MAJR-14-Sept-2018

MAJR GENERAL MEETING

9/14/18- Minutes

We met at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on South Conkling Street in Baltimore, Maryland, beginning with a delicious potluck dinner and transitioning to our meeting at 7 p.m.  We thanked Father Bruce and Sister Mary Alice for their assistance in arranging the venue. There were about 50 participants, despite earlier (and later revised) forecasts for a possible hurricane and thunderstorms. This included about 17 new attendees, notably including former Maryland Superintendent of Schools Dave Hornbeck and two doctoral candidates, each raising concerns about the “School to Prison Pipeline” in Maryland.

Diamonte Brown facilitated.  Phil began with a brief explanation of  Maryland’s Justice Reinvestment Act (JRA) and a summary of our agenda, which was to hear from Front Door, Behind the Walls, and Back Door workgroup members  on possible initiatives. We also invited new suggestions from all attending, especially returning citizens and others impacted by state policies.

The business of MAJR was first presented:

  • Approval of new Executive Committee members – Glennor Shirley and Peter Fagan
  • Announcement of new Workgroup coordinators – Crystal Francis (Back door) and Bill Carlson (Front door)
  • Financial report – over $1500 is available to fund upcoming legislative breakfasts and reimburse other expenses.

Special thanks to all members and to last year’s key legislative sponsors.

Presentations were given on the following issues:

Questions for Hogan and Jealous (Bill Carlson)

  • Governor Larry Hogan and Ben Jealous agreed to participate in only a single, hour-long televised debate on September 24th. MAJR members will have this and other opportunities to find out where they stand on issues related to justice reform. Members were urged to write directly to the candidates or call their offices with questions. Here are some questions about justice reform. that we would like to hear answered before the election.
  • https://www.ma4jr.org/questions-for-candidates/

JRA Funding (Vince Greco)

  • Effective 10/1/18 the State by statute must report funds saved from reduce prison populations in the past year and how much will be dedicated to JRA rehabilitative programs (e.g., mental health, job training, drug treatment, diversion, etc.).  However the State may be just beginning a prison renovation plan whose costs could eliminate savings.  Again, MAJR members may call or write the Governor’s office or GOCCP (the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention), which coordinates such budgeting efforts and urge that saving be maximized and applied to rehabilitative measures.
  • https://www.ma4jr.org/jra-summary/

Citations in lieu of Arrest (Jim Rose)

  • A bill that would enable police to expand use of citations instead of arrest for simple possession of drugs other than marijuana if no threat to health or safety was involved was presented. This bill previously passed the House but did not get a Senate committee hearing this year.
  • https://www.ma4jr.org/citations/

School-to-Prison pipeline (Pat Marks)

  • Various participants urged that MAJR adopt measures to deal with this fundamental problem as a new initiative. Dave Hornbeck, a local Episcopal Church member and former Maryland Schools Superintendent, urged that MAJR support “Strong Schools-Maryland,” which already has 141 other member organizations.  Diamonte Brown, who teaches 8th grade English in public school, noted that only 7% of 8th grade boys in her school are able to read above a 5th grade level. Others noted that they are pursuing advanced studies on this topic. Another participant asked if it is possible to get disclosure of the total number of school arrests around the state and in particular schools by category?  Another noted that there were 583 arrested in Prince George’s schools in the past year. Many others attending also supported pursuit of this initiative.
  • https://www.ma4jr.org/school-to-prison1/

Mental Health Screening and Diversion (Phil Caroom)

  • It was reported that Delegate Clarence Lam (a medical doctor) proposed last year a statewide uniform mental health screening of those arrested but not released pretrial to consider possible treatment or diversion. The bill was withdrawn due to drafting problems and a budget misunderstanding by state prison administrators. This year, MAJR and the National Alliance for Mental Illness (Maryland chapter) have agreed to convene a Focus Group on 12/7/18, inviting state officials, other stakeholders and advocates to discuss possible improved drafting of this initiative to meet national standards, reduce costs and address stakeholders’ concerns.

Solitary Confinement (Diamonte Brown)

  • Diamonte reported for Interfaith Action on Human Rights (IAHR) and other partner groups that this year’s strategy may involve a number of “small” bills targeting particular aspects of Maryland’s extraordinary use of solitary. For example, solitary for disciplinary purposes could be capped at 15-30 days; it could be forbidden for certain types of inmates (juveniles, elderly, severely disabled; there could be a requirement for monthly mental health assessments). Diamonte also listed 4 pending IAHR meetings and passed a clipboard for volunteers signing to support this initiative.

Correctional Education (John Linton)

  • The Maryland Correctional Educators for Excellence Association (MCEEA) plans to renew efforts to pass enhanced educational credits for achievement of degrees and viable vocational certifications.  MCEEA has begun communications with DPSCS staff and hopes to meet with policy-makers during the first week of the legislative session.

Books in Prison (Jenny Zito, Glennor Shirley)

  • WISE, a women’s group formed after the 2017 Women’s March and consisting of over 600 members mainly from Anne Arundel County, joined forces with MAJR this summer to hold a book drive to benefit prisoners in many of Maryland’s prisons and detention centers.  Collection points were set up at several bookstores and coffee shops and over 40 boxes of books were collected and sorted for their appropriateness for the various prison communities.
  • Interest was shown in replicating this work in other counties at the MAJR general meeting in September and we will be providing tips and a list of books which have been pre-approved for use in Juvenile Detention Centers.
  • Glennor Shirley, as retired DOC Librarian, will assist the group to ensure that books donated are the most appropriate for inmate’s needs.

Families of the Incarcerated (Lea Green)

  • Lea reported that, in addition to her 5-year ban from DOC visits to her son, that Rabbi Chuck Feinberg has been banned for 10 years.  Others present, who have been active in inmate education and mentoring, noted that they also received bans for a number of years—including one, she believes, for signing an inmate’s birthday card. It was suggested that ACLU or other pro bono attorneys might pursue what appears possibly a campaign to reduce community advocates in DOC.

Juvenile Lifers (Lea Green)

  • Lea also pointed out that in the recent Maryland Court of Appeals decision Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera dissented from the ruling that those sentenced as juveniles should receive no different parole status than adults. It was suggested that MAJR should consider a bill to give effect to the dissent and to overturn the majority ruling.

Reentry Coordination (Becca Gardner Rhudy)

  • Becca reported on her ongoing pursuit of contacts with the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) Reentry Coordinator Marsha Briley. Ms. Briley has promised to share with MAJR and other local groups a list of inmates entering DPSCS reentry orientation seminars towards the end of their sentences so that a) we can track the extent of the need and b) we can assist local detention centers and reentry programs to meet these needs.  Becca will continue this effort.

Pre-release housing for women.

  • It was noted that pre-release housing is not available for women via DPSCS, but is available for men. It is suggested that MAJR should support a bill to require equal opportunity in this regard.

Certificates of Rehabilitation (Jim Rose, Brenda Jones)

Two aspects to improve the current Certificates of Rehabilitation were presented:

Responding to a call for participants to offer other initiatives of their own, the following suggestions were made:

Cost of incarceration.

  • One participant suggested that there should be Maryland legislation to require judges to specify at the time of sentencing what the sentence would cost  taxpayers.

Mental Health self-help groups (Marc Oliver)

  • It was urged that it may be more effective and cost-efficient not to professionalize all mental health initiatives.  Marc agreed to assist the Back Door workgroup in further consideration of this issue.

In conclusion, we confirmed that those attending the General Meeting supported the work-groups’ proposed initiatives and invited everyone to participate with the workgroups as we consider the new initiatives proposed at the meeting and pursue steps to bring them into effect. Phil commented that, the more supporters we have actively pursuing an initiative, the more likely it will get accomplished; if there are few or no supporters pursuing an initiative, the less likely.

We also noted that the MAJR executive committee has scheduled the next General Meeting for Tues., 11/27 – at 7 PM. It will be held either in Baltimore or Prince George’s County (to be determined).  Our workgroups will send Doodle polls to those who signed up to select the next meeting dates BEFORE 11/27.

We concluded our meeting shortly after 8:30 and thanked participants for their help in cleaning up.

–These minutes respectfully submitted – Phil Caroom