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Sowing the seeds of peace and justice |
Prison Reform
WNPJ Prison Reform Work Group:
Mission:
Advocacy for sustainable, community-based solutions to crime, that go beyond punishment and incarceration.
Objectives:
- Outreach and education on prison injustice.
- Organize a grassroots campaign to overturn WI Department of Corrections' ban on prisoners receiving used books from retail bookstores.
- Build a strong alliance with the WI ACLU Restore the Vote campaign to restore the vote to all un-incarcerated individuals.
Contact:
To get involved with this WNPJ work-group, please contact work-study intern, Sarah Quinn. sarah@wnpj.org
Resources:
Education Campaign - Check here for the most recent Film Schedule
Fact Sheets, Graphs & Statistics
Photo taken at the Madison Department of Corrections, September 2008.
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In the News: Grants for WBTP!GRANT RENEWALS ENABLE WBTP TO CONTINUE ITS WORK, by Dennis Bergren lgbtdb@gmail.com
WI Books to Prisoners, a project of Rainbow Book Store in Madison, is happy to announce that the Dominican Sisters of Racine have renewed their Dominican Mission Fund grant of $5000 for WBTP to continue sending new books to prisoners in WI penal institutions.
On Saturday, October 17, 2009, 6’ by 9’ stencils reading “Why Deny Used Books to Prisoners?”, “Books Liberate”, and “Missing: 2.3 Million Americans” were sponged in mud by 40 volunteers throughout downtown Madison, the UW campus, and spots such as the Dane County jail, DOC headquarters, the Federal Court House, Camp Randall, the Governor’s mansion and public libraries. The mud-stenciling action was designed to draw attention to the used book ban imposed by the DOC in November, 2008, interrupting a free book service that had been provided to prisoners by Rainbow Bookstore for years without incident.
The Department of Correction’s justification for the no used book ban is that the likelihood of contraband being concealed in used books is greater than that in new books. WBTP thinks this is excessively cautionary, unfairly preventing thousands of WI prisoners from engaging in much-valued self-education. Nearly every study on corrections recommends reading in prison as a meaningful way of occupying time behind bars and as a preparation for a successful re-entry into society after incarceration. The no used books policy not only undermines the state’s interest in rehabilitating prisoners, it infringes on the Constitutional rights of prisoners to read. The policy also ignores the fact that all prisons in WI have stringent security procedures for incoming publications.
Ninety-seven percent of prisoners will eventually return to our communities. A policy that denies prisoners meaningful literature, and provokes frustration and bitterness, just lacks common sense. Concerned citizens should phone Governor Doyle at 608-266-1212 or email him at HYPERLINK http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/contact.asp and contact their Representatives at www.legis.state.wi.us/w3asp/waml/waml.aspx.
A second grant of $2500 from The New Harvest Foundation of Madison supports WBTP’s LGBT project, which sends new and used books to LGBT prisoners nationwide. The project addresses an often marginalized and mistreated segment of the national prison system. WBTP sends LGBT books but also books of many areas of interest requested by the prisoner. When this project began in 2007, seven prisoners had requested LGBT materials. Now there are more than 300 LGBT prisoners who have received at least one package of LGBT books. OutReach, Madison’s LGBT center, serves as the fiscal sponsor of the LGBT project allowing donations to be tax deductible.
WBTP never charges for its services. We rely on donations for postage and books. If you know of persons, organizations, or programs that might contribute, please tell them about us.
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Recent events:
On September 10th, 2009, WI Books to Prisoners and WNPJ hosted a screening of "Space Ghost"...and the director of the film Laurie Jo Reynolds - from Chicago, was on hand to talk to us about the Illinois maximum security prison - TAMMS....plus, Laurie Jo demonstrated street art/mud stenciling on the UW-libray mall. Video below.... More info at http://www.vdb.org/smackn.acgi$tapedetail?SPACEGHOST. And watch for the next movie in the series - coming soon! Contact: sarah@wnpj.org
LJ Reynolds, Tamms Year Ten Mud Stencilling in Madison from Dan S Wang on Vimeo.
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WNPJ Member Groups working on Prison Justice:
American Civil Liberties Union of WI (WI ACLU) www.aclu-wi.org
Benedict Center - Milwaukee justice@benedictcenter.org
Community Connections www.communityconnectionswi.org
Madison-area Urban Ministries (MUM) www.emum.org
Money, Education and Prisions (MEP) heffern@edgewood.edu
Wisconsin Books to Prisoners, a project of Rainbow Books www.rainbowbookstore.org/b2p
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ACTION ALERT Support Justice Initiatives!
Let the Joint Finance Committee know that you support the initiatives proposed by the Governor.
Please See below for a letter written by the WI ACLU. or link to the ACLU Blog
For more information, contact Sarah at sarah@wnpj.org
Doyle's Budget Proposal
Justice Initiatives in brief (2009)
http://www.doa.state.wi.us/debf/pdf_files/bib.pdf
Justice Initiatives
Ensure wise allocation of taxpayer resources and the highest levels of public
safety through better use of data, new measures to reduce recidivism and
streamlined sentence review processes:
l Transfer to the Division of Hearing and Appeals the authority to determine
l the length of reconfinement for revocation from extended supervision, not to
l exceed the time remaining on the bifurcated sentence.
l
l Allow the secretary of the Department of Corrections to release to extended
l supervision persons serving the confinement portion of a bifurcated sentence
l who are within 12 months of release to extended supervision and meet
l certain eligibility criteria.
l
l Transfer from the sentencing court to the secretary of the Department of
l Corrections the authority to review petitions and release terminally ill inmates
l to extended supervision so long as the public safety is maintained.
l
l Rename the Parole Commission as the Earned Release Review Commission
l and expand its duties to include sentence adjustment for Class C to I felonies
l for both the confinement and extended supervision portions of a sentence.
l
l Expand the Earned Release Program and the Challenge Incarceration
l Program to include inmates with programming needs other than substance
l abuse, to allow the inmates deemed eligible at sentencing to earn early
l release by fulfilling certain requirements while in prison.
l
l Eliminate community supervision of certain low-risk misdemeanor
l probationers, as determined by the offense and a risk assessment performed
l by the Department of Corrections.
l
l Provide $6.5 million and 18.00 FTE positions to improve offender reentry into
l the community by providing tools for offender risk assessment, to better
l manage purchase of services dollars, research and measure programs, and
l maintain dual-diagnosis rehabilitation programming.
l
l Expand eligibility for record expungement to include individuals up to
l 25 years of age, and to include nonviolent Class H to I felonies, allowing
l more young people to learn from their mistakes and start a new life with a
l clean slate.
l
l Decriminalize motor vehicle operation after suspension or revocation, unless the
l underlying reason for the revocation was related to alcohol or other drugs, to
l reduce the number of cases in which a public defender must be appointed, and
l to facilitate restoration of driving privileges when appropriate.
l
l Provide $1,420,400 GPR and 25.75 FTE positions in fiscal year 2009-10 and
l $1,927,200 GPR and 40.80 FTE positions in fiscal year 2010-11 to meet
l federally-mandated mental health services requirements at Taycheedah
l Correctional Institution.
l
l Provide $881,500 GPR and 15.10 FTE positions in fiscal year 2010-11 to fund
l security staff at a newly created female mental health unit at the Wisconsin
l Resource Center.
l
Letter from WI ACLU to Senator Miller and Representative Pocan
Dear Senator Miller and Representative Pocan,
We urge the members of the Joint Committee on Finance to support items proposed in the 2009 Executive Budget – Assembly Bill 75 that modify the state’s bifurcated felony sentencing structure and programs administered by the Department of Corrections which may affect an offender’s total prison and extended supervision sentence.
Overcrowded conditions have created a system-wide crisis in our state’s prisons. Prisoners suffering from physical or mental illness are at risk of permanent damage to their health, and even of death. These budget proposals will help address this crisis to the extent that they allow eligible offenders to leave prison for supervision in the community, thereby making the prisons less crowded, more manageable and less dangerous.
The American Civil Liberties Union’s staff, and pro bono lawyers and paralegals working in Wisconsin devote thousands of hours each year to addressing constitutional and other concerns in the corrections system. We have knowledge of the system informed by our direct experience.
The ACLU of Wisconsin receives hundreds of inquiries each year from Wisconsin’s prison and jail inmates. Many of these inquiries allege that the conditions of confinement in our prisons violate recognized standards, if not the U.S. Constitution. A significant number of these allegations appear to have merit. Over the years we have brought many complaints against the prison system. For instance, we helped to represent the prisoners at the “supermax” prison in Boscobel, whose rights the Department of Corrections violated. We currently represent the women inmates at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution, whose rights to adequate health and mental health care the DOC is violating without adequate relief in sight.
Since 1991 Wisconsin’s prison population has tripled to over 22,000 men and women, a severely disproportionate number of whom are persons of color. The aggregate rated capacity of all Wisconsin’s prisons is nearly 18,000 inmates. The “supermax” in Boscobel is the only facility in the system that is not over crowded. From our experience it is clear that overcrowding exacerbates endemic system-wide problems.
The problems facing our overcrowded prisons are too numerous to detail here, but include the following:
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Overcrowding severely limits access to health care and mental health programs. This is because there is insufficient space, too few corrections officers to provide transport, and inadequate health care staff to keep up with the constant needs of ill and injured prisoners. A federal court in California has ordered the release of prisoners primarily because overcrowding there makes the delivery of adequate medical services impossible.
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Rehabilitation programs are overburdened yet underutilized. It is difficult to get into substance abuse programs. Job training is minimal. Inmate’s access to their chosen prison ministries (including Native American ministries) is made more difficult.
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The current sentencing system, combined with overcrowding, makes the job of hardworking corrections officers more difficult (indeed more dangerous) than it should be. The sentence modification proposals in AB75 wisely restore incentives for turning prisoners’ lives around and following institution rules.
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Many prisons are ill-equipped to house old and infirm prisoners or those with disabilities. For instance, because of overcrowding at Taycheedah there is not enough space or transport to allow inmates in wheelchairs or using walkers to eat meals in the mess.
Most prisoners will return to our communities. Committee members need to ask themselves, do you want prisoners coming out of overcrowded institutions, where rehabilitation has been minimal, thereby increasing the likelihood of violations of community supervision rules? Or, do you want to break this cycle by lessening overcrowding, fostering good behavior and rehabilitation, giving corrections officers respect, and directing resources to effective programs in the community?
Some politicians, such as Milwaukee County Sheriff Clarke, have raised the specter of “criminal sympathizers” releasing the “worst of the worst”. This kind of ill-considered hyperbolic argument should have no place in your decisions. On the other hand, we commend Governor Jim Doyle and Secretary Rick Raemisch for facing up to reality and taking these steps to alleviate a crisis that has bad consequences for all Wisconsin residents.
The sentence modification and earned release proposals in the budget deserve your support.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Chris Ahmuty
Executive Director
608-250-9240, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, 122 State Street, Suite 405A, Madison, WI 53703, Send an email to the office info@wnpj.org.