Mississippi examines help for departing inmates
A Mississippi law that took effect July 1 expands parole eligibility, and lawmakers are looking at programs that could help people make the transition from prison back into the free world. House and Senate committees met Wednesday at the state Capitol to gather ideas from several people, including prison and parole officials in Alabama, a leader of a nonprofit group that helps former inmates, and an executive of a software company that coordinates services for people leaving prison. One common theme in the presentations was that people who have been incarcerated fare better in the next phase of their lives if they receive guidance in practical matters such as getting a driver’s license, finding a place to live, and finding a job. “We need to make sure that we try to equip individuals with as much as we possibly can when they come back into society, so they don’t go back into the place they came from,” Senate Corrections Committee Chairman Juan Barnett, a Democrat from Heidelberg, told The Associated Press on Friday. “It’s one of those things that we really, really need to tackle.” House Corrections Committee Chairman Kevin Horan, a Republican from Grenada, said Friday that Mississippi needs to improve transitional housing for people leaving prison. He also said legislators also could consider creating reentry courts to provide supervision and guidance for departing inmates. Jefferson Dunn, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections, told Mississippi lawmakers that his state develops a “programming plan” for each inmate who enters the prison system, with a goal of preparing them to leave when they are paroled or when they reach the end of their sentences. “Reentry begins with entry,” Dunn said. “We have reworked our entry process to begin that process of reentry, whether it is three years or 30 years or longer, in the department. … We want to begin from Day 1 to have inmates look towards reentry and view their time of incarceration as an opportunity and everything that they do to move them closer to reentry.” Louise Wasilewski is CEO of Acivilate Inc., an Atlanta-based company whose software coordinates communication for what she calls “returning citizens” — people leaving prison. She said the company has contracts in other states but not in Mississippi. “We do really simple things like helping people sort out all the activities they have to do and sending them text reminders — just the same way that your dentist sends you a text reminder to make you show up,” Wasilewski said. She said such reminders could be used before probation hearings, for example, with the goal of keeping a person from returning to prison. Mississippi lawmakers also heard from Kerri Pruitt, executive director of the Dannon Project. The nonprofit group was founded in 1999 in Birmingham, Alabama, and it is named for Pruitt’s brother-in-law, who was killed by a man who had been released from prison. Pruitt said the Dannon Project is active in Alabama and South Carolina, working on “holistic reentry services,” including help with health care, behavioral health services, transportation, housing, and court appearances. “We don’t believe in allowing any of our participants in attending court alone, even when they have a court-appointed attorney,” Pruitt said. Cam Ward, director of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, said state governments need to ensure they use reentry programs that are data-driven with a record of being effective. He said groups outside the government can provide valuable help. “The notion that somehow, someway as a state government, you’re going to have enough resources to provide all the proper reentry and diversion programs is just not true,” said Ward, a former Alabama state senator. “You’re going to have to have partners.” The next Mississippi legislative session is set to begin in early January. Barnett said some lawmakers could gather in November or December to discuss whether to file bills that would propose specific types of reentry programs. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Judge: Psychiatric care unconstitutional in Alabama prisons
Alabama’s psychiatric care of state inmates is “horrendously inadequate” and violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled in favor of all current and future Alabama inmates with serious mental health problems. “Given the severity and urgency of the need for mental-health care explained in this opinion, the proposed relief must be both immediate and long term,” Thompson wrote in the 302-page decision. Gov. Kay Ivey said she would work closely with Corrections Commissioner Jefferson Dunn and state legislative leaders to address the issues raised in the ruling. “I am committed to providing justice to all Alabamians by ensuring constitutionally-permissible conditions for all prisoners,” the governor said. Lawyers for inmates say they were reviewing the decision and would comment later. “I can’t say this comes as a surprise to anybody. Some of us have been saying for years that this was coming,” said state Sen. Cam Ward, who has spearheaded prison reform efforts as well as unsuccessful legislation to build new prisons. “We as a legislative body are going to deal with the financial consequences,” Ward said. The mental health claims were part of a larger inmate lawsuit filed in 2014 over medical care. The judge presided over a trial that began in December focusing on mental health, and last month, he certified this part as a class action on behalf of all current and future inmates with serious mental illness. State officials denied providing inadequate mental health treatment, but the judge cited evidence to the contrary from inmates and prison officials. One inmate killed himself days after testifying, prompting the state to agree to new suicide prevention methods while the trial continued. The judge acknowledged that the department blames lack of funding, but he said money alone couldn’t make up for such poor treatment, and sweeping change is required. Alabama’s troubled state prison system houses nearly twice the inmates it was designed for. Prison officers and inmates have been killed and injured in a series of violent crimes behind bars. The litigation echoes lawsuits in states, including California, South Carolina and Arizona, that led to court orders and settlement agreements to improve conditions or reduce crowding. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Prison reform bill faces more opposition in Senate committee
The Senate Committee on General Fund Finance and Taxation took up the Alabama Prison Transformation Initiative Act during a hearing Wednesday when, again, lawmakers were bombarded with opposition from state architects, engineers and contractors in regard to the bill’s design/build mandate. The bill faced much the same outcry when it went before a House committee last week. “It’s a good plan,” said Sen. Trip Pittman (R-Daphne), the Senate bill’s sponsor. “But there are people opposed to it.” As per the ideas laid out in the “State of the State” address by Gov. Robert Bentley, SB287 calls for the demolition of all but two of Alabama’s 16 prisons and provides $800 million in bonds to pay for the construction of four new facilities. Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) Commissioner Jefferson Dunn laid out the plan. “Over the last 40 or 50 years, every governor and every member of the legislature has always been faced with the issue of corrections,” Dunn said. “We are bringing forth a plan that we believe will address these longstanding problems.” Dunn noted that the planned move would free up more resources for rehabilitation and reentry, noting that more than 80 percent of prisoners will one day join the citizenry. The four facilities being constructed – one female prison with 1,200 beds and three male prisons with 4,000 beds a piece – will cut overtimes costs for the department, as well as costs related to transportation and healthcare. Along with the four to be constructed, two current facilities will be renovated. While most committee members noted support for the measure, concerns were vast and widespread. Many were interested in which facilities would be demolished and which would remain, as well as how the ADOC would come up with the roughly $50 million required to make the annual bond payments. Sen. William Beasley (D-Clayton) noted that three prisons are in his district and their removal would “devastate” the local economy. But the concerns of lawmakers weren’t the only ones voiced – in all, seven people stood to voice their opposition to the bill. While most were architects and contractors, concerned that the bill upends the traditional design/bid/build model. Clyde Marsh, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA), voiced concern over the bill’s use of a one-mill tax currently reserved to fund the ADVA and the Department of Human Resources as collateral for the bonds. In the event that the ADOC was unable to make its payments, the tax would be diverted to make up those payments. Lawmakers took no vote on the bill and will appear before the committee again next week.
