Post by CC on Jul 9, 2009 9:02:45 GMT -5
Proposed changes to prison system could free up beds.
WALPOLE — The prison system in the state is overtaxed, and MCI-Cedar Junction is no different despite a recent security switch.
As of Monday, the Walpole prison holds 677 inmates - its official capacity is 633.
The state system is 46 percent over capacity, state Public Safety Secretary Kevin Burke said. While the state would like to create "better space" inside the prison, "There isn't anyone you talk to who says we can build our way out of this."
Instead, state officials like Burke seek policy tweaks.
Effective last month, Cedar Junction made the switch from a maximum-security prison to the system's Reception and Diagnostic Center where newly sentenced inmates will be housed as they await classification.
The formerly infamous facility will now serve as a medium/maximum prison meaning the general population will be detained under medium security while the reception center and the prison system's disciplinary unit, or "prison within prisons" will remain maximum security, according to Cara Savelli of the Department of Correction.
Maximum-security inmates at Cedar Junction have been either reclassified as medium security based on their incarceration history of transferred to Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley.
Walpole housed about 800 inmates as a maximum-security facility.
When the security change was announced, corrections spokesman Dianne Wiffin said the move was a way to combat overcrowding, since there are nearly eight times as many medium-security prisoners in the state as maximum-security ones.
Gov. Deval Patrick's administration is also pushing reform to a loophole that lets prisoners opt to spend more time in jail and avoid parole supervision upon release.
Some prisoners chose that option, which Burke's office says bogs down the system and results in more repeat offenders.
Each year, more than 500 prisoners up for parole choose to stay in prison for the length of their terms, to avoid parole supervision.
"It sounds strange, but it does happen. Whatever the reason, we've got to get those folks under supervision," Burke said.
Savelli said it's difficult to tell how many Walpole inmates have chosen that path.
All told, 965 inmates left correctional institutions unsupervised in 2008 because of sentencing restrictions, institutional behavior that precludes parole, or inmates opting to stay in prison for more time to avoid supervision.
The lack of parole is problematic for several reasons, state officials say.
The presence of inmates in the system taxes an already-stretched prison system, costing more for the taxpayer.
It costs $2,500 a year to supervise a person through parole, while it costs about $43,000 keep them behind bars.
With the state taking away the option of doing more time to bypass parole, "consequently we free up beds," Burke said.
The Patrick administration wants to make the matter a non-issue by requiring parole supervision for anyone who serves 25 percent of their state prison sentence, with a minimum of nine months, and a maximum of five years parole.
The governor is also taking aim at another prison reform that could shorten sentences and free up room inside the prisons.
State law does not allow nonviolent inmates serving mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses to participate in work release-like programs, according to Burke's office.
But Patrick wants to have those people be eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of their sentence.
The mandatory minimum sentences, in some cases cause nonviolent criminals to serve a sentence "disproportionate to the risk that these individuals pose to the community," according Burke's office.
As of Jan. 1, 26 percent of inmates in the state system were imprisoned for drug offenses. Of Cedar Junction's population, 20 percent are there for drug-related crimes.
"Mandatory drug sentences don't allow us to be as smart as we can be," he said. "Public safety shouldn't come with a price tag, but we should be smart."
WALPOLE — The prison system in the state is overtaxed, and MCI-Cedar Junction is no different despite a recent security switch.
As of Monday, the Walpole prison holds 677 inmates - its official capacity is 633.
The state system is 46 percent over capacity, state Public Safety Secretary Kevin Burke said. While the state would like to create "better space" inside the prison, "There isn't anyone you talk to who says we can build our way out of this."
Instead, state officials like Burke seek policy tweaks.
Effective last month, Cedar Junction made the switch from a maximum-security prison to the system's Reception and Diagnostic Center where newly sentenced inmates will be housed as they await classification.
The formerly infamous facility will now serve as a medium/maximum prison meaning the general population will be detained under medium security while the reception center and the prison system's disciplinary unit, or "prison within prisons" will remain maximum security, according to Cara Savelli of the Department of Correction.
Maximum-security inmates at Cedar Junction have been either reclassified as medium security based on their incarceration history of transferred to Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley.
Walpole housed about 800 inmates as a maximum-security facility.
When the security change was announced, corrections spokesman Dianne Wiffin said the move was a way to combat overcrowding, since there are nearly eight times as many medium-security prisoners in the state as maximum-security ones.
Gov. Deval Patrick's administration is also pushing reform to a loophole that lets prisoners opt to spend more time in jail and avoid parole supervision upon release.
Some prisoners chose that option, which Burke's office says bogs down the system and results in more repeat offenders.
Each year, more than 500 prisoners up for parole choose to stay in prison for the length of their terms, to avoid parole supervision.
"It sounds strange, but it does happen. Whatever the reason, we've got to get those folks under supervision," Burke said.
Savelli said it's difficult to tell how many Walpole inmates have chosen that path.
All told, 965 inmates left correctional institutions unsupervised in 2008 because of sentencing restrictions, institutional behavior that precludes parole, or inmates opting to stay in prison for more time to avoid supervision.
The lack of parole is problematic for several reasons, state officials say.
The presence of inmates in the system taxes an already-stretched prison system, costing more for the taxpayer.
It costs $2,500 a year to supervise a person through parole, while it costs about $43,000 keep them behind bars.
With the state taking away the option of doing more time to bypass parole, "consequently we free up beds," Burke said.
The Patrick administration wants to make the matter a non-issue by requiring parole supervision for anyone who serves 25 percent of their state prison sentence, with a minimum of nine months, and a maximum of five years parole.
The governor is also taking aim at another prison reform that could shorten sentences and free up room inside the prisons.
State law does not allow nonviolent inmates serving mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses to participate in work release-like programs, according to Burke's office.
But Patrick wants to have those people be eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of their sentence.
The mandatory minimum sentences, in some cases cause nonviolent criminals to serve a sentence "disproportionate to the risk that these individuals pose to the community," according Burke's office.
As of Jan. 1, 26 percent of inmates in the state system were imprisoned for drug offenses. Of Cedar Junction's population, 20 percent are there for drug-related crimes.
"Mandatory drug sentences don't allow us to be as smart as we can be," he said. "Public safety shouldn't come with a price tag, but we should be smart."