Assisted Living — Behind Bars

Old behind bars: the aging prison population in the United States.

"Prison is tough for everyone, but it is especially hard for older prisoners who need wheelchairs, walkers, portable oxygen and hearing aids; who cannot get dressed, go to the bathroom or bathe without help; who are incontinent, confused or suffering from chronic diseases.

Prison medical costs — borne entirely by the state — are up to nine times higher for older prisoners than for younger ones.

So what can be done? Prison officials, parole boards and governors should make an effort to increase the number of older and ill inmates posing no meaningful security risk who are released from prison and placed under community supervision.

... Those who violate the rights of others must be held accountable. Prison sentences are tailored to give offenders their just deserts at the time of sentencing.

But age and illness (not to mention evidence of rehabilitation) can change the calculus.

If elderly prisoners can be safely released from prison to finish the rest of their lives under parole supervision — at much lower cost to taxpayers — it is hard to see what society gains from keeping them behind bars."

For complete article and further information, see:
Assisted Living — Behind Bars, by Jamie Fellner (Human Rights Watch, 26 March 2012)
Old Behind Bars: The Aging Prison Population in the United States (Human Rights Watch Report, 28 January 2012)
US: Number of Aging Prisoners Soaring, Corrections Officials Ill-Prepared to Run Geriatric Facilities (Human Rights Watch, 27 January 2012)

Building Bridges - March 2012 edition

The March edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.

This edition contains their report on several important bills voted for at the meeting of the Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee on March 7 including the Merit Time Bill (detailed in the introduction and in Article 5 of their newsletter). There are serious reservations about the possibility of the SAFE Parole Act becoming law while Michael Nozzolio is the chair of that committee, and the Prison Action Network explain why.

This is the result of the vote on the Merit Time Bill:

S329-2011*: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ELIGIBILITY FOR MERIT TIME
Sponsor: Montgomery, Co-sponsors: Hassell-Thompson, Krueger, Oppenheimer, Parker, Serrano
Allows certain inmates who are able to prove that they were subjected to substantial physical, sexual or psychological abuse, that the abuse was inflicted by a member of their same family or household or a member of the person's immediate family, and that the abuse was a substantial factor in causing them to commit the crime to be eligible to earn merit time in the amount of one-third off either their minimum sentence (if inmate has an indeterminate sentence) or their flat sentence; allows such inmates to be eligible for presumptive release; expands the criteria that a person in custody of the department of correctional services may meet in order to earn merit time. - NOT REPORTED (defeated)

S338-2011*: EXPANSION OF MERIT TIME
Sponsor: Montgomery, Co-sponsors: Dilan [Same as: A154-2011 - Aubry]
Relates to controlled substances and indeterminate sentences; relates to the expansion of merit time and repeals provisions relating to the allowance of limited credit time for inmates; to allow all inmates, except those serving a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, murder in the first degree, incest, an offense defined in article two hundred sixty-three of the penal law, an act of terrorism, aggravated harassment of an employee by an inmate, or an attempt or conspiracy to commit any such offense, to earn merit time allowance. The merit time allowance would be one-sixth of an indeterminate and one-seventh of a determinate sentence. This section of the bill also expands the criteria that a person in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) may meet in order to earn merit time. HELD

Other items discussed in the March newsletter include the following. See Building Bridges for full details:

1. ALBANY UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: A free workshop to develop legislative advocacy skills will involve interactive role play and practical tips.

2. THE BLACK, PUERTO RICAN, HISPANIC AND ASIAN CAUCUS's Criminal Justice Workshop series was a huge success and proof of the momentum that is building. People are realizing that incarceration is a justice issue, and in particular a racial justice issue.

3. CALL OUTS: A group of advocates is looking for those affected to join efforts to end the abuse of SHU. Cornell Law School is seeking interviews with formerly and currently incarcerated women about their experiences.

4. CAMPAIGN TO END THE NEW JIM CROW has issued a statement of solidarity with the Occupy movements. All of the 99% stand to win when injustice is uprooted.


5. Criminal Justice LEGISLATION was presented for a vote by the Senate's Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee meeting on March 7. Listed are 22 of the bills including the votes. Prison Action Network was there. It was not a pleasant experience.


6. NY IS STILL IN NEED OF PAROLE REFORM Applying old backward-looking static factors while attempting to follow the new dynamic procedures for parole release decision-making based upon present and future-looking risk and needs principles creates a contradiction that the Parole Board will find very difficult to reconcile.

7. PAROLE NEWS: In January no A1VO was released on their initial board. 23% of those reappearing were granted release. Thwaites saw a de novo Board in March.


8. PRISONER JUSTICE COLUMN Last month's Mass Incarceration article reprinted including sections which were mistakenly omitted last month.


9. The National Action Network's Political Action & Second Chance Committees are hosting a ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS FORUM for those who want to know more about what the Rockefeller Drug Laws are, and about the Criminal Justice Reform Movement.

10. 2012 REMOVING THE BARS: "TAKE ACTION" Conference will include a Parole 101 panel discussion on Saturday March 24 from 2:15 to 3:45pm and a presentation by Angela Davis on Friday night.


11. SECOND LOOK THINK TANK from Sullivan C.F. concludes that New York State’s public safety levels—in other words, the recidivism rate—and the state’s fiscal hemorrhaging can be linked, at least in part, to the parole release decisions made by the Parole Board .


12. STAINS:CHANGING LIVES AFTER INCARCERATION is a documentary about life after incarceration, as seen from the families' perspective.

13. A COMMUNITY DIALOGUE ABOUT WOMEN AND REENTRY, Coming Home: Struggling Towards Success. Moderated by Piper Kerman, with panelists Tish, Selina Fulford, Mary McKay, Sister Mary Nerney. Special Guest Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer.

14. WORK FOR SUCCESS, an initiative by Gov. Cuomo, is aimed at reducing unemployment rates for people returning home from prison. CEO will be the model program. Many advocates and legislators support this approach.

The Lives of Juvenile Lifers: Findings from a National Survey

The Sentencing Project has produced a new report: The Lives of Juvenile Lifers. The report investigates the life experiences of individuals serving sentences of life without parole for offenses committed as juveniles, and presents findings from the first-ever national survey of this population.

See:
The Lives of Juvenile Lifers: Findings from a National Survey, by Ashley Nellis (The Sentencing Project, March 2012)
Study: More Black Juveniles Sentenced to Life Without Parole, by Lewis Beale (Miller-McCune, 1 March 2012)
Report Looks at Lives of Inmates Sentenced to Life Without Parole as Juveniles, by Ryan Schill (Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, 1 March 2012)

NY DOCCS Moves Toward Supervising Parolees by Risk Level

Extract from report by the Upper Manhattan Reentry Task Force (UMRTF):

... Historically, NY DOCCS (Division of Corrections and Community Supervision) has employed a static risk assessment ("DCJS Risk") to assign individuals being released to the community a risk level. The assessment looked at age, gender, and history of criminality to determine the risk of a parolee's recidivism. The assessment did not take into account the attitudes and beliefs of individuals leaving prison, one of the prime predictors of recidivism. Therefore, unless the individual had "aged out" of criminal activity, he/she was considered to be the same risk that he/she was prior to his/her prison term. Once released to the community, Field Parole Officers supervised all parolees similarly, independent of risk, until he/she got to know the client personally and made adjustments to the client's supervision mandates.

Now, DOCCS is in the midst of implementing some massive changes. As I learned at a County Reentry Task Force Meeting this past Friday, February 28, 2012, as of March 1, 2012, every individual being paroled from all NY DOCCS facilities will receive an actuarial risk assessment called "COMPAS Reentry." The COMPAS tool, created by Northepointe, Inc., "a research and consulting firm, offering software products, training, and implementation services to local, state, and federal criminal justice systems and policy makers," measures standard risk factors in combination with reentry domains such as early onset of delinquency, history of non-compliance, occurrences of prison misconduct, substance abuse, the risk of housing problems, criminal thinking, etc. The COMPAS then calculates a client's risk of recidivism and risk of absconding, and offers a personalized client needs scale to parole officers and case managers that can be used to prioritize case planning and supervision.

NY DOCCS will be using the risk numbers produced the COMPAS tool to determine how intensively parolees will be supervised. DOCCS has created four risk level designations (Levels 1-4) that will be assigned to a parolee based on his/her COMPAS score. Each Bureau Chief across the state will determine how to divide up parolees on a PO's caseload using the risk levels. For instance, a Bureau Chief can determine that a PO will supervise only cases that are assigned one risk level. A high risk caseload may consist of 25 parolees, while the lowest risk caseload may consist of as many as 120 parolees. DOCCS did not give us an estimate regarding how long this transition to the level system will occur.

We also learned, that by statute, the Parole Board must now receive a risk assessment of every inmate that goes before them. This risk assessment will be the COMPAS. ...

For complete report, see:
NY DOCCS Moves Toward Supervising Parolees by Risk Level (Re-thinking Reentry, 28 February 2012)

Summary and comparisons of parole board appearances for A1 violent offenders in 2011

CURE-NY give the following unofficial summary and comparisons of parole board appearances and releases in 2011 for A1 violent offenders.

2011 A1VF SUMMARIES AND COMPARISONS:

INITIAL BOARDS:
218 interviews, 26 releases; for a release rate of 12%. Two of those 26 were rescinded. In 2007 there were 41 initial releases, 25 in 2008 after the hearing held by Senator Nozzolio, in 2009 there were 38 initial releases, and 39 in 2010, making 2011 the second lowest number of release decisions, as well as the second lowest rate of releases, in the last five years. Three of those initial release decisions were for deportation only, making the % of those released to their home communities 10.5%

REAPPEARANCES:
979 interviews, 209 releases; for a release rate of 21%. That is the second highest in the past five years. 31 of the 209 were released for deportation making the rate released to the U.S. 18%. Four of the 209 were released to another state and another 4 were released on special consideration hearings.

MEDICAL PAROLE:
This year saw what is believed to be the first A1VFs released on medical parole. A man was released on a medical parole board, although he had been parole eligible since 2002. A woman was released on a "true" medical parole board several years before reaching her parole eligibility date.

GENDER BREAKDOWN:
Of the 218 initial interviews, 212 were males (97%), 6 were females (3%). Of the 26 initial releasees, 25 were males (96%), 1 was female (4%).

Of the 979 reappearance interviews, 957 were males (98%), 22 were women (2%). Of the 209 releasees, 201 were male (96%) and 8 were female (4%).

RACIAL/ETHNIC BREAKDOWN:
Of the 218 INITIAL interviews, 123 (56%) were Black, 58 (27%) were Hispanic, and 32 (15%) were White. Of the 26 initial releasees, 16 were black (62%), 8 were Hispanic (31%) and 2 were White (8%). (Remaining numbers are other and unknown ethnicities.)

Of the 979 REAPPEARANCE interviews, 522 (53%) were Black, 239 (24%) were Hispanic, and 208 (21%) were White. Of the 209 releasees, 116 were Black (55%), 61 (29%) were Hispanic [or 51 and 24% excluding deportations], and 28 (13%) White. Remaining numbers are other and unknown ethnicities.

PRISON CATEGORY:
MEDIUMS: 728 (61%) of all interviews with 178 released (75% of releasees).
MAXIMUMS: 451 (38%) of all interviews with 57 released (24% of releasees).
The remaining interviews were in other facilities such as Walsh Medical Center or CNYPC.

HOW MANY BOARDS–NUMBER OF RELEASES–PERCENT OF TOTAL (235):
First —26–11%
Second —41–17%
Third —43–18%
Fourth —28–12%
Fifth —30–13%
Sixth —24–10%
Seventh —12*–5% *includes 1 medical release
Eighth —14–6%
Ninth —5–2%
Tenth —7–3%
Eleventh —4–1.6%
Twelfth —2–0.8%

AGES AND LENGTH OF INCARCERATION:
9 of those released were between the ages of 73 and 83, all on reappearances.
26 of those released were in prison since the 1970s, one since the 1960s, 111 since the 1980s and 97 since the 1990s.
[2 of the initial releasees were born after 27 of the other releasees had gone to prison.]

**None of the previous numbers are official or scientific; nor account for any de novo boards. The results are based upon unofficial, best efforts research. Please FOIL the Board of Parole for exact and official data.

DNA and Reform

Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposal to expand New York State's DNA database by requiring all convicts to submit a sample should be accompanied by other reforms to reduce wrongful convictions.

See:
An Incomplete DNA Deal (New York Times Editorial, 26 March 2012)
DNA and Reform (New York Times Editorial, 24 February 2012)
NYSACDL Opposes DNA plan (New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, February 23rd, 2012)

Building Bridges - February 2012 edition

The February edition of Building Bridges has been issued by the Prison Action Network.

Items in this issue include the following:

1. Pepsi Beverages Company has agreed to a $3.1 million settlement following federal charges that Pepsi committed racial discrimination in its hiring practices, specifically by eliminating approximately 300 African American applicants based on arrest records (but not necessarily convictions).

2. Threat to close Auburn Prison's Hospitality Center alarms families who depend on this service to provide shelter while they wait from the time the bus drops them off until the beginning of visiting hours.

3. Today's "Incarcerated Man" is vastly different from the representative specimen of yesteryear. For the first time in "incarcerated man's" history there are more notable success stories than failures, as evidenced by a dwindling prison population and the success of the many women and men in leadership positions in re-entry programs throughout the state.

4. Two Job Opportunities: 1) Full time Development Associate at the Correctional Association. 2) Combine your desire to sharpen your skills and your commitment to fair criminal justice policies by training to become a media volunteer with the NYS Parole Reform Campaign. Free training.

5. Standardize Marijuana Offenses: We need a permanent, statewide solution like the bipartisan version proposed by Assemblyman Jeffries and Senator Grisanti. Please support A.7620 (Jeffries)/S.5187 (Grisanti): legislation that would end the racially biased, costly, and unconstitutional marijuana arrests throughout New York State.

6. How is the merger of DOCCS going to be implemented, and when? Who is overseeing the process? In this vast system with all its tensions and conflicts - between agencies, between management and unions - who is monitoring this monolithic entity? Building Bridges attempted to find out by attending, and reading testimony from, the Public Hearing on the Merger of DOCS and the Division of Parole into the new Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Thursday, November 10, 2011 and a hearing on the Public Protection portion of the 2012-13 Executive Budget, held by the State Legislature's fiscal committees on January 30, 2012. Please scroll down to section 6 of the Building Bridges newsletter for their report on this highly complex situation, including information on TAP and COMPAS.

7. The Merit Time Bill S338/A154, sponsored by Senator Velmanette Montgomery and co-sponsored by Senator Dilan is sitting in the Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee and in the Assembly’s Correction Committee, as is the SAFE Parole Act. Brianne Russo has posted a petition in support of Senator Montgomery’s Merit Time Bill, S338. If you want to make your voice heard, please sign the petition.

8. Last chance to decide to attend the Caucus weekend workshops. The NYS Parole Reform Campaign of the Coalition for Fair Criminal Justice Policies has a room that holds 500. Think of the impression it would make if it was filled! But if you can’t get there, you can help to get your legislators to support the SAFE Parole Act. People are suffering in prison waiting for us to win this struggle. It won’t be easy, but it can be done if we ALL get involved!

9. Mass Incarceration and the NYS Prisoner Justice Movement: "Dear Prisoner Justice Network, I have been in prison for 27 years. My last parole hearing lasted 4 minutes." Mass incarceration is a false solution that gets in the way of real solutions. It does not interrupt violence - it feeds the cycle of violence.

10. Parole News: Updates on Thwaites decision, and Graziano's:

Douglas Thwaites reports that the Assistant Attorney General is appealing Judge Lawrence H. Ecker's ruling in which the Judge ordered the Parole Board to hold a new hearing for Mr. Thwaites with a different panel within 30 days of the decision dated 12/21/11. Thwaites is challenging the appeal. He thanks all who have written in support and asks us to keep faith alive. His next parole hearing is scheduled for March 2012.

In a new decision on January 26 2012, Judge Lawrence H. Ecker handed down an almost identical ruling in the case of Newlly Velazquez as he did for Douglas Thwaites, one month previously. He again quotes Professor Phillip Genty's interpretation of the governor's revisions to the Parole Statute, including: "[T]he most important change is the replacement of static, past focused "guidelines" with more dynamic present and future-focused risk assessment "procedures" to guide the Parole Board."

Graziano does not give up!
 It is not the end of the road yet.  Lawyers are waiting for a date to argue their federal case to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.  They also plan to request leave to appeal the state case to the New York Court of Appeals. 


11. Stop and Frisk policies are the scourge of a Black person's life, particularly for males, and particularly for young males. But as this story reveals, even grey haired 70 year old Black men are not immune to being stopped and frisked.

12. Veterans in Prison, a report by Karima Amin in Buffalo, where the first Veteran's Treatment Court in the nation was created by Judge Robert T. Russell, Jr.


13. Over 37,000 New Yorkers are denied their constitutional right to vote because they are on parole, even though they are living and working in their communities. Join the effort to change this!