCS and Parole have undertaken major initiatives to bring the relevant cases to the attention of the sentencing courts, so that those courts can make decisions about re-sentencings. The initiatives have already had some success in arriving at resolution of individual cases, but it has become clear that it would be hard to reach resolutions of all the relevant cases through such initiatives alone. This bill provides a statutory framework that facilitates and mandates a comprehensive review. This will allow DOCS and Parole to obtain definitive judicial guidance as to which defendants are to remain subject to PRS and which are not. Such guidance is crucially important. There would be unacceptable consequences for public safety if these agencies ended custody or supervision when there is legal basis for it, and unacceptable consequences for individual liberty it they continued custody or supervision when there is not such legal basis. The problem is immensely magnified by factors, such as the absence of sentencing minutes, that may make it impossible in many cases for the agencies to know whether PRS was properly imposed at the time of sentence. Such matters are appropriate for judicial resolution.
The bill also addresses an issue arising from the Court of Appeals decision in People v. Catu. When a defendant who pleads guilty has not been informed that the sentence would include a term of PRS, the defendant may later seek for the plea to be vacated. This bill allows the District Attorney to consent to re-sentencing to the previously imposed determinate term without any term of PRS. By allowing defendants in this situation the benefit of their plea bargains, there should be no need for the pleas to be vacated.
While the bill provides effective relief as to unlawful sentences imposed in the past, it also makes related improvements going forward. Current statutory language seems to reflect an intent that PRS arise automatically as a part of every determinate sentence. The bill replaces that approach with a requirement that sentencing courts explicitly state terms of PRS when imposing determinate sentences. This is a more open and transparent way of ensuring that defendants are sufficiently informed about their sentences. Other benefits include an enhanced ability for DOCS to facilitate correction of other kinds of unlawful sentences.
GIVES OMH AUTHORITY TO REVIEW VIOLENT INCIDENTS INVOLVING PERSONS WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS
6/20 Agreement reached between Governor David A. Paterson and state legislative leaders.
Provides the Commissioner of the Office of Mental Health (OMH) with the authority to convene multi-agency mental health incident review panels to conduct timely, detailed and retrospective investigations of incidents involving individuals with serious mental illnesses who are harmed, who cause harm to others, who suffer serious and preventable complications, or become involved in violent incidents. These incident review panels, which will include representatives from state agencies, local governments, mental health providers, emergency services and law enforcement involved in a particular incident, will lead to both improved mental health care through reduced care errors and enhanced protection for the public. This bill is sponsored by Senator Thomas Morahan and Assemblyman Peter Rivera.
STATUS OF BILLS GETS POSTED ON THE LEGISLATIVE WEBSITE
You can follow the status of all bills at: http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menuf.cg. We will post any that get signed into law, so keep checking.
8. LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS CLEARINGHOUSE: TRANSITIONAL HOUSING IN THE NYC AREA AND UPSTATE NY. FATHER PETER YOUNG HAS PROGRAMS IN NYC, ONONDAGA COUNTY, SCHENECTADY AND ALBANY. DONNA DECICCO'S PROGRAM, RESTORED HOPE SERVICES, IS ON LONG ISLAND AND THE METROPOLITAN NYC AREA. FORMER OTISVILLE LIFER, JOHN (MOJO) FLYNN IS NOW WORKING WITH RESTORED HOPE SERVICES.
Peter Young's Housing, Industry, and Treatment (PYHIT)
These programs provide short-term residential, structured settings and services to parolees who require intensive substance abuse treatment. They also serve those who are at risk of supervision failure due to the onset of homelessness. The average stay is less than 90 days.
PYHIT's parole program provides a total of 75 beds: 10 in New York City, 20 in Onondaga County, 30 in Schenectady, and 15 in Albany County. Residents receive counseling, life skills training, pre-employment services, education referrals, medical treatment, and random drug testing to ensure abstinence. PYHIT has achieved a less-than-10% recidivism rate in its other reintegration programs, and is striving to achieve that success in its new Parole Stabilization Residences.
Albany County clients are typically housed at our 45 South Ferry Street Community Residence in Albany under a contract with Albany County DSS. Clients from other counties are housed at the Schuyler Inn Transitional Living Center in Menands.
In Syracuse, transitional living is provided to clients at LeMoyne Manor who are attending outpatient treatment elsewhere and vocational training on-site through the Altamont Program. Funding is provided by Onondaga County.
Peter Young's program is happy to accept referrals, provided that you have permission from your local parole office. If you are interested in our NYC programs, you must obtain the approval of an institutional parole officer, who would submit the request to the appropriate local parole office. Applicants without prior approval cannot be accepted.
The Transitional Living Center provides a continuum of treatment services for individuals who have shown a desire to recover from a life of addiction. Applicants must agree to abide by their prescribed treatment plan. Only inmates who have successfully completed the ASAT or CASAT Programs within the Department of Corrections (DOCS) are eligible to apply for admission to the Transitional Living Center.
Inmates with a criminal history that includes arson, sex offenses, manslaughter 1st degree or other acts of violence are not eligible.
In Albany, the parole site at 45 South Ferry Street also has several beds for transitional housing, funded by Albany County. At the Schuyler Inn, emergency housing is available through Traveler's Aid from both Albany and Rensselaer counties.
For more information about the parole residence nearest you:
45 Ferry Street, Albany, NY 12202, Fred Scott, (518) 432-0759
418 Fabius Street, Liverpool, NY 13088, Gwen Stokes, (315) 478-9454
629 Old Liverpool Rd, Liverpool, NY 13088, David Luibrand, (315) 451-3859
428 Duane Avenue, Schenectady, NY 12304, Clarence Carter, (518) 377-2448
Restored Hope Services Inc.
Intake: Donna DeCicco and John (Mojo) Flynn
162 Hudson Avenue, Roosevelt N.Y. 11575
(516) 417-3901
Restored Hope Services Inc. offers housing for men and women with substance abuse histories. We provide safe, structured living environments which give our clients treatment with dignity.
The facilities are fully staffed twenty four hours a day, seven days a week and have security and camera systems through out the buildings. Some locations provide three balanced meals a day, laundry facilities and a common area for dining purposes and leisure time. The buildings in Brooklyn and the Bronx and private houses on Long Island are all located in areas which provide easy access to public transportation.
Each client is evaluated and then placed in a licensed by OASAS out-patient treatment facility which will address their individual needs. All of our staff members are qualified health professionals. Supplemental services are available to guide them through school or to employment.
We accept clients whether they are on social services, disability or self pay and we will help them to obtain whatever source of payment they may qualify for. Our services are available to any person regardless of their current situation: HIV, HEP-C, PAROLE, PROBATION and METHADONE MAINTENANCE. We are not able to accept individuals with a sexual abuse crime or an arson history.
For more information, or to refer yourself or someone else please contact Donna DeCicco or John (Mojo) Flynn at (516) 417-3901 or 162 Hudson Ave., Roosevelt N.Y. 11575. Please indicate that you read about our services through Prison Action Network. The following information will be required when you are making a referral: medical history, including any psychiatric medications you are on; and/or criminal history and projected release date. You will need to provide a current PPD or Chest X-ray.
As people working in this field of substance abuse and criminal justice we have come to realize that housing our clients in affordable yet safe structured environments has been an on-going problem for an extremely long time. Our goal is to give you, our client, a place to obtain just that. You can feel comfortable knowing that we will provide a chance to begin a new life on the road to recovery. We look forward to hearing from you in the future. For further assistance please feel free to contact us at any time. - Donna and John
9. SMALL AMOUNTS OF MARIJUANA IN PRISON DO NOT REPRESENT DANGEROUS CONTRABAND AND THEREFORE CANNOT BE PROSECUTED AS FELONIES.
The NYS Court of Appeals ruled that small amounts of marijuana in prison do not represent dangerous contraband. Two incarcerated people, in separate incidents at different facilities, had been convicted of felonies in cases involving less than 10 grams of the drug. One had been given 2-4 years and the other 3-5 years. The state's top court ordered the two convictions be reduced to misdemeanors with shorter sentences. The ruling claimed that the test for "dangerous contraband" is whether its use is apt to cause death, injury, escape or other major threats to the safety or security of the facility.
10. CERTAIN PEOPLE ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR MEDICAL PAROLE, NO MATTER HOW DEBILITATED THEY ARE. WHY ARE WE NOT OUTRAGED BY THIS INHUMANE RESTRICTION?
Medical Parole Supervision, Executive Law, Section 259-R states that an inmate serving an indeterminate or determinate sentence may be eligible for medical parole if:
- the inmate has a terminal health condition; and
- the inmate is so debilitated or incapacitated as to be severely restricted in his or her ability to self-ambulate and to care for him or herself; and
- the inmate is not serving a sentence for murder in the first or second degree, manslaughter in the first degree, any sex offense as defined in article 130 of the Penal Law, or any attempt to commit any of these offenses. [emphasis added]
Vengeance is the only possible explanation for this restriction. It isn’t economically or morally defensible. It’s been estimated that NYS could save 5 million dollars if medically qualified people were let out on medical parole supervision. We’re talking about people on the threshold of death!
11. IMPROPER OATH REVERSES MURDER CONVICTION
Posted on Sunday, 22 of June , 2008 at 11:01 am, By June Maxam. To read the entire article, which tells how judges are disqualified if they were not sworn in properly, please visit: http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2008/06/22/improper_oath/
—So you think taking an oath is just a technicality?
The conviction of a person serving a life prison term without the possibility of parole was reversed last week by a state appellate court because potential jurors weren’t given the proper oath in Rensselaer County Court.
In sending the case back for a new trial, the state Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department reinforced that “Oaths are not formalities, are sacred, and no citizen need expose himself [or herself] to loss of liberty and property by people who are not sworn”.
12. PAROLE - IMPORTANT UPDATE ON THE GRAZIANO CASE; NOMINATION OF 2 NEW MEMBERS TO PAROLE BOARD; PAROLE STATISTICS
GRAZIANO VS PATAKI
June 13: The Court adjourned the conference. NO definite date has been set for the next conference. In the meantime, the lawyers are finishing up discovery and the case will be decided either on motion or trial.
TWO PEOPLE NOMINATED TO PAROLE BOARD
Joseph B. Crangle. Since 2000, Mr. Crangle has been an Assistant Court Analyst with the New York State Office of Court Administration. In this role, Mr. Crangle is assigned to the Domestic Violence Part of the Buffalo City Court where he monitors defendants compliance with court orders. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Crangle was a Probation Officer with the Genesee County Probation Department, where he oversaw the Pretrial Release Under Supervision program. Mr. Crangle received his BA from Canisius College and his JD from the City University of New York.
Mary Ross. She has been a Staff Attorney with the Legal Aid Society in Queens, New York since 1998. From 1990 to 1995, Ms. Ross was the Executive Director of Providence House, directing this nonprofit corporation that provides transitional and permanent housing for female ex-offenders, homeless women and their children. Ms. Ross was previously the Program Director of Providence House from 1984 to 1990. Ms. Ross was also the Campus Minister at Queens College from 1982 to 1984 and was the Director of Administrative Services at the Diocese of Brooklyn from 1978 to 1982. She received her BA in Education from St. Josephs College, her MS in Education from Brooklyn College and her JD from the City University of New York.
Salaries for Members of the Parole Board are set at $101,600. These appointments by Governor Paterson require Senate confirmation. Building Bridges has been unable to discover whether the confirmations took place, although several reliable sources have said so. The Senate is expected to return in July to take some last minute actions.
PAROLE STATISTICS: (unofficial; calculated by a reader using the Parole website - see article 17):
Year to date (Jan.- May 2008) Summary of Parole Releases of A1 Violent Offenders:
567 interviews of which 492 were reappearances and 75 were intitial appearances
of the reappearances, 65 were released, 427 were denied
of the 75 initial interviews, 4 were released, 71 were denied
Year-to-date rates of releases for A1VOs are:
13% on the Reappearances
5% on the Initials
12% on Total Interviews
May 2008 Parole Releases of A1 Violent Offenders:
165 interviews of which 145 were reappearances and 20 were initial appearances
of the 145 reappearances, 13 were released, 108 were denied, 24 were postponed
of the 20 initial interviews, 1 was released, 15 were denied, 4 were postponed
The 13 reappearances, by prison, who were released are:
Cape Vincent - Murder 2 with 15-life on his 2nd board
Fishkill - M2 with 20-life on his 5th board
Five Points for M2 with 15-life on his 3rd board
Gouverneur - M2 with 15-life on his 5th board
Great Meadow - M2 with 25-life on his 6th board
Groveland - M2 with 26-life on his 2nd board
Mt McGregor for M2 with 20-life on his 4th board
Otisville - M2 with 20-life on his 3rd board
Otisville - M2 with 15-life on his 7th board
Sullivan.- M2 with 15-life on his 9th board
Washington - M2 with 20-life on his 3rd board
Washington - M2 with 15-life on his 2nd board
Woodbourne - M2 with 15-life on his 7th board
May-June 2008 Parole Releases based on Prisoners’ Reports:
ARTHUR KILL - Lemons, Gallivan, Loomis
May-June - 27% release rate for all categories of crime
98 saw the board; 27 were granted parole (1 was deported)
39 were initial interviews; 10 received dates, 22 were denied parole, 7 were postponed
47 were reappearances; 12 received dates, 26 were denied parole, 9 were postponed
11 merit time interviews; 4 received parole, 7 were postponed
FRANKLIN -
May
107 saw the board; 46 were granted parole (1 was deported)
40 were initial interviews; 12 received date, 28 were denied parole
25 were reappearances; 1 received date, 18 were denied parole, 6 were postponed
8 merit time interviews; 6 received parole, 2 were denied
14 CR Consideration; 8 granted, 6 denied
18 parole violators; 18 granted
1 presumptive; 1 denied
1 deported
MID-ORANGE
May
37 saw the board; 3 granted (no A-1), 32 denied, 2 postponed
WOODBOURNE - Casey, Lemons, Artloff
May 33 appearances (13 were A1VO); 5 granted (1 A1VO- on 7th board),
June: 33 appearances: 2 granted (1 non-violent and 1 A1VO - on 3rd board); 3 A1VO were adjourned; 7 A1VO denied (3 on 1st board, 3 on 2nd, and 1 on 5th)
WYOMING
May - Grant, Gallivan, Hagler
56 hearings; 12 granted parole
22 initials; 1 granted, 21 denied
17 Reappearances; 3 granted, 14 denied
17 merit time reviews; 8 granted, 9 denied
13. GOV PATERSON, IN EXECUTIVE ORDER #9, REPEALS, CANCELS AND REVOKES ALL EXECUTIVE ORDERS ISSUED BY PREVIOUS GOVERNORS.:
“...all Executive Orders issued by previous Governors are hereby repealed, canceled and revoked in their entirety, with the exception of the Executive Orders set forth below and any amendments thereto, which shall remain in full force and effect until otherwise revoked, superseded or modified; and IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a review of prior Executive Orders shall continue to determine whether additional orders should be revoked, superseded or modified.” A list of those retained follows. It includes Spitzer’s Executive Order No. 9, (Ordering the Commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services to Bar Certain Offenders from Participating in Temporary Release Programs) and Executive Order No. 10, (Establishing the New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform)..
14. PRISON RADIO SCHEDULES. BE THE CHANGE, FANCY BROCCOLI: JULY GUESTS
"Be The Change" Airs every Wednesday from 5-6pm, with different themes and call-in guests.
“Fancy Broccoli” airs on WVKR, 91.3FM, Poughkeepsie NY on Sundays from 3 - 6 pm, Eastern Time, and streams online - go to www.WVKR.org and click on (or near) the word 'LISTEN'.
Coming up on July 13, Pauly, a man who spent 25 years in prison. Save the date of August 10 for George Alexander, who will be there to answer questions.
Visit archives www.fancybroccoli.org to find lots of other good interviews. Write Fancy Broccoli Show, WVKR, Box 726, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0726
15. COMMISSION ON SENTENCING REFORM IS SCHEDULED TO RELEASE THEIR FINAL REPORT AT THE END OF THIS YEAR, ACCORDING TO A DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE LETTER TO AL CHESSMAN
An unsigned letter to Al Chessman from the Division of Criminal Justice Services, dated May 29, states that in order to provide the Commission on Sentencing Reform adequate time to thoroughly research and prepare a report of comparable depth and quality to its Preliminary Report, the deadline has been extended from the original date of Mar.1 '08. Instead they intend to issue their report in Dec. 2008. It will address sentencing issues discussed in the the Preliminary Report, taking into account the testimony provided earlier this year at hearings conducted in Albany, Buffalo and NYC. The report will be made available to the public and for review in each correctional facility's law library.
16. TRANSPORTATION TO PRISONS:
From the Capital District:
NEST Prison Shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow CFs on Sat, Jul 5 ($35 adults, $25 children), Coxsackie, Greene, and Hudson on Sat, Jul 12 ($20 adults, $15 children) from Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, then to Albany Greyhound bus station at 7:15. Trip to Utica (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) on Sat, Jul 19 leaving Troy at 5 AM. Sullivan trip (Ulster, Eastern, Woodbourne, Sullivan) on Sat, Jul 26 leaving at 6:30 AM ($45 adults, $30 children). Reservations: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
Please call PAN at 518 253 7533 to discuss other options.
17. ADDITION TO THE DOCS WEBSITE OF VALUABLE INFO & LINKS ON RULES AND REGS.
www.docs.state.ny.us
DOCS has added information to its website: On the left, under News, there is now a link to "rules and regulations". Some rules listed for 2008 are: Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (Section 100.80 of 7 NYCRR); Unauthorized Organizational Activities, Gang Activities & Media Review; Maximum Value of Stamps in an Inmate's Personal Possession (Sections 270.2(B)(14)(vi) and 720.8(a)(2) of 7 NYCRR); Central Monitoring Case Designation Status (Part 1000 of 7 NYCRR); Urinalysis Testing (Part 1020 of 7 NYCRR); Access to Records (Section 6.2(c) of 7 NYCRR).. More and also a list of 2007’s are there as well..
The site adds that the complete listing of New York Codes, Rules, and Regulations (NYCRR) is available online through the NYS Department of State website. People in prison don't have access to the internet, but it is likely that this information is available at the facilities, and if not, advocates, friends and families who have access can print out specific information and send it to them.
The reader who contributed this added, "At the bottom of two changes that I looked at was a message that a more complete CPLR was available to a Westlaw link. I went there and though it's not complete it has rules and regs I have never been able to find before and I went to Westlaw many times while working on an article 78 for my partner. For the first time ever I was able to read the rules and regs for disciplinary hearings (superintendent hearings) and also for CMC status. Those were not available to the public before. And really interestingly it had at the bottom of each subsection NYS case law related to that subsection. Amazing! I copied so much stuff for my lawyer for our new brief.."
18. WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND NEW YORK STATE:
BUFFALO: Prisoners Are People Too! is a justice advocacy program that meets monthly on selected Mondays in Buffalo at the Pratt-Willert Community Center, 422 Pratt Street from 6:30-8:30pm. Each meeting features a documentary film, related to some criminal justice or prison issue, and one or more guest speakers who address that issue.
At its next meeting on Monday, July 28, 2008, Prisoners Are People Too! will screen the documentary, ”Today’s Prisoners, Tomorrow’s Neighbors” (2005), produced by the Madison-area Urban Ministry of Madison, Wisconsin. M.U.M. is a non-profit, interfaith, social justice organization which describes itself as “neighbors working together, standing with the poor and hurting.” Its social justice initiatives are many, including prisoner reentry work and mentoring children who have one or more incarcerated parent.
Our guest speakers will include representatives from three organizations that assist “the poor and hurting,” including formerly incarcerated people: WNY Independent Living Project, Inc., New Life Residential Center, Inc. and Catholic Charities of Buffalo.
The next meeting of Prisoners Are People Too! is scheduled for August 25. Film and guest speaker(s) TBA.
PRP2! programs are sponsored by
The Circle of Supporters for Reformed Offenders and Friends of Baba Eng.
For further information, contact Karima Amin at karima@prisonersarepeopletoo.org
or 716-834-8438.
Prison Action Network thanks the Community Church of NY, Unitarian Universalist, for helping with our expenses
Posted July 8: Family Empowerment Project of Prison Action Network announces:
SAVE THE DATE!
It's official:
Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC
"FED4:Taking Action to Bring Our Loved Ones Home!"
Saturday October 25 2008
9 - 4
Columbia Law School, Jerome Greene Building
435 West 116th St. (corner of Amsterdam), Manhattan
MAKE SURE YOUR FAMILY IS THERE!
Posted July 8:
The Jailhouse Lawyer Manual is now available online. A link appears on this site, in the right hand column.
THE JULY 2008 EDITION OF BUILDING BRIDGES
Dear Reader,
Prison Action Network believes the law is our most powerful tool. We work hard to keep you updated about legislation that is proposed, from its introduction until its passage (or not). We hope you use that information to try to persuade your state senator and assemblyperson to do what is right. I’ve heard that if a legislator gets eight pieces of mail about an issue, he or she believes it’s one that matters to his/her constituents. Most of us are letter writers. That’s how we keep in touch with our loved ones on the other side of the wall. So I challenge you. Next time you learn about something related to incarceration that distresses you, write one more letter a week. A letter to your representative; a letter supporting the changes you want to see. There will be a workshop at Family Empowerment Day 4 - NYC on writing these kinds of letters. There are articles below about legislation that affects us.
On another note, it’s time to start sending your donations for FED4. Last year it cost us $4777. All the donations came from people in prison and their loved ones. We don’t get any other funding for this event and we don’t charge for it. You came through last year, and we have faith you will again. Please contact us at prisonactionnetwork@gmail.com to find out how to donate.
Thank you for all the suggestions you sent last month. We will consider them all on July 5 when we make our final decisions about the venue and the agenda. Our strength depends on our commitment to work together and work hard!
Please share your copy of Building Bridges. We all need to be on the same page! [If you want more information about anything you read here, please contact us at prisonactionnetwork@gmail.com and we'll send you whatever we have.]
In this Issue
1. Joe Bruno leaving the Senate
2. Commission on Sentencing Reform
3. From the Inside
4. Higher education in NYS prisons
5. Intake centers opening in two new locations
6. Ion scanner research
7. Legislative review
8. Lifers and Longtermers - housing
9. Marijuana penalties
10. Medical Parole ineligibility
11. Oath mistake results in reversal
12. Parole
13. Paterson repeals past Executive Orders
14. Prison Radio
15. Sentencing Commission report postponed
16. Transportation to prisons
17. Website news
18. What's happening around NYS
1. JOE BRUNO RETIRING
On June 24, Gov. Paterson announced that Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno had decided not to seek reelection. On June 25, Senate Republicans, in a vote of 22 to 20, chose Dean G. Skelos, known as a "tough on crime" legislator, to replace Mr. Bruno as majority leader. Having been chosen by such a slim majority, and with an election coming up in November in which the Democrats are strongly fighting to take control of the state legislature, it remains to be seen how long he will retain his new position. It will depend on the will of NYS voters.
2. COMMISSION ON SENTENCING REFORM IS SCHEDULED TO RELEASE THEIR FINAL REPORT AT THE END OF THIS YEAR, IN A POSTPONEMENT FROM THE ORIGINAL DATE OF MARCH 1 2008.
An unsigned letter to Al Chessman from the Division of Criminal Justice Services, dated May 29, states that in order to provide the Commission on Sentencing Reform adequate time to thoroughly research and prepare a report of comparable depth and quality to its Preliminary Report, the deadline has been extended from the original date of Mar.1 '08. Instead they intend to issue the report in Dec. 2008. It will address sentencing issues discussed in the the Preliminary report, taking into account the testimony provided earlier this year at hearings conducted in Albany, Buffalo and NYC. This report will be made available to the public and for review in each correctional facility's law library.
3. FROM THE INSIDE: SUGGESTIONS FOR THE GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATORS WHO CARE ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN NYS PRISONS
We're sick of complaining. We want you to come where we are and experience what it's like. Here are some ideas of what you could do:
1. If you're the governor or a legislator, who has the authority to make unannounced visits, come see us. Spot check the correctional facilities and mental health facilities in NYS. Don't give notice you're coming. Check the bathrooms on the tiers; check the kitchens. Come at mealtime and share the food.
2. Go through processing to enter the visiting rooms and watch how people are treated. Ask them if anything unusual happened on this occasion, since you were there. In the visiting room, notice how other visitors are allowed to interact; ask family/friends of the incarcerated about their experiences. Ask them and the staff for suggestions on how to improve the visitation experience.
3. Visit more than once, notice how the rules differ from day to day and prison to prison. Go through the metal detectors. Wear the same clothes and shoes each time, with the same jewelry. Ask about the rules regarding packages, look for consistency.
4. Send identical reading material to several inmates at different facilities,and see what happens. Call prisons or mental facilities and ask about the rules regarding what inmates can receive.
[Of course, you'd have to do some of this incognito. You won't be treated like our families if they know your true identity. Guaranteed.]
Then explain to us the justification for all of it. - Anonymous
4. ON MAY 12 NYS DOCS SPONSORED A FORUM ON DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS FOR POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION IN NY PRISONS. A SURPRISINGLY LONG LIST OF CURRENTLY AVAILABLE PROGRAMS WAS REPORTED.
Interested stakeholders began a conversation about forming partnerships among facilities, institutions of higher education, community groups and charitable foundations to sponsor college programs as integral components of DOCS' reentry initiatives. About 80 participants - colleges, facilities, community organizations and formerly incarcerated individuals attended.
It was reported that these college programs are already available at NYS prisons:
ALBION: Marist College, federally funded thru the Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offenders Grant
ARTHUR KILL: Rising Hope, Inc. - 1 yr cert. in ministry and human services. Credits can be transferred to Boricua College, privately funded
AUBURN: Cornell Univ.- college credits and transcripts. privately funded
BAYVIEW: Bard College - Associate's and Bachelor's degrees, privately funded
BEDFORD HILLS: Marymount Manhattan College, a consortium of 13 schools. Associate's and Bachelor's Degrees, privately funded
EASTERN : Bard College - AA & BA degrees, privately funded
FISHKILL: Rising Hope, Inc. - 1 yr cert. in ministry and human services, privately funded
GREEN HAVEN: Rising Hope, Inc. - 1 yr cert. in ministry and human services, privately funded
GREENE: Marist College, federally funded thru the Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offenders Grant
MID ORANGE: Rising Hope, Inc. - 1 yr cert. in ministry and human services, privately funded
SING SING: Hudson Link - Mercy College and Nyack College - AA & BA degrees, privately funded New York Theological Seminary - Masters of Professional Studies Program, privately funded
TACONIC: Nyack College - Liberal Arts credits, funded thru College Mission
WASHINGTON: Marist College, federally funded thru the Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offenders Grant
WYOMING: the Consortium of the Niagara Frontier - Niagara Univ., Canisius College & Daemen College - Associate's and Bachelor's Degrees, funded thru Legislative Member Items
WOODBOURNE: Bard College - AA & BA degrees, Rising Hope - 1 yr cert. in ministry and human services, privately. funded
5. TWO NEW DOCS INTAKE CENTERS OPENING - WILL SAVE MONEY FOR TAXPAYERS IN WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW YORK BECAUSE IT WILL LOWER THE COST FOR COUNTIES TO TRANSPORT PEOPLE TO STATE PRISON
DOCS plans to open one intake center at Albion Correctional Facility, a women’s prison in Orleans County, and another at Auburn Correctional Facility, a men’s prison in Cayuga County, on July 1.
When county jail inmates are sentenced to serve a prison term in a New York State correctional facility, the county Sheriff is required to transport them to one of a few designated prisons for processing by state correctional officials. Last year, county Sheriffs and the New York City Department of Corrections transported to such designated State prisons 27,702 offenders who either were convicted of a new crime or violated the conditions of their parole.
Sheriffs across the State currently transport female county jail inmates to Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County, the only DOCS “reception/classification” center for women. Albion is much closer to counties in Western and Central New York. The New York State Sheriffs Association anticipates considerable savings to those counties through reduced transportation and manpower costs, while DOCS anticipates only nominal additional costs.
DOCS Commissioner Brian Fischer decided to open Albion and Auburn as intake centers after a recent Sheriffs’ Association-sponsored training conference at which a number of Sheriffs told him they must make lengthy trips to deliver inmates into State custody.
DOCS is providing some new beds at Albion and Auburn for intake purposes, but the Department already runs regular buses between correctional facilities to transfer inmates and will simply place intake inmates on buses already headed to reception/classification center correctional facilities the next day.
For example, Sheriff’s Offices will drop female inmates at Albion the day before a weekly DOCS bus runs between Albion and Bedford Hills. DOCS also runs regular buses between Auburn and Elmira, which is one of three main male reception/classification centers along with Downstate Correctional Facility in Dutchess County and Ulster Correctional Facility in Ulster County.
Reception/classification centers provide an array of medical and mental health screening and assessment services to help DOCS officials determine the most appropriate State correctional facility to place each inmate. The reception/classification centers also provide each new inmate with an orientation program on prison rules and regulations. 6-22-08
6. RESEARCH PROJECT ON ION SCANNING OF PRISON VISITORS WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES.
Alison Coleman reports that Prison Families of NY will be doing research and related work on the ION scanner, which has been an instrument of fear and worry for many NYS DOCS visitors. Please contact intern Melissa Borgos (mborgos1113@earthlink.net) if you know of anyone who would like to talk about their experience or if your agency would like to pass on any research or collaborate with us or if you have had contact with NYS DOCS on this matter and would like to share what you have learned.
7. THE LEGISLATION BELOW WAS INTRODUCED THIS SESSION BUT MOST PASSED IN ONLY ONE HOUSE. THOSE BILLS HAVE TO BE RESUBMITTED TO THE ORIGINATING HOUSE IN JAN 2009 WHEN A NEW 2-YEAR TERM BEGINS
DEATH PENALTY LEGISLATION S - 4632 same as A8157
6/18 Senate passes, Delivered to Assembly, Referred to Codes
The State Senate passed legislation, sponsored by Senator Dale Volker (R-C-I, Depew) and Anthony S. Seminerio (D-Queens) that would amend the state’s death penalty law to bring back the death penalty and change a provision that was ruled invalid by the state Court of Appeals. In 2004, the Court of Appeals overturned death penalty sentences, saying that judges were improperly required to instruct jurors in capital cases that if they deadlocked and failed to reach a verdict during the penalty phase of a trial, the judge would impose a sentence that would leave the defendant eligible for parole after 20 to 25 years.
Bill S4632/A8157 would restore the death penalty as an option and in addition to life in prison without parole, juries would be given a third option of imposing a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole, when sentencing convicted murderers. If a jury is deadlocked, a sentence of life without parole would be imposed, and juries would be told of that provision before sentencing.
All pending death penalty cases, as well as crimes committed prior to the effective date of any change in the law, would be affected by the changes included in this bill.
REQUIRES 24-MONTH NOTICE OF PLANNED PRISON CLOSURE - S7467 same as A10361
6/18 Senate passes, Delivered to Assembly, Referred to Correction
This legislation, sponsored by Senator Betty Little (R-C-I, Queensbury), and Assemblymember Tim Gordon (I-Bethlehem) increases the amount of notice the Commissioner of DOCS must provide - to local governments, labor organizations and certain managerial employees - from 12 months currently required to at least 24 months prior to a correctional facility closing, and to report on an adaptive reuse plan for the facility at the time of such notice (currently 6 months are required).
ALLOWS COLLECTION OF DNA UPON ARREST - S6726A same as A10361
6/10 Senate passes, Delivered to Assembly, Referred to Codes
Sponsored by Senator John A. DeFrancisco (R-I-C-WF, Syracuse) it would allow for the collection of DNA samples upon an individual's arrest, whereas formerly it could only be obtained at conviction. This bill would ensure that law enforcement officials can collect DNA samples from “designated offenders” upon their arrest and expand the definition of "designated offender" to include anyone who is arrested of an offense where fingerprints are required to be taken, adjudicated as a youthful offender or compelled to register as a sex offender. This legislation sets procedures for collecting DNA samples and penalties for those who fail to provide a DNA sample. It would also require the sample to be forwarded to a forensic DNA laboratory for testing and analysis and require such a sample to be included in the State DNA identification index.
This comprehensive bill would also establish the Commission for Exoneration Review, which would review recent cases where convicted defendants were subsequently exonerated by DNA evidence.
ALLOWS CRIME VICTIMS TO KNOW WHEN PERPETRATORS ARE UP FOR PAROLE - S268-A Same as A1821
5/28 Senate passes, Delivered to Assembly, Referred to Governmental Operations
This bill would allow crime victims, upon request, to be notified of a parole hearing involving the perpetrator of the crime. The bill, sponsored by Senator Jim Alesi (R-C, Perinton), would provide victims, and in some cases family members, notice of the hearing to be sent by first class mail at least 60 days prior to the hearing.
TO KEEP REPEAT VIOLENT FELONS BEHIND BARS - S435A Same as A 4479-A
4/3 Senate passes bill, Delivered to Assembly, Referred to Codes
Sponsored by Senator (and the new Senate Majority Leader) Dean Skelos (R, Rockville Centre), it would require judges to sentence persistent violent felons to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This legislation will require that a defendant who has been separately convicted and sentenced to three or more violent felonies, and who is determined by a court to be a persistent violent felony offender, be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
POST RELEASE SUPERVISION - A11764 - Same as S 8714 [Too long to print; here’s the Existing law summary and the Sponsor’s Memo; send SASE for the text of bill]
06/24 Senate passes, Delivered to Assembly, Assembly passes, Returned to Senate
06/25 Delivered to Governor, who has 10 days (not counting Sundays) to sign. If he fails to sign by then it automatically passes into law.
Existing Law: Criminal Procedure Law §380.20 provides that the court must pronounce sentence in every case where a conviction is entered. Penal Law §70/45(1) provides that each determinate sentence "also includes, as a part thereof, an additional period of post-release supervision."
Sponsor’s Statement in Support [Sponsored by Nozzolio and Aubrey]:
In 1998, the New York State Legislature enacted Jenna's Law, which was named for Jenna Grieshaber, a twenty-two-year-old nursing student who was murdered by a violent felon released from prison after serving only two-thirds of his sentence. Jenna's Law amended the Penal Law to end "indeterminate sentences" - i.e., sentences running between certain minimum and maximum periods set by the court at the time of sentencing - for criminal defendants convicted of violent felonies. Instead, Jenna's Law required "determinate" sentences, and also created a schedule of mandatory terms of PRS to be included as a part of the determinate sentences of violent felony offenders. In many cases, judges informed defendants, at the time of sentencing, that they would be subject to a period of PRS following completion of their determinate sentence; in other cases, they did not, and DOCS simply included the PRS pursuant to the terms of the Penal Law. Over time, offenders challenged DOCS's calculation of PRS as part of their determinate sentence, and courts throughout the State were split on this legal issue -with some finding that PRS automatically was a part of the sentence by operation of law, and others finding PRS had to be expressly imposed by the sentencing court. On April 29, 2008, the New York State Court of Appeals issued two decisions (Matter of Gamer v. DOCS and People v. Sparber) that finally resolved some of the legal issues associated with the imposition of PRS. Most notably, the Court ruled that only the sentencing judge has the authority to impose the PRS component of an offender's determinate sentence, and that the period of PRS must be stated by the judge at the time of sentencing in the offender's presence. The Court in Garner also ruled, however, that its holding was "without prejudice to any ability that either the People or DOCS may have to seek the appropriate resentencing of a defendant in the proper forum." Since then, DOCS and Parole have undertaken major initiatives to bring the relevant cases to the attention of the sentencing courts, so that those courts can make decisions about re-sentencings. The initiatives have already had some success in arriving at resolution of individual cases, but it has become clear that it would be hard to reach resolutions of all the relevant cases through such initiatives alone. This bill provides a statutory framework that facilitates and mandates a comprehensive review. This will allow DOCS and Parole to obtain definitive judicial guidance as to which defendants are to remain subject to PRS and which are not. Such guidance is crucially important. There would be unacceptable consequences for public safety if these agencies ended custody or supervision when there is legal basis for it, and unacceptable consequences for individual liberty it they continued custody or supervision when there is not such legal basis. The problem is immensely magnified by factors, such as the absence of sentencing minutes, that may make it impossible in many cases for the agencies to know whether PRS was properly imposed at the time of sentence. Such matters are appropriate for judicial resolution.
The bill also addresses an issue arising from the Court of Appeals decision in People v. Catu. When a defendant who pleads guilty has not been informed that the sentence would include a term of PRS, the defendant may later seek for the plea to be vacated. This bill allows the District Attorney to consent to re-sentencing to the previously imposed determinate term without any term of PRS. By allowing defendants in this situation the benefit of their plea bargains, there should be no need for the pleas to be vacated.
While the bill provides effective relief as to unlawful sentences imposed in the past, it also makes related improvements going forward. Current statutory language seems to reflect an intent that PRS arise automatically as a part of every determinate sentence. The bill replaces that approach with a requirement that sentencing courts explicitly state terms of PRS when imposing determinate sentences. This is a more open and transparent way of ensuring that defendants are sufficiently informed about their sentences. Other benefits include an enhanced ability for DOCS to facilitate correction of other kinds of unlawful sentences.
GIVES OMH AUTHORITY TO REVIEW VIOLENT INCIDENTS INVOLVING PERSONS WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS
6/20 Agreement reached between Governor David A. Paterson and state legislative leaders.
Provides the Commissioner of the Office of Mental Health (OMH) with the authority to convene multi-agency mental health incident review panels to conduct timely, detailed and retrospective investigations of incidents involving individuals with serious mental illnesses who are harmed, who cause harm to others, who suffer serious and preventable complications, or become involved in violent incidents. These incident review panels, which will include representatives from state agencies, local governments, mental health providers, emergency services and law enforcement involved in a particular incident, will lead to both improved mental health care through reduced care errors and enhanced protection for the public. This bill is sponsored by Senator Thomas Morahan and Assemblyman Peter Rivera.
STATUS OF BILLS GETS POSTED ON THE LEGISLATIVE WEBSITE
You can follow the status of all bills at: http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menuf.cg. We will post any that get signed into law, so keep checking.
8. LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS CLEARINGHOUSE: TRANSITIONAL HOUSING IN THE NYC AREA AND UPSTATE NY. FATHER PETER YOUNG HAS PROGRAMS IN NYC, ONONDAGA COUNTY, SCHENECTADY AND ALBANY. DONNA DECICCO'S PROGRAM, RESTORED HOPE SERVICES, IS ON LONG ISLAND AND THE METROPOLITAN NYC AREA. FORMER OTISVILLE LIFER, JOHN (MOJO) FLYNN IS NOW WORKING WITH RESTORED HOPE SERVICES.
Peter Young's Housing, Industry, and Treatment (PYHIT)
These programs provide short-term residential, structured settings and services to parolees who require intensive substance abuse treatment. They also serve those who are at risk of supervision failure due to the onset of homelessness. The average stay is less than 90 days.
PYHIT's parole program provides a total of 75 beds: 10 in New York City, 20 in Onondaga County, 30 in Schenectady, and 15 in Albany County. Residents receive counseling, life skills training, pre-employment services, education referrals, medical treatment, and random drug testing to ensure abstinence. PYHIT has achieved a less-than-10% recidivism rate in its other reintegration programs, and is striving to achieve that success in its new Parole Stabilization Residences.
Albany County clients are typically housed at our 45 South Ferry Street Community Residence in Albany under a contract with Albany County DSS. Clients from other counties are housed at the Schuyler Inn Transitional Living Center in Menands.
In Syracuse, transitional living is provided to clients at LeMoyne Manor who are attending outpatient treatment elsewhere and vocational training on-site through the Altamont Program. Funding is provided by Onondaga County.
Peter Young's program is happy to accept referrals, provided that you have permission from your local parole office. If you are interested in our NYC programs, you must obtain the approval of an institutional parole officer, who would submit the request to the appropriate local parole office. Applicants without prior approval cannot be accepted.
The Transitional Living Center provides a continuum of treatment services for individuals who have shown a desire to recover from a life of addiction. Applicants must agree to abide by their prescribed treatment plan. Only inmates who have successfully completed the ASAT or CASAT Programs within the Department of Corrections (DOCS) are eligible to apply for admission to the Transitional Living Center.
Inmates with a criminal history that includes arson, sex offenses, manslaughter 1st degree or other acts of violence are not eligible.
In Albany, the parole site at 45 South Ferry Street also has several beds for transitional housing, funded by Albany County. At the Schuyler Inn, emergency housing is available through Traveler's Aid from both Albany and Rensselaer counties.
For more information about the parole residence nearest you:
45 Ferry Street, Albany, NY 12202, Fred Scott, (518) 432-0759
418 Fabius Street, Liverpool, NY 13088, Gwen Stokes, (315) 478-9454
629 Old Liverpool Rd, Liverpool, NY 13088, David Luibrand, (315) 451-3859
428 Duane Avenue, Schenectady, NY 12304, Clarence Carter, (518) 377-2448
Restored Hope Services Inc.
Intake: Donna DeCicco and John (Mojo) Flynn
162 Hudson Avenue, Roosevelt N.Y. 11575
(516) 417-3901
Restored Hope Services Inc. offers housing for men and women with substance abuse histories. We provide safe, structured living environments which give our clients treatment with dignity.
The facilities are fully staffed twenty four hours a day, seven days a week and have security and camera systems through out the buildings. Some locations provide three balanced meals a day, laundry facilities and a common area for dining purposes and leisure time. The buildings in Brooklyn and the Bronx and private houses on Long Island are all located in areas which provide easy access to public transportation.
Each client is evaluated and then placed in a licensed by OASAS out-patient treatment facility which will address their individual needs. All of our staff members are qualified health professionals. Supplemental services are available to guide them through school or to employment.
We accept clients whether they are on social services, disability or self pay and we will help them to obtain whatever source of payment they may qualify for. Our services are available to any person regardless of their current situation: HIV, HEP-C, PAROLE, PROBATION and METHADONE MAINTENANCE. We are not able to accept individuals with a sexual abuse crime or an arson history.
For more information, or to refer yourself or someone else please contact Donna DeCicco or John (Mojo) Flynn at (516) 417-3901 or 162 Hudson Ave., Roosevelt N.Y. 11575. Please indicate that you read about our services through Prison Action Network. The following information will be required when you are making a referral: medical history, including any psychiatric medications you are on; and/or criminal history and projected release date. You will need to provide a current PPD or Chest X-ray.
As people working in this field of substance abuse and criminal justice we have come to realize that housing our clients in affordable yet safe structured environments has been an on-going problem for an extremely long time. Our goal is to give you, our client, a place to obtain just that. You can feel comfortable knowing that we will provide a chance to begin a new life on the road to recovery. We look forward to hearing from you in the future. For further assistance please feel free to contact us at any time. - Donna and John
9. SMALL AMOUNTS OF MARIJUANA IN PRISON DO NOT REPRESENT DANGEROUS CONTRABAND AND THEREFORE CANNOT BE PROSECUTED AS FELONIES.
The NYS Court of Appeals ruled that small amounts of marijuana in prison do not represent dangerous contraband. Two incarcerated people, in separate incidents at different facilities, had been convicted of felonies in cases involving less than 10 grams of the drug. One had been given 2-4 years and the other 3-5 years. The state's top court ordered the two convictions be reduced to misdemeanors with shorter sentences. The ruling claimed that the test for "dangerous contraband" is whether its use is apt to cause death, injury, escape or other major threats to the safety or security of the facility.
10. CERTAIN PEOPLE ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR MEDICAL PAROLE, NO MATTER HOW DEBILITATED THEY ARE. WHY ARE WE NOT OUTRAGED BY THIS INHUMANE RESTRICTION?
Medical Parole Supervision, Executive Law, Section 259-R states that an inmate serving an indeterminate or determinate sentence may be eligible for medical parole if:
- the inmate has a terminal health condition; and
- the inmate is so debilitated or incapacitated as to be severely restricted in his or her ability to self-ambulate and to care for him or herself; and
- the inmate is not serving a sentence for murder in the first or second degree, manslaughter in the first degree, any sex offense as defined in article 130 of the Penal Law, or any attempt to commit any of these offenses. [emphasis added]
Vengeance is the only possible explanation for this restriction. It isn’t economically or morally defensible. It’s been estimated that NYS could save 5 million dollars if medically qualified people were let out on medical parole supervision. We’re talking about people on the threshold of death!
11. IMPROPER OATH REVERSES MURDER CONVICTION
Posted on Sunday, 22 of June , 2008 at 11:01 am, By June Maxam. To read the entire article, which tells how judges are disqualified if they were not sworn in properly, please visit: http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2008/06/22/improper_oath/
—So you think taking an oath is just a technicality?
The conviction of a person serving a life prison term without the possibility of parole was reversed last week by a state appellate court because potential jurors weren’t given the proper oath in Rensselaer County Court.
In sending the case back for a new trial, the state Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department reinforced that “Oaths are not formalities, are sacred, and no citizen need expose himself [or herself] to loss of liberty and property by people who are not sworn”.
12. PAROLE - IMPORTANT UPDATE ON THE GRAZIANO CASE; NOMINATION OF 2 NEW MEMBERS TO PAROLE BOARD; PAROLE STATISTICS
GRAZIANO VS PATAKI
June 13: The Court adjourned the conference. NO definite date has been set for the next conference. In the meantime, the lawyers are finishing up discovery and the case will be decided either on motion or trial.
TWO PEOPLE NOMINATED TO PAROLE BOARD
Joseph B. Crangle. Since 2000, Mr. Crangle has been an Assistant Court Analyst with the New York State Office of Court Administration. In this role, Mr. Crangle is assigned to the Domestic Violence Part of the Buffalo City Court where he monitors defendants compliance with court orders. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Crangle was a Probation Officer with the Genesee County Probation Department, where he oversaw the Pretrial Release Under Supervision program. Mr. Crangle received his BA from Canisius College and his JD from the City University of New York.
Mary Ross. She has been a Staff Attorney with the Legal Aid Society in Queens, New York since 1998. From 1990 to 1995, Ms. Ross was the Executive Director of Providence House, directing this nonprofit corporation that provides transitional and permanent housing for female ex-offenders, homeless women and their children. Ms. Ross was previously the Program Director of Providence House from 1984 to 1990. Ms. Ross was also the Campus Minister at Queens College from 1982 to 1984 and was the Director of Administrative Services at the Diocese of Brooklyn from 1978 to 1982. She received her BA in Education from St. Josephs College, her MS in Education from Brooklyn College and her JD from the City University of New York.
Salaries for Members of the Parole Board are set at $101,600. These appointments by Governor Paterson require Senate confirmation. Building Bridges has been unable to discover whether the confirmations took place, although several reliable sources have said so. The Senate is expected to return in July to take some last minute actions.
PAROLE STATISTICS: (unofficial; calculated by a reader using the Parole website - see article 17):
Year to date (Jan.- May 2008) Summary of Parole Releases of A1 Violent Offenders:
567 interviews of which 492 were reappearances and 75 were intitial appearances
of the reappearances, 65 were released, 427 were denied
of the 75 initial interviews, 4 were released, 71 were denied
Year-to-date rates of releases for A1VOs are:
13% on the Reappearances
5% on the Initials
12% on Total Interviews
May 2008 Parole Releases of A1 Violent Offenders:
165 interviews of which 145 were reappearances and 20 were initial appearances
of the 145 reappearances, 13 were released, 108 were denied, 24 were postponed
of the 20 initial interviews, 1 was released, 15 were denied, 4 were postponed
The 13 reappearances, by prison, who were released are:
Cape Vincent - Murder 2 with 15-life on his 2nd board
Fishkill - M2 with 20-life on his 5th board
Five Points for M2 with 15-life on his 3rd board
Gouverneur - M2 with 15-life on his 5th board
Great Meadow - M2 with 25-life on his 6th board
Groveland - M2 with 26-life on his 2nd board
Mt McGregor for M2 with 20-life on his 4th board
Otisville - M2 with 20-life on his 3rd board
Otisville - M2 with 15-life on his 7th board
Sullivan.- M2 with 15-life on his 9th board
Washington - M2 with 20-life on his 3rd board
Washington - M2 with 15-life on his 2nd board
Woodbourne - M2 with 15-life on his 7th board
May-June 2008 Parole Releases based on Prisoners’ Reports:
ARTHUR KILL - Lemons, Gallivan, Loomis
May-June - 27% release rate for all categories of crime
98 saw the board; 27 were granted parole (1 was deported)
39 were initial interviews; 10 received dates, 22 were denied parole, 7 were postponed
47 were reappearances; 12 received dates, 26 were denied parole, 9 were postponed
11 merit time interviews; 4 received parole, 7 were postponed
FRANKLIN -
May
107 saw the board; 46 were granted parole (1 was deported)
40 were initial interviews; 12 received date, 28 were denied parole
25 were reappearances; 1 received date, 18 were denied parole, 6 were postponed
8 merit time interviews; 6 received parole, 2 were denied
14 CR Consideration; 8 granted, 6 denied
18 parole violators; 18 granted
1 presumptive; 1 denied
1 deported
MID-ORANGE
May
37 saw the board; 3 granted (no A-1), 32 denied, 2 postponed
WOODBOURNE - Casey, Lemons, Artloff
May 33 appearances (13 were A1VO); 5 granted (1 A1VO- on 7th board),
June: 33 appearances: 2 granted (1 non-violent and 1 A1VO - on 3rd board); 3 A1VO were adjourned; 7 A1VO denied (3 on 1st board, 3 on 2nd, and 1 on 5th)
WYOMING
May - Grant, Gallivan, Hagler
56 hearings; 12 granted parole
22 initials; 1 granted, 21 denied
17 Reappearances; 3 granted, 14 denied
17 merit time reviews; 8 granted, 9 denied
13. GOV PATERSON, IN EXECUTIVE ORDER #9, REPEALS, CANCELS AND REVOKES ALL EXECUTIVE ORDERS ISSUED BY PREVIOUS GOVERNORS.:
“...all Executive Orders issued by previous Governors are hereby repealed, canceled and revoked in their entirety, with the exception of the Executive Orders set forth below and any amendments thereto, which shall remain in full force and effect until otherwise revoked, superseded or modified; and IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a review of prior Executive Orders shall continue to determine whether additional orders should be revoked, superseded or modified.” A list of those retained follows. It includes Spitzer’s Executive Order No. 9, (Ordering the Commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services to Bar Certain Offenders from Participating in Temporary Release Programs) and Executive Order No. 10, (Establishing the New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform)..
14. PRISON RADIO SCHEDULES. BE THE CHANGE, FANCY BROCCOLI: JULY GUESTS
"Be The Change" Airs every Wednesday from 5-6pm, with different themes and call-in guests.
“Fancy Broccoli” airs on WVKR, 91.3FM, Poughkeepsie NY on Sundays from 3 - 6 pm, Eastern Time, and streams online - go to www.WVKR.org and click on (or near) the word 'LISTEN'.
Coming up on July 13, Pauly, a man who spent 25 years in prison. Save the date of August 10 for George Alexander, who will be there to answer questions.
Visit archives www.fancybroccoli.org to find lots of other good interviews. Write Fancy Broccoli Show, WVKR, Box 726, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0726
15. COMMISSION ON SENTENCING REFORM IS SCHEDULED TO RELEASE THEIR FINAL REPORT AT THE END OF THIS YEAR, ACCORDING TO A DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE LETTER TO AL CHESSMAN
An unsigned letter to Al Chessman from the Division of Criminal Justice Services, dated May 29, states that in order to provide the Commission on Sentencing Reform adequate time to thoroughly research and prepare a report of comparable depth and quality to its Preliminary Report, the deadline has been extended from the original date of Mar.1 '08. Instead they intend to issue their report in Dec. 2008. It will address sentencing issues discussed in the the Preliminary Report, taking into account the testimony provided earlier this year at hearings conducted in Albany, Buffalo and NYC. The report will be made available to the public and for review in each correctional facility's law library.
16. TRANSPORTATION TO PRISONS:
From the Capital District:
NEST Prison Shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow CFs on Sat, Jul 5 ($35 adults, $25 children), Coxsackie, Greene, and Hudson on Sat, Jul 12 ($20 adults, $15 children) from Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, then to Albany Greyhound bus station at 7:15. Trip to Utica (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) on Sat, Jul 19 leaving Troy at 5 AM. Sullivan trip (Ulster, Eastern, Woodbourne, Sullivan) on Sat, Jul 26 leaving at 6:30 AM ($45 adults, $30 children). Reservations: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
Please call PAN at 518 253 7533 to discuss other options.
17. ADDITION TO THE DOCS WEBSITE OF VALUABLE INFO & LINKS ON RULES AND REGS.
www.docs.state.ny.us
DOCS has added information to its website: On the left, under News, there is now a link to "rules and regulations". Some rules listed for 2008 are: Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (Section 100.80 of 7 NYCRR); Unauthorized Organizational Activities, Gang Activities & Media Review; Maximum Value of Stamps in an Inmate's Personal Possession (Sections 270.2(B)(14)(vi) and 720.8(a)(2) of 7 NYCRR); Central Monitoring Case Designation Status (Part 1000 of 7 NYCRR); Urinalysis Testing (Part 1020 of 7 NYCRR); Access to Records (Section 6.2(c) of 7 NYCRR).. More and also a list of 2007’s are there as well..
The site adds that the complete listing of New York Codes, Rules, and Regulations (NYCRR) is available online through the NYS Department of State website. People in prison don't have access to the internet, but it is likely that this information is available at the facilities, and if not, advocates, friends and families who have access can print out specific information and send it to them.
The reader who contributed this added, "At the bottom of two changes that I looked at was a message that a more complete CPLR was available to a Westlaw link. I went there and though it's not complete it has rules and regs I have never been able to find before and I went to Westlaw many times while working on an article 78 for my partner. For the first time ever I was able to read the rules and regs for disciplinary hearings (superintendent hearings) and also for CMC status. Those were not available to the public before. And really interestingly it had at the bottom of each subsection NYS case law related to that subsection. Amazing! I copied so much stuff for my lawyer for our new brief.."
18. WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND NEW YORK STATE:
BUFFALO: Prisoners Are People Too! is a justice advocacy program that meets monthly on selected Mondays in Buffalo at the Pratt-Willert Community Center, 422 Pratt Street from 6:30-8:30pm. Each meeting features a documentary film, related to some criminal justice or prison issue, and one or more guest speakers who address that issue.
At its next meeting on Monday, July 28, 2008, Prisoners Are People Too! will screen the documentary, ”Today’s Prisoners, Tomorrow’s Neighbors” (2005), produced by the Madison-area Urban Ministry of Madison, Wisconsin. M.U.M. is a non-profit, interfaith, social justice organization which describes itself as “neighbors working together, standing with the poor and hurting.” Its social justice initiatives are many, including prisoner reentry work and mentoring children who have one or more incarcerated parent.
Our guest speakers will include representatives from three organizations that assist “the poor and hurting,” including formerly incarcerated people: WNY Independent Living Project, Inc., New Life Residential Center, Inc. and Catholic Charities of Buffalo.
The next meeting of Prisoners Are People Too! is scheduled for August 25. Film and guest speaker(s) TBA.
PRP2! programs are sponsored by
The Circle of Supporters for Reformed Offenders and Friends of Baba Eng.
For further information, contact Karima Amin at karima@prisonersarepeopletoo.org
or 716-834-8438.
Prison Action Network thanks the Community Church of NY, Unitarian Universalist, for helping with our expenses
Friday, May 30, 2008
June 2008 EDITION
Please scroll down to get to the Building Bridges monthly newsletter.
Posted June 25: from Coalition for Women Prisoners’ Conditions on the Inside Committee
Special HIV & Hep-C Community Forum
When: Thursday June 26th from 6 – 8 pm
Where: Correctional Association of NY, 2090 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd, Suite 200
Speakers include: Rusti Miller Hill (Women’s HIV Collaborative of NY), Rita “Sunshine” Brooks (Housing Works, Women’s Advocacy Project Graduate), Jack Beck (Correctional Association – Prison Visiting Project), Tracie Gardner (Legal Action Center/Women's Initiative to Stop HIV/AIDS)
Are you a formerly incarcerated woman?***
Do you work with currently or formerly incarcerated women?
Do you work with women who are HIV positive or women who have Hepatitis C?
Are you concerned about the adequacy of health care in state prisons?
Join the Conditions on the Inside Committee to find out how you can help improve healthcare for women in prison.
Did you know that the New York State Department of Health oversees medical care in hospitals and clinics in the community, but NOT in New York State correctional facilities?
Serious inadequacies exist in health care services in New York’s prisons, including care for individuals with HIV and Hepatitis C. Come and learn how you can join the effort to secure New York State Department of Health oversight for all incarcerated people living with HIV and Hepatitis C in New York State.
***Women who are formerly incarcerated can be offered two metrocards – Please call in advance to reserve them!***
Please RSVP before Monday, June 23rd to 212-254-5700 x336.
cwpeventRSVP@gmail.com
Posted June 18:
GRAZIANO VS PATAKI
The Court adjourned the conference. NO definite date has been set for the next conference. In the meantime, the lawyers are finishing up discovery and the case will be decided either on motion or trial.
Posted June 11:
NOMINATION OF 2 NEW MEMBERS TO PAROLE BOARD
Governor David A. Paterson has announced the nomination of two new members to the Board of Parole. (Note: These appointments require Senate confirmation, and we know who's in the Senate...)
Joseph B. Crangle has been nominated as a Member of the State Board of Parole. Since 2000, Mr. Crangle has been an Assistant Court Analyst with the New York State Office of Court Administration. In this role, Mr. Crangle is assigned to the Domestic Violence Part of the Buffalo City Court where he monitors defendants compliance with court orders. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Crangle was a Probation Officer with the Genesee County Probation Department, where he oversaw the Pretrial Release Under Supervision program. Mr. Crangle received his BA from Canisius College and his JD from the City University of New York.
Mary Ross has been nominated as a Member of the State Board of Parole. She has been a Staff Attorney with the Legal Aid Society in Queens, New York since 1998. From 1990 to 1995, Ms. Ross was the Executive Director of Providence House, directing this nonprofit corporation that provides transitional and permanent housing for female ex-offenders, homeless women and their children. Ms. Ross was previously the Program Director of Providence House from 1984 to 1990. Ms. Ross was also the Campus Minister at Queens College from 1982 to 1984 and was the Director of Administrative Services at the Diocese of Brooklyn from 1978 to 1982. She received her BA in Education from St. Josephs College, her MS in Education from Brooklyn College and her JD from the City University of New York.
Salaries for Members of the Parole Board are set at $101,600. These appointments require Senate confirmation.
BUILDING BRIDGES, JUNE 2008
Dear Reader,
It’s time to start working toward Family Empowerment Day 4. The Family Empowerment Project Executive Committee met on May 24. We decided to schedule the NYC event around the same time as in past years, on a Saturday in late October, so either October 18, 25 or November 1, depending on when we can reserve space. We're looking into spaces including the possibility of Columbia Law School again. You are the ones who pay for it. Are you willing to send a donation of at least the same amount as you did last year? Please respond with your pledge so we know whether people think Columbia is worth it. (The committee pretty much agreed that a law school feels like a good match for our event.) The theme this year will be "A Call to Action", which will build on the education and community building of past years to move us forward.
We will have less workshops than last year to choose from, and we'd like to have representatives of community based advocacy organizations and formerly incarcerated people lead them.
If time is in our favor (meaning if the final version is complete by then) we will start the day with the World Premiere of The Visitors, the documentary by Melis Birder about the trip from NYC to upstate prisons. We are considering following it with 2 -3 breakout sessions inspired by issues arising from the film.
After lunch a speaker (or panel) will report on the state of parole, followed by an exhaustive question and answer session with the audience.
Right now is the time for you to give feedback. Do you have another theme you'd prefer? Is there a speaker you'd especially like to hear from? What group/s or organization/s do you belong to that provide services or advocate for incarcerated persons or their families? Have any of you started the work as a result of past FED events? Is there an action you’d like to see us take as the culmination of the day’s event? Please send your suggestions within the month of June, as we have to move quickly with the planning. Thank you for all you do.
Together we can!
Please send a link to BUILDING BRIDGES to your friends or family. Our success depends on us all being on the same page!
In this Issue
Dear Friend penpal project
Employment services
Journalism project
Lifers and Longtermers
Mental health issues
Merit time bill S7889
Parole
Paterson's gun violence legislation
Post-release supervision (PRS)
Prison Action Network projects
Prison Action Network outside reps
Prison-radio schedules
Reentry tips
Seen in other media
Thoughts from Inside
Transportation to prisons
What’s happening around New York State
DEAR FRIENDS (PENPAL PROJECT) SENDS APOLOGY
The founder and director of the Dear Friends Pen Pal Project has been ill and it set her back temporarily in her ability to respond to all your requests. She asks you to accept her apologies and thanks you for your patience. She WILL reorganize! Thanks to all who’ve written.
EMPLOYMENT SERVICES AVAILABLE AT NO COST TO QUALIFYING INDIVIDUALS
WAGE$ (Work And Gainful Employment $ervices) is a free job readiness and placement program for men and women in recovery. They must be in a treatment program in Nassau County. They only need to be clean 1 month and 97% of our clients have convictions. They can call me with any questions at 516 227-8527 or write: Kathleen Kearns, Job Developer, WAGE$, 60 Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Uniondale, NY 11553
JOURNALISM PROJECT CREATES RESEARCH AND WRITERS’ BUREAUS, APPOINTS A LIBRARIAN , AND BEGINS COMPILING A RESOURCE LIST.
The goal of Prison Action Network’s Journalism Project is to promote in the media those issues that are important to us, and to respond quickly and effectively to press reports—both positive and negative—about those issues. We plan to become a go-to organization for journalists who are seeking reliable sources and information, solid story ideas and dependable guidance on placing issues in proper context. We are currently setting up the project’s infrastructure, including:
Researchers—We have recruited eight volunteer researchers and have begun using the electronic research tool “Really Simple Syndication” to easily and effectively gather a range of articles important to our cause. The researchers will collect and distribute articles that demand our attention and, over time, will create a data bank of media contacts and resources on various topics. We will use the information to persuade columnists, reporters and editors to report on all sides—including ours—of the issues we care about. As we determine the researchers’ specific interests, we may ask them to specialize in one subtopic.
Writers—We are seeking writers who can respond effectively to media reports. We are advertising for volunteers who have good writing skills and who care about our issues. We will provide them with sample letters and guidance on how to correspond or respond in a way that has impact.
Resources--We are collecting a file of people and organizations who have uniquely powerful stories to tell in support of the issues that are important to us.
Librarian--We have a volunteer who will collect and maintain files of articles useful to us in supporting our contentions.
We also are considering a workshop at Family Empowerment Day 4 to teach others how to work with and respond to the media in order to get the word out about our unique perspectives.
LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS’ CLEARINGHOUSE OFFERS GUIDANCE & DIRECTION, OUTREACH, AND INFORMATION. FEEDBACK IS REQUESTED FROM LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS ABOUT THE SERVICES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. WHAT HAS BEEN VALUABLE; WHAT IS STILL NEEDED?
The primary purpose of establishing a lifers clearinghouse is to provide the following services:
1) Guidance & Direction Because lifer and long-termer organizations are authorized and approved by DOCS Directive 4760, which governs the operation and organizational procedures of all approved inmate organizations, it is crucial that lifer organizations abide by the policy and procedures outlined in the Directive.
Although Directive 4760 governing Inmate Organizations provides policy and procedures for the operation of lifer organizations, it does not sufficiently provide procedures to be followed when the process breaks down. The Lifers Clearinghouse seeks to provide prison organizations with guidance and direction in resolving these difficulties when they arise. In addition, the Clearinghouse will offer unsolicited guidance and direction in matters it thinks will provide lifer and long-termer organizations with beneficial information and direction that brings such organizations into accord with criminal justice approaches being utilized by community advocacy organizations.
2) Outreach The Lifers Clearinghouse will seek to provide community contacts, community sponsorship, and community resources that lifer organizations require to effectively provide programs and services to their membership and to the general population. In this regard the Clearinghouse is in the process of compiling a listing of community-based organizations willing to offer services to lifer organizations. WE ARE SEEKING INPUT FROM PRISON ORGANIZATIONS about which community organizations are working with them, what services are being provided, and what are still lacking?
3) Information Through this column in Building Bridges, and special mailings to our reps in prison, we will provide information pertaining to criminal and social justice activities and approaches for the attention of lifer organizations.
Current Activities of the Lifer Clearinghouse: Contacts and meetings are being arranged to develop a coalition of community and faith-based organizations that will commit to the task of addressing the needs and issues of long-termer and lifers-without-parole segments of the general prison population. With the advent of re-entry as the dominant theme in criminal justice nationally, most if not practically all concerns are focused on providing services after the imprisoned are released. This leaves long-term and lifers-without parole dependent upon the services provided to them by DOCS. DOCS has openly admitted to being unable to develop programs and service specifically designed to address the unique problems of those serving long term sentences. We insist that the community has an indisputable claim as a stake holder in the correctional process and that the community therefore has an obligation to provide input in the correctional process. Such a stance, which is a legitimate one, will help us in organizing faith and community organizations to offer services to lifers and long-termers.
-- Lawrence White
MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES ARE GETTING ATTENTION: UNION CALLS FOR REMOVAL OF MENTAL HEALTH UNIT, NAMI DISCUSSES MENTAL ILLNESS AND THE DEATH PENALTY
Union calls for removal of mental health unit at prison
Reported By Don Lehman, dlehman@poststar.com
Thursday, May 1, 2008 9:05 PM EDT
The union that represents correction officers at Great Meadow Correctional Facility is calling for the state to scrap a new prison unit for the mentally ill because of security concerns. Great Meadow was one of two state prisons that established so-called "behavioral health units" in 2005 after the settlement of a lawsuit against the state Department of Correctional Services over mental health care. As part of the settlement, the state designated a 38-cell area as a behavioral health unit at the maximum-security prison in an effort to better treat the severely mentally ill who are in the prison system.
The units are operated, though, by the state Office of Mental Health, and that has led to problems between correction officers and the Office of Mental Health employees who run the behavioral health unit, said Scott Bishop, chief sector steward at Great Meadow for the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association. "The safety and the security of the facility should be of the utmost importance, but we don’t feel that’s the case (in the behavioral health unit)," he said. "The officers who are there feel they are handcuffed, and they don’t have any recourse." Bishop and Larry Flanagan, president of the state Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said correction officers have not been able to provide security as they normally would, which has led to injuries among correction officers, and inmates in the behavioral health unit aren’t disciplined for their offenses.
"It has created a great deal of frustration for us," Flanagan said. "DOCS can’t dictate to mental health, and it’s leading to problems. I don’t believe the Department (of Correctional Services) is aware of the changes that are being made there daily." One of the major problems is that inmates who act out in the behavioral health unit haven’t been disciplined as they should be, Bishop said. State prisons use a three-tier system of discipline for inmates, depending on the seriousness of the offense, and that system is not being used in the behavioral health unit, he said. "Civilian staff and the security staff are really bumping heads," Bishop said.
Erik Kriss, a spokesman for DOCS, said behavioral health units are a "collaborative effort" of DOCS and the Office of Mental Health, and DOCS has significant input on security matters. DOCS has received only one report of a correction officer assigned to the behavioral health unit being hurt, and that injury was minor. Officers can also request transfers out of the behavioral health unit. Kriss said the disciplinary proceedings were changed for those in the behavioral health unit cells so they aren’t subject to "misbehavior reports," as other prisoners are. Instead, they receive "informational reports." Kriss said they are still disciplined, though. As of earlier this year, 233 disciplinary actions had been taken against prisoners in Great Meadow’s behavioral health unit, he said. "The (behavioral health unit) is a risky place," he acknowledged. "But we are under court order not to treat the mentally ill as we have in the past. We think the changes make sense."
Jill Daniels, a spokeswoman for the Office of Mental Health, said the behavioral health units are "operated primarily" by the Office of Mental Health. She said they are for inmates who otherwise would have been confined to special housing units. "(Behavioral health units) are the most intense level of mental health services provided to prison inmates prone to disciplinary infractions," Daniels said in an e-mail statement. "The program is designed to meet the mental health needs of these individuals while taking into consideration their disciplinary status and safety and security requirements."
.................................
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is an education, advocacy, referral and support organization with more than 1,200 local affiliates across all 50 states. Kathleen Bayes, whose husband struggled with mental illness, is the Executive Director of NAMI Fort Wayne, in Indiana. Kathleen spoke about why ending the death penalty is important to her: “The death penalty is often given in cases of particularly violent or baseless crimes. Such crimes are often committed by people who suffer from serious brain disorders. These are not crimes of choice. When such people are medicated and find out what they have done, they are as horrified as anyone else would be. This very well could have happened to my husband. Today, after treatment, he is a brilliant, kind, and gentle person, just as he was before he became ill. It is the worst nightmare of NAMI families to have a loved one hurt someone and face the death penalty. What the capital punishment system does to a family is horrific, with the torment of publicity and appeals that last for years and years -- all for something the person would not have done if they were in their right mind. The failure of our society to treat people with mental illness is a disaster. As we have closed our state mental hospitals around the country, jails and prisons have taken over, becoming in effect our country's largest mental institutions. We are criminalizing mental illness, when we should be treating it.”
Across the country, state and local groups in the movement to halt executions have joined with mental health advocacy organizations to call for more funding for preventive mental health care, and for the prohibition of the death penalty for persons with serious mental illness.
MERIT TIME BILL: S7889 SPONSOR: SEN. MONTGOMERY; A10716 ASSMBLY. AUBREY
SUMMARY: AMENDS S803, REPLACED SUB 2-B, COR L [Click here to locate the actual bill]
Allows all qualifying inmates to be granted a merit time allowance; increases the merit time allowance credit against indeterminate and determinate sentences to one-third of the minimum and maximum periods.
PAROLE - IMPORTANT UPDATE ON THE GRAZIANO CASE; AN EXPLANATION OF WHY PAROLE DATES WERE MOVED UP; AND PAROLE STATISTICS
Graziano vs Pataki
There will be a pretrial conference on June 13, but only to (hopefully) schedule the actual trail. No reason to attend. Check this website after June 16 for updates. It will be important to be there, both to show our support to Graziano et.al. and to show the court and any press that attends that there are a lot of us who agree that current parole policies do not follow the intent of the law.
Parole Hearing Updates:
Last month people inquired why the Parole Board was moving the dates of parole appearances up. The reason given is so that there is more time to prepare for reintegration, to actually connect returning individuals with the services they will need when they go home. The release date, if parole is granted, does not change..
Parole Statistics:
There’s an addition to the Parole website at which all parole releases are listed by month. A researcher who is looking up people with long terms to see the rates and numbers of releases, has offered to share her reports with us. We’ve deleted the names to protect the privacy of the individuals. Of course they can be found at the website. Below is the first report based on this website [except Woodbourne and A.K.-May, which came from another source].
March 2008 Interviews
126 Interviews: 19 initial, 107 reappearances
13 Released: 0 initial, 13 reappearances
94 Denials: 17 initial, 77 reappearances
19 Postponed: 2 initial, 17 reappearances
Total Interviews without postponements is 107
The following are reports on individuals. The first number refers to the minum sentence of a particular person, the second is which board this was for the individual. For instance, in March five long termers were released at A.K., the last one listed was serving a sentence whose minimum was 15 years and he was released at his 4th board.
March Releases
Arthur Kill - 25 years - 3rd board; 20 on 2nd; 1-life on 1st?; 25 on 3rd; 15 on 4th
Collins - 25 on 2nd
Clinton - 20 on 3rd
Mid Orange - 15 on 11th; 25 on 4th
Otisville - 20 on 5th,
Riverview - 25 on 2nd
Taconic female - 15 on 3rd
Wende - 15 on 8th
April 2008 Interviews:
146 interviews: 19 initial, 127 reappearances
17 releases: 2 initial, 15 reappearances
102 denials: 14 initials, 88 reappearances
27 postponed: 3 initials, 24 reappearances
Total interviews without postponements would be 119.
April Releases
Arthur kill - 15 years on 5th board; 22 on 2nd; 15 on 2nd; 20 on 2nd; 20 on initial
Bayview Female - 18 years on initial
Cayuga - 15 years on 2nd board; 15 on 9th
Collins - 25 years on 9th board
Fishkill - 25 years on 4th board
Greenhaven - 17 years on 7th board
Mid Orange - 22 years on 3rd; 18 on 2nd
Midstate - 15 years on 2nd board
Otisville - 16 years on 9th board
Riverview - 20 years on 2nd board
Woodbourne - only 1 out of 25 made the board.
May at Arthur Kill: 98 seen, 27 given dates (1 a deportation), 39 were initials, of those 10 were granted parole, 7 were postponed. 47 were reappearances, of those 12 were granted, 9 were postponed. 11 merit time interviews, 2 were granted, 7 were postponed. Commissioners: Lemons, Gallivan, Loomis
ONE YEAR AFTER VIRGINIA TECH TRAGEDY, GOVERNOR PATERSON PROPOSES LEGISLATION TO REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE, LEGISLATION INTRODUCED WOULD STRENGTHEN REGULATIONS FOR GUN SELLERS AND REDUCE SALES TO CRIMINALS; REFORMS WOULD IMPROVE BACKGROUND CHECKS WHILE PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF LAW-ABIDING GUN OWNERS
May 19, 2008 Contact: Errol Cockfield | Errol.Cockfield@chamber.state.ny.us | 212.681.4640 | 518.474.8418
Governor David A. Paterson today proposed legislation designed to reduce gun violence without infringing on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. The proposed legislation would increase public safety by providing law enforcement officials with more complete information to ensure guns are purchased legally. The legislation also includes proposals in response to the Virginia Tech shooting last year.
In particular, the bill: (1) allows relevant mental health records to be included in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS); (2) improves the use of the State's Combined Ballistic Identification System (CoBIS) in solving serious gun crimes; (3) updates and clarifies the State's gun licensing laws; and (4) provides for increased security at gun shops, including requirements for licensing and training of employees who handle guns.
The Governor's proposed legislation contains numerous other provisions to enhance public safety, including measures that would help law enforcement prevent guns from getting in the hands of criminals. For example, the bill:
• Requires employees of gun shops who handle and sell guns to undergo a criminal background check, and eventually to obtain a gun license;
• Requires that all applicants for a gun license successfully complete a gun safety course
• Requires the Superintendent of State Police to issue regulations to ensure that gun shops are operating securely and to ensure that gun shop employees are properly trained in gun safety and laws regulating the purchase and sale of firearms;
• Clarifies the circumstances under which gun shops will be subject to inspection by the State Police; and,
• Updates and clarifies confusing provisions in New York's gun licensing statutes that have led to their inconsistent application.
• These amendments will not restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners, but will greatly enhance law-enforcement efforts to reduce criminal activity in the State, including crimes involving the use of firearms.
NEW YORK'S HIGHEST COURT RULES THAT DOCS CANNOT IMPOSE POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION ON INMATES AS THEY EXIT PRISON WHEN THE SENTENCING JUDGE NEGLECTED TO
New York court rules that only judges can impose post-release supervision after prison terms.
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:02 p.m., Tuesday, April 29, 2008
ALBANY -- New York's highest court ruled Tuesday that the Department of Correctional Services cannot impose post-release supervision on inmates as they exit prison when the sentencing judge neglected to. ..."The sentencing judge -- and only the sentencing judge -- is authorized to pronounce the PRS component of a defendant's sentence," Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick wrote. Chief Judge Judith Kaye and judges Victoria Graffeo, Susan Read, Robert Smith, Eugene Pigott and Theodore Jones concurred. "PRS represents a significant punishment component that restricts an individual's liberty."
[Email PAN for the entire article]
PRISON ACTION NETWORK PROJECTS INCLUDE PAROLE SUPPORT AND TRANSITIONAL HOUSING (PLEASE CONTACT THE CHAIRPERSONS TO OFFER ASSISTANCE)
Parole Support Project
Joe Rudd, 917- 423/5757
The Parole Support Project is re-evaluating its strategy for generating community support for the people our paroled members left behind. One thing is certain however, there will be a table at FED4 with parole support petitions for those people endorsed by the project committee.
Transitional Housing for Lifers and Longtermers
Sonny Rudert - drudertsonny@yahoo.com
Sonny is looking for appropriate buildings and ways of personally financing the purchase. Once the residence is ready for occupancy, interested community groups, including PAN, will be offered a chance to purchase and manage a set number of rooms for the use of their people.
Another possibility exists. There are people already running recovery residences who are interested in opening a new residence exclusively for people on parole, with services available for people who've been away for long sentences. Some of PAN's members are involved as consultants and may indeed be hired to direct the residence. So without having to raise vast sums of money and apply for permits, etc. we are already influencing the creation of housing that meets the needs of our members who will be reintegrating into society.
PRISON ACTION NETWORK IS LOOKING FOR MEMBERS TO REPRESENT US AT PRISON EVENTS. TO QUALIFY YOU MAY NOT HAVE PERSONAL CONTACT WITH A PERSON INCARCERATED IN NYS.
We are frequently invited to attend conferences and retreats given by prison groups, as well as requested to become a sponsor and attend the organization's regular meetings. Prison regulations classify such visiting as a volunteer activity and require that we fill out a volunteer application form. On this form we are asked whether we have personal contact with anyone in a NYS Correctional Facility. If we answer yes we are denied gate clearance. PAN's executive team at this time does not contain anyone who is not on parole or who does not have personal contact with "an inmate at a NYS Correctional Facility". Therefore we cannot accept these invitations. If you could, and would like to, represent us either at one event or as an ongoing participant at organization meetings,please give us a call [518 253 7533]. We guarantee you a worthwhile experience!
PRISON RADIO SCHEDULES: BE THE CHANGE, A NEW WEEKLY SHOW, WILL ADDRESS ISSUES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS; FANCY BROCCOLI: JUNE GUESTS: TINA STANFORD, JEFFRION AUBREY, SHEILA RULE. .
The producers of Fancy Broccoli are broadcasting a new show, "Be The Change". It will air every Wednesday from 5-6pm, and discuss issues of social justice and human rights with listeners.
Fancy Broccoli airs on WVKR, 91.3FM, Poughkeepsie NY on Sundays from 3 - 6 pm, Eastern Time, and streams online - go to www.WVKR.org and click on (or near) the word 'LISTEN'.
Coming up: on June 1 their guest will be Tina Stanford, Director of NYS Crime Victims; Assemblyperson Jeffrion Aubrey on June 8th, and Sheila Rule, Owner, ResillienceMultimedia Publishing on the 29th of June. And make sure to put August 10 on your calendar, when George Alexander will be there to answer questions.
Visit archives www.fancybroccoli.org to find lots of other good interviews. Write Fancy Broccoli Show, WVKR, Box 726, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0726
REENTRY TIPS: MANY PEOPLE KNOW THESE, BUT WE’RE FREQUENTLY ASKED ABOUT TRANSITIONAL HOUSING IN ALBANY BY PEOPLE WHO ARE FROM NYC OR THEY WERE CONVICTED THERE. SOME HAVE ASSUMED THE AGENCY PROVIDING RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMS WOULD MAKE THE ARRANGEMENTS WITH PAROLE. IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
All people eligible for parole must discuss with their prison's Institutional Parole Officer the options for Transitional Housing as well as whatever programming is required of them, prior to release. Once approved, Institutional Parole will contact Regional Parole, who will then contact the agency providing the housing and/or programs.
As far as housing is concerned it is our understanding that, without exception, individuals being released to parole supervision must return to the County of last known address or County of Conviction. Certainly if the person is able to propose a stable residence with family, it is more likely that he or she would be approved for an alternate county. If they propose a residence with friends it is likely that it would have to be deemed a stable residence and there would need to be a logical reason for proposing that particular site/county.
However, it is advisable to investigate options in the person's county of origin before discussing with the facility officer in order to be an informed consumer. Make sure the housing situation meets the needs of the person coming home. Some residences focus primarily on recovery and are not necessarily helpful for people who have served long sentences, been clean for years, and have lost all connections with the outside. [The Clearinghouse Project is working on a chart listing some of the differences.]
SEEN IN THE MEDIA: PAN MEMBER CHARLES CULHANE HAD HIS OPINION PRINTED IN THE EVERYBODYSCOLUMN OF THE BUFFALO NEWS
Archived here
Public pays steep price for badly broken system
The recent News article reporting a Buffalo city police officer retiring on a pension of $98,000 should not have been too surprising. It’s not an uncommon practice for state and municipal employees to pump up their retirement package by working overtime in their last working years, sometimes earning double and triple their normal salaries.
Several years ago, The News reported on salaries of guards at the Erie County Holding Center, where a nonranking officer earned $129,000 in one year.
Similarly, resistance by state corrections unions to prevent closure of four minimum-security jails reflects a determination to get the most out of the public treasury. The four facilities hold about 1,300 prisoners and presently there are more than 9,000 empty prisons beds in the state.
Prisons today are filled with thousands of people who stole a few hundred dollars or peddled a few dollars worth of drugs. Racism and greed lie at the heart of our criminal justice system. The irony, of course, is the wildly extravagant price the public pays for a broken system that helps no one except those with lucrative jobs and fat pensions.
--Charles Culhane, Buffalo
THOUGHTS FROM INSIDE: DON MASON ON THE FORGOTTEN MAN/WOMAN; ANONYMOUS* ON PAROLE BOARD DECISIONS
In 1884 William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) wrote two essays: “On the Case of a Certain Man who is Never Thought Of” and “The Case of the Forgotten Man Further Considered. He wrote of the common people who were good examples of taking personal responsibility, working hard, paying their taxes, and rarely if ever needing government services, and who end up having no voice in government spending decisions, and, in essence, becoming forgotten. During the Depression, Roosevelt used the phrase “The Forgotten Man” in several speeches, in reference to the person who was then unemployed and desperate. Roosevelt sold the New Deal by tugging heart-strings through his use of the phrase The Forgotten Man.
There are at least two instances today that create Forgotten Men/Women. The first is the responsibility of incarcerated persons, the parole board commissioners are responsible for the second.
First, some people in prison never stop to think of the financial burden that our arrest, trial, county time, and state incarceration have been to the average taxpayer (including our own family members). We have become part of the reason that NYS spends more each year for DOCS than SUNY. Each time we go to the mess hall, doctor, dentist, State Shop, the Forgotten Man/Woman (taxpayers) that get up each morning and go to work are paying for it.
Second, the parole board commissioners too are culpable. When they ignore Executive Law 259i, have no set criteria for who is released and who isn’t, and place primary emphasis on the nature of the crime and almost no recognition of prison accomplishments and positive change they contribute to the Forgotten Man/Woman’s situation. Each two year hit by the board costs the taxpayers at least $70,000 more.
Let us begin to ask, as Sumner did, “Who will pay for it? -- Don Mason
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I am going to appear before the Board in January 2009, and frankly I am awfully concerned about the arbitrary and capricious nature of the decisions coming down. For instance, they often decline to release you because you might not remain at liberty without violating the law; or you are a threat to society. As I see it, these arguments are illogical. No one can clearly say whether a person like me will commit another crime. It’s absurd; it is a conclusion not supported by facts. The fact that the Parole Commissioners keep using these types of arguments, and are not challenged by logicians, upsets me to no end... *[Name withheld by editor to protect the writer from possible retaliation, since we have no clue what influences parole board members in their decisions.]
TRANSPORTATION TO PRISONS: VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED TO DRIVE PEOPLE TO VISIT THEIR LOVED ONES IN PRISON. CALL PRISON ACTION NETWORK [518 253 7533] TO DISCUSS POSSIBILITIES. OTHER OPTIONS FOLLOW.
From the Capital District:
NEST Prison Shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow CFs on Sat, June 7($30 adults, $20 children), Coxsackie, Greene, and Hudson on Sat, June 14 ($15 adults, $10 children) from Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, then to Albany Greyhound bus station at 7:15. Trip to Utica (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) on Sat, June 21 leaving Troy at 5 AM. Sullivan trip (Ulster, Eastern, Woodbourne, Sullivan) on Sat, June 28 leaving at 6:30 AM ($40 adults, $25 children). Reservations: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
The NEST Gospel Fundraiser ensured that the shuttle can keep going another year! People had such a good time that we are considering doing this again next year. We will need to raise the price on each trip by $5 in July to help offset gas prices, but we can pay for the insurance, inspection and new brakes now! Thank you all for your support and kindness!
Door to door, free rides are offered from Albany to prisons within 150 miles by a volunteer of FUUSA’s Justice Committee on weekdays only. Please contact us at 518 253-7533 if you need a ride.
CarPooling: Please call 518 253 7533 if you would be willing to take a passenger or if you want a ride.
Statewide: DOCS Free Bus - to find out how to sign up, from NYC area: Deacon Mason on Tues. &
Fri., 212 961 4026 and from Albany: on Wed & Thurs., 518 485 9212; from Buffalo area: Rev. Roberson 716 532 0177, x4805; from Syracuse: Sister Patricia: 315 428 4258
WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND NEW YORK STATE: ADVOCACY FOR THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE MERIT TIME BILL, THE DOCUMENTARY, “PRISON LIFE STORIES” SHOWING IN BFLO, COALITION FOR WOMEN PRISONERS HIRED MAGGIE WILLIAMS, BECOMING THE PROMISED LAND: FAITH, COMMUNITY, AND THE PRISON REENTRY POPULATION, A TWO DAY CONFERENCE IN NYC
ALBANY: Thursday June 5 - the Violence Against Women Committee of the Correctional Association of NY will advocate for the Domestic Violence Merit Time Bill, S.3164/A.6150 in Albany. To participate, you MUST attend training. Please contact Maggie Williams, 212 254 5700, x334, or mwilliams@correctionalassociation.org
for information about how to do this.
BUFFALO: Prisoners Are People Too! meets monthly in Buffalo at the Pratt-Willert Community Center, 422 Pratt Street from 6:30-8:30pm.
At its next meeting on Monday, June 23, 2008, Prisoners Are People Too! will screen the documentary, “Prison Life Stories” (2008), produced and directed in Philadelphia, PA by Michael Kuetemeyer, Deborah Rudman, and Anula Shetty of the Termite Television Collective. Through the voices of imprisoned people, family members and justice advocates, the audience will be led to explore the many ways that incarceration affects individuals, families, and communities.
As Prisoners Are People Too! celebrates its third year, we fully recognize the value of people sharing their stories of imprisonment and freedom, pain and triumph, and everything in between. The stories make our mission clear and give us hope. Guest “storytellers” will include a person who has “served time” behind bars; an individual, with an imprisoned loved one, who has “served time” on the homefront; and a social justice advocate who believes in equal justice and fairness for all.
The next meeting of Prisoners Are People Too! is scheduled for July 28. Film and guest speaker(s) TBA.
PRP2! programs are sponsored by The Circle of Supporters for Reformed Offenders and Friends of Baba Eng. For further information, contact Karima Amin at 716-834-8438 or karima@prisonersarepeopletoo.org
.
NEW YORK CITY:
The Coalition for Women Prisoners has hired a new Associate Director. Maggie Williams formerly founded and directed the Voter Enfranchisement Project (VEP) at the Bronx Defenders, which she left to accept a 5-month fellowship with MoveOn.org Political Action, focusing on grassroots organizing using the internet. Prison Action Network congratulates Maggie and the Correctional Association for choosing to work together to change criminal justice policy in NYS.
Becoming the Promised Land: Faith, Community, and the Prison Reentry Population, a two day conference from June 12-13, 10am-6pm. Free and open to the public, registration is required: 212 662 4315, or cmj@auburnsem.org. Auburn Theological Seminary, 3041 Broadway at 121st St. NYC 10027.
This conference will explore the biblical and theological foundations and contexts for work with and among the prison reentry population. It will consider ways in which churches and other communities and organizations can and do work with formerly incarcerated women and men to bring about God’s healing and wholeness.
Prison Action Network is grateful to Community Church of NY, Unitarian Universalist, for their support.
Posted June 25: from Coalition for Women Prisoners’ Conditions on the Inside Committee
Special HIV & Hep-C Community Forum
When: Thursday June 26th from 6 – 8 pm
Where: Correctional Association of NY, 2090 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd, Suite 200
Speakers include: Rusti Miller Hill (Women’s HIV Collaborative of NY), Rita “Sunshine” Brooks (Housing Works, Women’s Advocacy Project Graduate), Jack Beck (Correctional Association – Prison Visiting Project), Tracie Gardner (Legal Action Center/Women's Initiative to Stop HIV/AIDS)
Are you a formerly incarcerated woman?***
Do you work with currently or formerly incarcerated women?
Do you work with women who are HIV positive or women who have Hepatitis C?
Are you concerned about the adequacy of health care in state prisons?
Join the Conditions on the Inside Committee to find out how you can help improve healthcare for women in prison.
Did you know that the New York State Department of Health oversees medical care in hospitals and clinics in the community, but NOT in New York State correctional facilities?
Serious inadequacies exist in health care services in New York’s prisons, including care for individuals with HIV and Hepatitis C. Come and learn how you can join the effort to secure New York State Department of Health oversight for all incarcerated people living with HIV and Hepatitis C in New York State.
***Women who are formerly incarcerated can be offered two metrocards – Please call in advance to reserve them!***
Please RSVP before Monday, June 23rd to 212-254-5700 x336.
cwpeventRSVP@gmail.com
Posted June 18:
GRAZIANO VS PATAKI
The Court adjourned the conference. NO definite date has been set for the next conference. In the meantime, the lawyers are finishing up discovery and the case will be decided either on motion or trial.
Posted June 11:
NOMINATION OF 2 NEW MEMBERS TO PAROLE BOARD
Governor David A. Paterson has announced the nomination of two new members to the Board of Parole. (Note: These appointments require Senate confirmation, and we know who's in the Senate...)
Joseph B. Crangle has been nominated as a Member of the State Board of Parole. Since 2000, Mr. Crangle has been an Assistant Court Analyst with the New York State Office of Court Administration. In this role, Mr. Crangle is assigned to the Domestic Violence Part of the Buffalo City Court where he monitors defendants compliance with court orders. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Crangle was a Probation Officer with the Genesee County Probation Department, where he oversaw the Pretrial Release Under Supervision program. Mr. Crangle received his BA from Canisius College and his JD from the City University of New York.
Mary Ross has been nominated as a Member of the State Board of Parole. She has been a Staff Attorney with the Legal Aid Society in Queens, New York since 1998. From 1990 to 1995, Ms. Ross was the Executive Director of Providence House, directing this nonprofit corporation that provides transitional and permanent housing for female ex-offenders, homeless women and their children. Ms. Ross was previously the Program Director of Providence House from 1984 to 1990. Ms. Ross was also the Campus Minister at Queens College from 1982 to 1984 and was the Director of Administrative Services at the Diocese of Brooklyn from 1978 to 1982. She received her BA in Education from St. Josephs College, her MS in Education from Brooklyn College and her JD from the City University of New York.
Salaries for Members of the Parole Board are set at $101,600. These appointments require Senate confirmation.
BUILDING BRIDGES, JUNE 2008
Dear Reader,
It’s time to start working toward Family Empowerment Day 4. The Family Empowerment Project Executive Committee met on May 24. We decided to schedule the NYC event around the same time as in past years, on a Saturday in late October, so either October 18, 25 or November 1, depending on when we can reserve space. We're looking into spaces including the possibility of Columbia Law School again. You are the ones who pay for it. Are you willing to send a donation of at least the same amount as you did last year? Please respond with your pledge so we know whether people think Columbia is worth it. (The committee pretty much agreed that a law school feels like a good match for our event.) The theme this year will be "A Call to Action", which will build on the education and community building of past years to move us forward.
We will have less workshops than last year to choose from, and we'd like to have representatives of community based advocacy organizations and formerly incarcerated people lead them.
If time is in our favor (meaning if the final version is complete by then) we will start the day with the World Premiere of The Visitors, the documentary by Melis Birder about the trip from NYC to upstate prisons. We are considering following it with 2 -3 breakout sessions inspired by issues arising from the film.
After lunch a speaker (or panel) will report on the state of parole, followed by an exhaustive question and answer session with the audience.
Right now is the time for you to give feedback. Do you have another theme you'd prefer? Is there a speaker you'd especially like to hear from? What group/s or organization/s do you belong to that provide services or advocate for incarcerated persons or their families? Have any of you started the work as a result of past FED events? Is there an action you’d like to see us take as the culmination of the day’s event? Please send your suggestions within the month of June, as we have to move quickly with the planning. Thank you for all you do.
Together we can!
Please send a link to BUILDING BRIDGES to your friends or family. Our success depends on us all being on the same page!
In this Issue
Dear Friend penpal project
Employment services
Journalism project
Lifers and Longtermers
Mental health issues
Merit time bill S7889
Parole
Paterson's gun violence legislation
Post-release supervision (PRS)
Prison Action Network projects
Prison Action Network outside reps
Prison-radio schedules
Reentry tips
Seen in other media
Thoughts from Inside
Transportation to prisons
What’s happening around New York State
DEAR FRIENDS (PENPAL PROJECT) SENDS APOLOGY
The founder and director of the Dear Friends Pen Pal Project has been ill and it set her back temporarily in her ability to respond to all your requests. She asks you to accept her apologies and thanks you for your patience. She WILL reorganize! Thanks to all who’ve written.
EMPLOYMENT SERVICES AVAILABLE AT NO COST TO QUALIFYING INDIVIDUALS
WAGE$ (Work And Gainful Employment $ervices) is a free job readiness and placement program for men and women in recovery. They must be in a treatment program in Nassau County. They only need to be clean 1 month and 97% of our clients have convictions. They can call me with any questions at 516 227-8527 or write: Kathleen Kearns, Job Developer, WAGE$, 60 Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Uniondale, NY 11553
JOURNALISM PROJECT CREATES RESEARCH AND WRITERS’ BUREAUS, APPOINTS A LIBRARIAN , AND BEGINS COMPILING A RESOURCE LIST.
The goal of Prison Action Network’s Journalism Project is to promote in the media those issues that are important to us, and to respond quickly and effectively to press reports—both positive and negative—about those issues. We plan to become a go-to organization for journalists who are seeking reliable sources and information, solid story ideas and dependable guidance on placing issues in proper context. We are currently setting up the project’s infrastructure, including:
Researchers—We have recruited eight volunteer researchers and have begun using the electronic research tool “Really Simple Syndication” to easily and effectively gather a range of articles important to our cause. The researchers will collect and distribute articles that demand our attention and, over time, will create a data bank of media contacts and resources on various topics. We will use the information to persuade columnists, reporters and editors to report on all sides—including ours—of the issues we care about. As we determine the researchers’ specific interests, we may ask them to specialize in one subtopic.
Writers—We are seeking writers who can respond effectively to media reports. We are advertising for volunteers who have good writing skills and who care about our issues. We will provide them with sample letters and guidance on how to correspond or respond in a way that has impact.
Resources--We are collecting a file of people and organizations who have uniquely powerful stories to tell in support of the issues that are important to us.
Librarian--We have a volunteer who will collect and maintain files of articles useful to us in supporting our contentions.
We also are considering a workshop at Family Empowerment Day 4 to teach others how to work with and respond to the media in order to get the word out about our unique perspectives.
LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS’ CLEARINGHOUSE OFFERS GUIDANCE & DIRECTION, OUTREACH, AND INFORMATION. FEEDBACK IS REQUESTED FROM LIFERS AND LONGTERMERS ABOUT THE SERVICES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. WHAT HAS BEEN VALUABLE; WHAT IS STILL NEEDED?
The primary purpose of establishing a lifers clearinghouse is to provide the following services:
1) Guidance & Direction Because lifer and long-termer organizations are authorized and approved by DOCS Directive 4760, which governs the operation and organizational procedures of all approved inmate organizations, it is crucial that lifer organizations abide by the policy and procedures outlined in the Directive.
Although Directive 4760 governing Inmate Organizations provides policy and procedures for the operation of lifer organizations, it does not sufficiently provide procedures to be followed when the process breaks down. The Lifers Clearinghouse seeks to provide prison organizations with guidance and direction in resolving these difficulties when they arise. In addition, the Clearinghouse will offer unsolicited guidance and direction in matters it thinks will provide lifer and long-termer organizations with beneficial information and direction that brings such organizations into accord with criminal justice approaches being utilized by community advocacy organizations.
2) Outreach The Lifers Clearinghouse will seek to provide community contacts, community sponsorship, and community resources that lifer organizations require to effectively provide programs and services to their membership and to the general population. In this regard the Clearinghouse is in the process of compiling a listing of community-based organizations willing to offer services to lifer organizations. WE ARE SEEKING INPUT FROM PRISON ORGANIZATIONS about which community organizations are working with them, what services are being provided, and what are still lacking?
3) Information Through this column in Building Bridges, and special mailings to our reps in prison, we will provide information pertaining to criminal and social justice activities and approaches for the attention of lifer organizations.
Current Activities of the Lifer Clearinghouse: Contacts and meetings are being arranged to develop a coalition of community and faith-based organizations that will commit to the task of addressing the needs and issues of long-termer and lifers-without-parole segments of the general prison population. With the advent of re-entry as the dominant theme in criminal justice nationally, most if not practically all concerns are focused on providing services after the imprisoned are released. This leaves long-term and lifers-without parole dependent upon the services provided to them by DOCS. DOCS has openly admitted to being unable to develop programs and service specifically designed to address the unique problems of those serving long term sentences. We insist that the community has an indisputable claim as a stake holder in the correctional process and that the community therefore has an obligation to provide input in the correctional process. Such a stance, which is a legitimate one, will help us in organizing faith and community organizations to offer services to lifers and long-termers.
-- Lawrence White
MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES ARE GETTING ATTENTION: UNION CALLS FOR REMOVAL OF MENTAL HEALTH UNIT, NAMI DISCUSSES MENTAL ILLNESS AND THE DEATH PENALTY
Union calls for removal of mental health unit at prison
Reported By Don Lehman, dlehman@poststar.com
Thursday, May 1, 2008 9:05 PM EDT
The union that represents correction officers at Great Meadow Correctional Facility is calling for the state to scrap a new prison unit for the mentally ill because of security concerns. Great Meadow was one of two state prisons that established so-called "behavioral health units" in 2005 after the settlement of a lawsuit against the state Department of Correctional Services over mental health care. As part of the settlement, the state designated a 38-cell area as a behavioral health unit at the maximum-security prison in an effort to better treat the severely mentally ill who are in the prison system.
The units are operated, though, by the state Office of Mental Health, and that has led to problems between correction officers and the Office of Mental Health employees who run the behavioral health unit, said Scott Bishop, chief sector steward at Great Meadow for the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association. "The safety and the security of the facility should be of the utmost importance, but we don’t feel that’s the case (in the behavioral health unit)," he said. "The officers who are there feel they are handcuffed, and they don’t have any recourse." Bishop and Larry Flanagan, president of the state Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said correction officers have not been able to provide security as they normally would, which has led to injuries among correction officers, and inmates in the behavioral health unit aren’t disciplined for their offenses.
"It has created a great deal of frustration for us," Flanagan said. "DOCS can’t dictate to mental health, and it’s leading to problems. I don’t believe the Department (of Correctional Services) is aware of the changes that are being made there daily." One of the major problems is that inmates who act out in the behavioral health unit haven’t been disciplined as they should be, Bishop said. State prisons use a three-tier system of discipline for inmates, depending on the seriousness of the offense, and that system is not being used in the behavioral health unit, he said. "Civilian staff and the security staff are really bumping heads," Bishop said.
Erik Kriss, a spokesman for DOCS, said behavioral health units are a "collaborative effort" of DOCS and the Office of Mental Health, and DOCS has significant input on security matters. DOCS has received only one report of a correction officer assigned to the behavioral health unit being hurt, and that injury was minor. Officers can also request transfers out of the behavioral health unit. Kriss said the disciplinary proceedings were changed for those in the behavioral health unit cells so they aren’t subject to "misbehavior reports," as other prisoners are. Instead, they receive "informational reports." Kriss said they are still disciplined, though. As of earlier this year, 233 disciplinary actions had been taken against prisoners in Great Meadow’s behavioral health unit, he said. "The (behavioral health unit) is a risky place," he acknowledged. "But we are under court order not to treat the mentally ill as we have in the past. We think the changes make sense."
Jill Daniels, a spokeswoman for the Office of Mental Health, said the behavioral health units are "operated primarily" by the Office of Mental Health. She said they are for inmates who otherwise would have been confined to special housing units. "(Behavioral health units) are the most intense level of mental health services provided to prison inmates prone to disciplinary infractions," Daniels said in an e-mail statement. "The program is designed to meet the mental health needs of these individuals while taking into consideration their disciplinary status and safety and security requirements."
.................................
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is an education, advocacy, referral and support organization with more than 1,200 local affiliates across all 50 states. Kathleen Bayes, whose husband struggled with mental illness, is the Executive Director of NAMI Fort Wayne, in Indiana. Kathleen spoke about why ending the death penalty is important to her: “The death penalty is often given in cases of particularly violent or baseless crimes. Such crimes are often committed by people who suffer from serious brain disorders. These are not crimes of choice. When such people are medicated and find out what they have done, they are as horrified as anyone else would be. This very well could have happened to my husband. Today, after treatment, he is a brilliant, kind, and gentle person, just as he was before he became ill. It is the worst nightmare of NAMI families to have a loved one hurt someone and face the death penalty. What the capital punishment system does to a family is horrific, with the torment of publicity and appeals that last for years and years -- all for something the person would not have done if they were in their right mind. The failure of our society to treat people with mental illness is a disaster. As we have closed our state mental hospitals around the country, jails and prisons have taken over, becoming in effect our country's largest mental institutions. We are criminalizing mental illness, when we should be treating it.”
Across the country, state and local groups in the movement to halt executions have joined with mental health advocacy organizations to call for more funding for preventive mental health care, and for the prohibition of the death penalty for persons with serious mental illness.
MERIT TIME BILL: S7889 SPONSOR: SEN. MONTGOMERY; A10716 ASSMBLY. AUBREY
SUMMARY: AMENDS S803, REPLACED SUB 2-B, COR L [Click here to locate the actual bill]
Allows all qualifying inmates to be granted a merit time allowance; increases the merit time allowance credit against indeterminate and determinate sentences to one-third of the minimum and maximum periods.
PAROLE - IMPORTANT UPDATE ON THE GRAZIANO CASE; AN EXPLANATION OF WHY PAROLE DATES WERE MOVED UP; AND PAROLE STATISTICS
Graziano vs Pataki
There will be a pretrial conference on June 13, but only to (hopefully) schedule the actual trail. No reason to attend. Check this website after June 16 for updates. It will be important to be there, both to show our support to Graziano et.al. and to show the court and any press that attends that there are a lot of us who agree that current parole policies do not follow the intent of the law.
Parole Hearing Updates:
Last month people inquired why the Parole Board was moving the dates of parole appearances up. The reason given is so that there is more time to prepare for reintegration, to actually connect returning individuals with the services they will need when they go home. The release date, if parole is granted, does not change..
Parole Statistics:
There’s an addition to the Parole website at which all parole releases are listed by month. A researcher who is looking up people with long terms to see the rates and numbers of releases, has offered to share her reports with us. We’ve deleted the names to protect the privacy of the individuals. Of course they can be found at the website. Below is the first report based on this website [except Woodbourne and A.K.-May, which came from another source].
March 2008 Interviews
126 Interviews: 19 initial, 107 reappearances
13 Released: 0 initial, 13 reappearances
94 Denials: 17 initial, 77 reappearances
19 Postponed: 2 initial, 17 reappearances
Total Interviews without postponements is 107
The following are reports on individuals. The first number refers to the minum sentence of a particular person, the second is which board this was for the individual. For instance, in March five long termers were released at A.K., the last one listed was serving a sentence whose minimum was 15 years and he was released at his 4th board.
March Releases
Arthur Kill - 25 years - 3rd board; 20 on 2nd; 1-life on 1st?; 25 on 3rd; 15 on 4th
Collins - 25 on 2nd
Clinton - 20 on 3rd
Mid Orange - 15 on 11th; 25 on 4th
Otisville - 20 on 5th,
Riverview - 25 on 2nd
Taconic female - 15 on 3rd
Wende - 15 on 8th
April 2008 Interviews:
146 interviews: 19 initial, 127 reappearances
17 releases: 2 initial, 15 reappearances
102 denials: 14 initials, 88 reappearances
27 postponed: 3 initials, 24 reappearances
Total interviews without postponements would be 119.
April Releases
Arthur kill - 15 years on 5th board; 22 on 2nd; 15 on 2nd; 20 on 2nd; 20 on initial
Bayview Female - 18 years on initial
Cayuga - 15 years on 2nd board; 15 on 9th
Collins - 25 years on 9th board
Fishkill - 25 years on 4th board
Greenhaven - 17 years on 7th board
Mid Orange - 22 years on 3rd; 18 on 2nd
Midstate - 15 years on 2nd board
Otisville - 16 years on 9th board
Riverview - 20 years on 2nd board
Woodbourne - only 1 out of 25 made the board.
May at Arthur Kill: 98 seen, 27 given dates (1 a deportation), 39 were initials, of those 10 were granted parole, 7 were postponed. 47 were reappearances, of those 12 were granted, 9 were postponed. 11 merit time interviews, 2 were granted, 7 were postponed. Commissioners: Lemons, Gallivan, Loomis
ONE YEAR AFTER VIRGINIA TECH TRAGEDY, GOVERNOR PATERSON PROPOSES LEGISLATION TO REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE, LEGISLATION INTRODUCED WOULD STRENGTHEN REGULATIONS FOR GUN SELLERS AND REDUCE SALES TO CRIMINALS; REFORMS WOULD IMPROVE BACKGROUND CHECKS WHILE PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF LAW-ABIDING GUN OWNERS
May 19, 2008 Contact: Errol Cockfield | Errol.Cockfield@chamber.state.ny.us | 212.681.4640 | 518.474.8418
Governor David A. Paterson today proposed legislation designed to reduce gun violence without infringing on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. The proposed legislation would increase public safety by providing law enforcement officials with more complete information to ensure guns are purchased legally. The legislation also includes proposals in response to the Virginia Tech shooting last year.
In particular, the bill: (1) allows relevant mental health records to be included in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS); (2) improves the use of the State's Combined Ballistic Identification System (CoBIS) in solving serious gun crimes; (3) updates and clarifies the State's gun licensing laws; and (4) provides for increased security at gun shops, including requirements for licensing and training of employees who handle guns.
The Governor's proposed legislation contains numerous other provisions to enhance public safety, including measures that would help law enforcement prevent guns from getting in the hands of criminals. For example, the bill:
• Requires employees of gun shops who handle and sell guns to undergo a criminal background check, and eventually to obtain a gun license;
• Requires that all applicants for a gun license successfully complete a gun safety course
• Requires the Superintendent of State Police to issue regulations to ensure that gun shops are operating securely and to ensure that gun shop employees are properly trained in gun safety and laws regulating the purchase and sale of firearms;
• Clarifies the circumstances under which gun shops will be subject to inspection by the State Police; and,
• Updates and clarifies confusing provisions in New York's gun licensing statutes that have led to their inconsistent application.
• These amendments will not restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners, but will greatly enhance law-enforcement efforts to reduce criminal activity in the State, including crimes involving the use of firearms.
NEW YORK'S HIGHEST COURT RULES THAT DOCS CANNOT IMPOSE POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION ON INMATES AS THEY EXIT PRISON WHEN THE SENTENCING JUDGE NEGLECTED TO
New York court rules that only judges can impose post-release supervision after prison terms.
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press
Last updated: 6:02 p.m., Tuesday, April 29, 2008
ALBANY -- New York's highest court ruled Tuesday that the Department of Correctional Services cannot impose post-release supervision on inmates as they exit prison when the sentencing judge neglected to. ..."The sentencing judge -- and only the sentencing judge -- is authorized to pronounce the PRS component of a defendant's sentence," Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick wrote. Chief Judge Judith Kaye and judges Victoria Graffeo, Susan Read, Robert Smith, Eugene Pigott and Theodore Jones concurred. "PRS represents a significant punishment component that restricts an individual's liberty."
[Email PAN for the entire article]
PRISON ACTION NETWORK PROJECTS INCLUDE PAROLE SUPPORT AND TRANSITIONAL HOUSING (PLEASE CONTACT THE CHAIRPERSONS TO OFFER ASSISTANCE)
Parole Support Project
Joe Rudd, 917- 423/5757
The Parole Support Project is re-evaluating its strategy for generating community support for the people our paroled members left behind. One thing is certain however, there will be a table at FED4 with parole support petitions for those people endorsed by the project committee.
Transitional Housing for Lifers and Longtermers
Sonny Rudert - drudertsonny@yahoo.com
Sonny is looking for appropriate buildings and ways of personally financing the purchase. Once the residence is ready for occupancy, interested community groups, including PAN, will be offered a chance to purchase and manage a set number of rooms for the use of their people.
Another possibility exists. There are people already running recovery residences who are interested in opening a new residence exclusively for people on parole, with services available for people who've been away for long sentences. Some of PAN's members are involved as consultants and may indeed be hired to direct the residence. So without having to raise vast sums of money and apply for permits, etc. we are already influencing the creation of housing that meets the needs of our members who will be reintegrating into society.
PRISON ACTION NETWORK IS LOOKING FOR MEMBERS TO REPRESENT US AT PRISON EVENTS. TO QUALIFY YOU MAY NOT HAVE PERSONAL CONTACT WITH A PERSON INCARCERATED IN NYS.
We are frequently invited to attend conferences and retreats given by prison groups, as well as requested to become a sponsor and attend the organization's regular meetings. Prison regulations classify such visiting as a volunteer activity and require that we fill out a volunteer application form. On this form we are asked whether we have personal contact with anyone in a NYS Correctional Facility. If we answer yes we are denied gate clearance. PAN's executive team at this time does not contain anyone who is not on parole or who does not have personal contact with "an inmate at a NYS Correctional Facility". Therefore we cannot accept these invitations. If you could, and would like to, represent us either at one event or as an ongoing participant at organization meetings,please give us a call [518 253 7533]. We guarantee you a worthwhile experience!
PRISON RADIO SCHEDULES: BE THE CHANGE, A NEW WEEKLY SHOW, WILL ADDRESS ISSUES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS; FANCY BROCCOLI: JUNE GUESTS: TINA STANFORD, JEFFRION AUBREY, SHEILA RULE. .
The producers of Fancy Broccoli are broadcasting a new show, "Be The Change". It will air every Wednesday from 5-6pm, and discuss issues of social justice and human rights with listeners.
Fancy Broccoli airs on WVKR, 91.3FM, Poughkeepsie NY on Sundays from 3 - 6 pm, Eastern Time, and streams online - go to www.WVKR.org and click on (or near) the word 'LISTEN'.
Coming up: on June 1 their guest will be Tina Stanford, Director of NYS Crime Victims; Assemblyperson Jeffrion Aubrey on June 8th, and Sheila Rule, Owner, ResillienceMultimedia Publishing on the 29th of June. And make sure to put August 10 on your calendar, when George Alexander will be there to answer questions.
Visit archives www.fancybroccoli.org to find lots of other good interviews. Write Fancy Broccoli Show, WVKR, Box 726, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0726
REENTRY TIPS: MANY PEOPLE KNOW THESE, BUT WE’RE FREQUENTLY ASKED ABOUT TRANSITIONAL HOUSING IN ALBANY BY PEOPLE WHO ARE FROM NYC OR THEY WERE CONVICTED THERE. SOME HAVE ASSUMED THE AGENCY PROVIDING RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMS WOULD MAKE THE ARRANGEMENTS WITH PAROLE. IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
All people eligible for parole must discuss with their prison's Institutional Parole Officer the options for Transitional Housing as well as whatever programming is required of them, prior to release. Once approved, Institutional Parole will contact Regional Parole, who will then contact the agency providing the housing and/or programs.
As far as housing is concerned it is our understanding that, without exception, individuals being released to parole supervision must return to the County of last known address or County of Conviction. Certainly if the person is able to propose a stable residence with family, it is more likely that he or she would be approved for an alternate county. If they propose a residence with friends it is likely that it would have to be deemed a stable residence and there would need to be a logical reason for proposing that particular site/county.
However, it is advisable to investigate options in the person's county of origin before discussing with the facility officer in order to be an informed consumer. Make sure the housing situation meets the needs of the person coming home. Some residences focus primarily on recovery and are not necessarily helpful for people who have served long sentences, been clean for years, and have lost all connections with the outside. [The Clearinghouse Project is working on a chart listing some of the differences.]
SEEN IN THE MEDIA: PAN MEMBER CHARLES CULHANE HAD HIS OPINION PRINTED IN THE EVERYBODYSCOLUMN OF THE BUFFALO NEWS
Archived here
Public pays steep price for badly broken system
The recent News article reporting a Buffalo city police officer retiring on a pension of $98,000 should not have been too surprising. It’s not an uncommon practice for state and municipal employees to pump up their retirement package by working overtime in their last working years, sometimes earning double and triple their normal salaries.
Several years ago, The News reported on salaries of guards at the Erie County Holding Center, where a nonranking officer earned $129,000 in one year.
Similarly, resistance by state corrections unions to prevent closure of four minimum-security jails reflects a determination to get the most out of the public treasury. The four facilities hold about 1,300 prisoners and presently there are more than 9,000 empty prisons beds in the state.
Prisons today are filled with thousands of people who stole a few hundred dollars or peddled a few dollars worth of drugs. Racism and greed lie at the heart of our criminal justice system. The irony, of course, is the wildly extravagant price the public pays for a broken system that helps no one except those with lucrative jobs and fat pensions.
--Charles Culhane, Buffalo
THOUGHTS FROM INSIDE: DON MASON ON THE FORGOTTEN MAN/WOMAN; ANONYMOUS* ON PAROLE BOARD DECISIONS
In 1884 William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) wrote two essays: “On the Case of a Certain Man who is Never Thought Of” and “The Case of the Forgotten Man Further Considered. He wrote of the common people who were good examples of taking personal responsibility, working hard, paying their taxes, and rarely if ever needing government services, and who end up having no voice in government spending decisions, and, in essence, becoming forgotten. During the Depression, Roosevelt used the phrase “The Forgotten Man” in several speeches, in reference to the person who was then unemployed and desperate. Roosevelt sold the New Deal by tugging heart-strings through his use of the phrase The Forgotten Man.
There are at least two instances today that create Forgotten Men/Women. The first is the responsibility of incarcerated persons, the parole board commissioners are responsible for the second.
First, some people in prison never stop to think of the financial burden that our arrest, trial, county time, and state incarceration have been to the average taxpayer (including our own family members). We have become part of the reason that NYS spends more each year for DOCS than SUNY. Each time we go to the mess hall, doctor, dentist, State Shop, the Forgotten Man/Woman (taxpayers) that get up each morning and go to work are paying for it.
Second, the parole board commissioners too are culpable. When they ignore Executive Law 259i, have no set criteria for who is released and who isn’t, and place primary emphasis on the nature of the crime and almost no recognition of prison accomplishments and positive change they contribute to the Forgotten Man/Woman’s situation. Each two year hit by the board costs the taxpayers at least $70,000 more.
Let us begin to ask, as Sumner did, “Who will pay for it? -- Don Mason
------------------------------------
I am going to appear before the Board in January 2009, and frankly I am awfully concerned about the arbitrary and capricious nature of the decisions coming down. For instance, they often decline to release you because you might not remain at liberty without violating the law; or you are a threat to society. As I see it, these arguments are illogical. No one can clearly say whether a person like me will commit another crime. It’s absurd; it is a conclusion not supported by facts. The fact that the Parole Commissioners keep using these types of arguments, and are not challenged by logicians, upsets me to no end... *[Name withheld by editor to protect the writer from possible retaliation, since we have no clue what influences parole board members in their decisions.]
TRANSPORTATION TO PRISONS: VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED TO DRIVE PEOPLE TO VISIT THEIR LOVED ONES IN PRISON. CALL PRISON ACTION NETWORK [518 253 7533] TO DISCUSS POSSIBILITIES. OTHER OPTIONS FOLLOW.
From the Capital District:
NEST Prison Shuttle schedule: Mt. McGregor, Washington, and Great Meadow CFs on Sat, June 7($30 adults, $20 children), Coxsackie, Greene, and Hudson on Sat, June 14 ($15 adults, $10 children) from Oakwood Ave Presbyt. Church parking lot, Troy at 7 AM, then to Albany Greyhound bus station at 7:15. Trip to Utica (Midstate, Marcy, Mohawk, Oneida) on Sat, June 21 leaving Troy at 5 AM. Sullivan trip (Ulster, Eastern, Woodbourne, Sullivan) on Sat, June 28 leaving at 6:30 AM ($40 adults, $25 children). Reservations: Linda O'Malley 518- 273-5199.
The NEST Gospel Fundraiser ensured that the shuttle can keep going another year! People had such a good time that we are considering doing this again next year. We will need to raise the price on each trip by $5 in July to help offset gas prices, but we can pay for the insurance, inspection and new brakes now! Thank you all for your support and kindness!
Door to door, free rides are offered from Albany to prisons within 150 miles by a volunteer of FUUSA’s Justice Committee on weekdays only. Please contact us at 518 253-7533 if you need a ride.
CarPooling: Please call 518 253 7533 if you would be willing to take a passenger or if you want a ride.
Statewide: DOCS Free Bus - to find out how to sign up, from NYC area: Deacon Mason on Tues. &
Fri., 212 961 4026 and from Albany: on Wed & Thurs., 518 485 9212; from Buffalo area: Rev. Roberson 716 532 0177, x4805; from Syracuse: Sister Patricia: 315 428 4258
WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND NEW YORK STATE: ADVOCACY FOR THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE MERIT TIME BILL, THE DOCUMENTARY, “PRISON LIFE STORIES” SHOWING IN BFLO, COALITION FOR WOMEN PRISONERS HIRED MAGGIE WILLIAMS, BECOMING THE PROMISED LAND: FAITH, COMMUNITY, AND THE PRISON REENTRY POPULATION, A TWO DAY CONFERENCE IN NYC
ALBANY: Thursday June 5 - the Violence Against Women Committee of the Correctional Association of NY will advocate for the Domestic Violence Merit Time Bill, S.3164/A.6150 in Albany. To participate, you MUST attend training. Please contact Maggie Williams, 212 254 5700, x334, or mwilliams@correctionalassociation.org
for information about how to do this.
BUFFALO: Prisoners Are People Too! meets monthly in Buffalo at the Pratt-Willert Community Center, 422 Pratt Street from 6:30-8:30pm.
At its next meeting on Monday, June 23, 2008, Prisoners Are People Too! will screen the documentary, “Prison Life Stories” (2008), produced and directed in Philadelphia, PA by Michael Kuetemeyer, Deborah Rudman, and Anula Shetty of the Termite Television Collective. Through the voices of imprisoned people, family members and justice advocates, the audience will be led to explore the many ways that incarceration affects individuals, families, and communities.
As Prisoners Are People Too! celebrates its third year, we fully recognize the value of people sharing their stories of imprisonment and freedom, pain and triumph, and everything in between. The stories make our mission clear and give us hope. Guest “storytellers” will include a person who has “served time” behind bars; an individual, with an imprisoned loved one, who has “served time” on the homefront; and a social justice advocate who believes in equal justice and fairness for all.
The next meeting of Prisoners Are People Too! is scheduled for July 28. Film and guest speaker(s) TBA.
PRP2! programs are sponsored by The Circle of Supporters for Reformed Offenders and Friends of Baba Eng. For further information, contact Karima Amin at 716-834-8438 or karima@prisonersarepeopletoo.org
.
NEW YORK CITY:
The Coalition for Women Prisoners has hired a new Associate Director. Maggie Williams formerly founded and directed the Voter Enfranchisement Project (VEP) at the Bronx Defenders, which she left to accept a 5-month fellowship with MoveOn.org Political Action, focusing on grassroots organizing using the internet. Prison Action Network congratulates Maggie and the Correctional Association for choosing to work together to change criminal justice policy in NYS.
Becoming the Promised Land: Faith, Community, and the Prison Reentry Population, a two day conference from June 12-13, 10am-6pm. Free and open to the public, registration is required: 212 662 4315, or cmj@auburnsem.org. Auburn Theological Seminary, 3041 Broadway at 121st St. NYC 10027.
This conference will explore the biblical and theological foundations and contexts for work with and among the prison reentry population. It will consider ways in which churches and other communities and organizations can and do work with formerly incarcerated women and men to bring about God’s healing and wholeness.
Prison Action Network is grateful to Community Church of NY, Unitarian Universalist, for their support.
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