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New Haven Independent: The Problem With Punishment
By Thomas Breen, Reprinted from the New Haven Independent, April 30, 2019
Philosopher Gregg Caruso has one big problem with punishment: It doesn’t work.
In a world where social determinants like poverty, abuse, and malnutrition play a much larger role than individual choices in shaping the course of one’s life, he argued, a criminal justice system bent on punishment over rehabilitation is not just ineffective; it’s needlessly cruel and counterproductive.
Caruso offered those thoughts on his path from free will skepticism to criminal justice reform on the latest episode of WNHH’s “Criminal Justice Insider with Babz Rawls-Ivy and Jeff Grant.”
Watch on Facebook Live:
https://www.facebook.com/wnhhradio/videos/375725919949814/UzpfSTQyMzkwOTEwODAxMDc4Nzo3MjE2MjU5OTgyMzkwOTU
A professor of philosophy at SUNY Corning and the co-director of the Justice Without Retribution Network (JWRN) at the University of Aberdeen, Caruso argues that free will is largely an illusion.
“Who we are, what we do, is ultimately the result of factors beyond our control,” he said. “We’re not really morally responsible in the basic desert sense.”
This academic philosophical conviction, that social determinants that one has no control over play a much larger role in one’s life than whether or not one is a “good” or a “bad” person, inevitably led him to the world of criminal justice reform.
Because, as he sees it, the American criminal justice system is predicated on the preeminence of free will, and on the idea that those who suffer deserve to suffer and those who succeed deserve to succeed.
When one has no control over one’s DNA, the circumstances in which one was born, and one’s psychological predispositions, he said, a punitive rather than a rehabilitative criminal justice system just inflicts further harm on those already struggling, and does nothing to solve root causes that lead to crime in the first place.
“A big part of my view is that criminal behavior is a byproduct of social determinants,” he said, “and those are obviously going to be affected by the political structure, racism, poverty, socioeconomic inequality, housing and healthcare inequality, educational inequality. We have to start realizing that those are determinate factors in many peoples’ lives and are responsible in many ways for the kinds of outcomes we see.
“And if we want to address criminal justice, we really want to start addressing those social determinants.”
Nearly 90 percent of incarcerated women have some history of physical or emotional abuse, he said, and the American legal system has a long track record of disproportionately punishing people of color for offenses that white people commit at equal frequencies.
Instead of locking people in cages without access to adequate education, job training, and health care, he said, the American criminal justice system should follow a “public health quarantine model” that temporarily segregates from society those who have committed crimes and are proven to be a danger to others.
During that quarantine, people should be placed in an environment that resembles the natural and social world they will return to post-incarceration, and they should be provided with the necessary training and health care and resources to help them successfully reintegrate into society once they no longer pose a threat to others.
An overly punitive system simply doesn’t cut down on crime, he said. Roughly 76 percent of formerly incarcerated Americans are re-arrested on new charges within five years of their release.
“The goal,” he said, “should be to rehabilitate and reintegrate.”
![](https://www.newhavenindependent.org/images/made/archives/upload/2017/11/Tom/logo_610_51_88_sha-100.jpg)
“Criminal Justice Insider” is sponsored by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
Read previous articles:
- Rowland: Criminal Justice Reform “Sands Have Shifted”
- Ex-Inmate Seeks To Raise The Bar
- New Corrections Chief Vows Prison Reform
- 1,000 Books Laid Path For Reentry
- 16 Years For A Crime He Didn’t Commit
- Insider Trader Cases Sexier To Prosecute
- Next Goal: Ban The Box For Housing, Too
- Criminal Justice Crusader Reflects On Mass Incarceration, #MeToo
- Society Needs A “Second Chance,” Too
- Imagining A Less Incarcerated World
- Criminal Justice Reformer Refuses To Give Up
- Criminal Record Controversy Propels Legislative Candidate
- ‘If’ Injects Humanity Into Incarceration
- Carbone Fans The Youth Justice Flame
- Forman: We’re Expelling Our Own, Too
- Lawlor Sees Progress On Reform
- From Mortgage Fraud To Criminal Justice Reform
- Teen Encounter With Cops Spurred Reform Advocate
- From Second Chance To No Chance Connecticut?
- Project Longevity Coordinator Works Off A Debt
- Ex-CEO Serves Justice Reform “Life Sentence”
- Ganim Describes Path Back From Prison
- Transition Time For Teens In Trouble
- Parole Holds A Key To Reentry Puzzle
- Organizer Takes “Sawdust-On-Floor” Tack
- Female Ex-Offenders Band Together
- German-Inspired Reform Calms Prison
- Son’s Arrest Helped Shape Porter’s Politics
Guest Blog: Mothering and Desistance in Reentry, By Venezia Michalsen, PhD
Our friend Venezia (Venice) Michalsen was our guest on
the Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant,
October 19, 2018 – link.
Most women in prison are mothers. Most of those moms were the primary caretakers of children before they went to prison, and plan to go back to living with their children after they get out. But mothering is already hard; doing it from behind bars is even harder. Sometimes incarcerated moms don’t even tell their kids where they are out of shame or fear for their children. If they do talk about it, communication can be very hard: calls are limited and expensive, writing letters requires literacy, paper, envelopes and stamps, and visits can mean a lot of travel, complicated rules, and very unfriendly surroundings.
But then moms finally get out, and it’s all easy, right? But it isn’t. Most moms have to find places
to live, ways to make money, often stay sober and healthy, among other things, and getting back custody of children is not easy even without those complications. Once mothers have their children back and they are living together in the community, things aren’t always easy. Reentering moms are already disadvantaged when it comes to job skills – having kids means more food and clothes and shoes to buy, and higher rent to pay. In addition, kids whose moms have been incarcerated are often dealing with extra challenges, such as anxiety, problems at school and behavioral troubles. But there is also no love like a mother’s love, and no matter the hurdles, formerly incarcerated moms also want to be there for their beloved children as role models and caretakers and best friends and moms.
In my book, Mothering and Desistance in Reentry, I write about the 100 interviews I did with formerly incarcerated mothers on exactly these topics. Women spoke to me about both the role that mothering has had in their criminal behavior (and the stopping of that behavior, also known as desistance) and also about themselves as women and people, independent of their roles as mothers.
The women spoke about prison being an opportunity for them, no matter how horrible, to get to know themselves away from the streets and sober. I write relatively often about the disgusting fact that prison has become, for mostly poor Black and brown women, the “room of one’s own” that Virginia Woolf wrote about so famously; I call it “a cell of one’s own.”
I am most proud of Chapter Five in the book, where I write about the way forward. Ideas such as prison nurseries, college behind bars, moving facilities closer to home, and perhaps a ”moms court” in the tradition of drug courts are important. However, we must also step out of the reform box and imagine a world without prisons. In the tradition of Angela Davis, Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Mariame Kaba, among many more, I suggest that we must imagine what kind justice we could achieve without cages, especially for mothers and their children. What do you imagine? How might we, for example, create a victims justice system rather than a criminal justice system? How might we use transformative and restorative justice to center victim and community transformation instead of focusing on punishment? How might we move beyond our bloodthirst in pursuit of true justice?
I hope you’ll read my book! You can find it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mothering-Desistance-Re-Entry-Routledge-Studies/dp/1138652598 or on the publisher’s site. https://www.routledge.com/Mothering-and-Desistance-in-Re-Entry-1st-Edition/Michalsen/p/book/9781138652590 .
I also hope you’ll join me and some amazing activists at my book party this coming Wednesday 5/1/2019 at The State House in New Haven at 7:00pm. Please contact me at VeneziaHM@yahoo.com or 917-664-2546 with any questions or to RSVP. You can also RSVP on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/824321921276498/ .
In power,
Venezia (Venice) Michalsen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Justice
Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
Guest Blog: Being an Ally for a Formerly Incarcerated Loved One, by Patrick Bailey
The effects of incarceration last far beyond the time someone is in prison. If someone you love has spent time in prison, they may likely still be facing some serious emotional and psychological traumas from their time away. Being a great support system for your loved one can be confusing if you are unsure of how to best help them reintegrate into society. Luckily, there are steps and resources you can use to help them build a new life they love and feel fully supported by people like you. Use these simple steps to help your newly-freed loved one feel supported and inspired to build a healthy fresh start.
Asking How You Can Help
The easiest way to begin your conversation and provide support is by simply asking your loved one what they need. Sometimes simple human interaction is the best way to reintegrate someone into society, since incarceration is an extremely lonely and isolating experience. Ask your loved one if there are any activities they’d like to do, or healthy habits you can practice with them to begin rebuilding their routine at home. People require different levels of support after incarceration, so your loved one may need some time to think about what they need before they accept any help. Be patient and consider these questions you can ask to enhance their new stage of life:
- “How can I best support you right now?”
- “What would make your day easier today?”
- “What habits do you think will help you feel excited for the week?”
Get Educated
Sometimes supporting your newly-freed loved one requires some research on resources available to help them. Luckily, online and community resources are only growing in numbers as the stigma of incarceration is drifting from society. Do your best to consider mental health challenges associated with time in prison and learn warning signs of unhealthy coping mechanisms as they deal with the stress of reintegrating into society. Your loved one may be at risk for symptoms of alcoholism, depression, or anxiety, but these can be treated easily if you connect them with professional help early on. Getting educated with mental health resources can help you support your loved one by connecting them with professionals such as:
- Licensed psychologists
- Support groups specific to incarceration and the associated challenges
- Job-reintroduction or social career services
Maximize Your Time
The easiest way to support your loved one after incarceration is to maximize the time you spend together. Incarceration sometimes causes people to value their time more, and your loved one may leave prison anxious to experience new things and make the most of their time. Joining them may give them the support they need and can add a pleasant social aspect into your time together. Think about wholesome activities that will help your loved one both reintegrate into society and feel fulfilled at the same time. Personal and professional development activities are a great place to start if you are looking for ideas on how to best spend your new quality time. Consider getting into the habit of activities such as:
- Meditation and other stress-relief practices
- Walks outside or trying a new fitness class
- Cooking classes or making the time to grocery shop for healthy food
- Spending time outdoors
Learning how to support your newly-freed loved one is easier when you consder the things they have missed while incarcerated. You can protect their mental and physical health by staying updated on resources and allowing them to ask for help when they need it. Implementing healthy habits and trying new experiences together will also help you make the most of your quality time and enjoy the memories you do have. Do your best to follow these ideas and brainstorm ways to support your loved one after incarceration so they can integrate into this new stage feeling loved and supported.
Patrick Bailey is a professional writer who contributes to many blogs.
Forbes: White-Collar Defendants Have A Place To Go For Support, by Walt Pavlo. Progressive Prison Ministries Celebrates its 150th Online White Collar Support Group Meeting.
By Walt Pavlo, Reprinted from Forbes.com, April 16, 2019
White collar defendants (felons) face a number of obstacles. Many face their past demons and attempt to make amends with victims, family and friends. It is a difficult road and one where there are few supporters. It is a lonely journey discovering how to make people trust again, how to find purpose and how to find forgiveness.
Jeff Grant is celebrating a milestone for providing a support group for white collar defendants … its 150th support group meeting. His life was changed by prison. After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in Federal prison for a white-collar crime years, Grant, by then a disbarred attorney, chose a new path. He earned Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, with a focus in Christian Social Ethics and has since co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries.
Progressive Prison Ministries in Greenwich, Connecticut offer an online white-collar/nonviolent support group. They hold their meetings on Monday evenings, 7:00pm to 8:15 pm Eastern and white collar defendants talk about life, forgiveness, coping with the consequences and moving beyond the experience. The program is unique because it proclaims to be the first confidential white-collar/ nonviolent online support group of its kind. As this support group is run by ordained clergy, Grant said that he expects law enforcement will honor what he believes falls under clergy privilege laws. Such privileges vary by state. Florida’s 2018 statute 90.505 “Privilege with respect to communications to clergy” states that:
A person has a privilege to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a confidential communication by the person to a member of the clergy in his or her capacity as spiritual adviser
Grant told me, “We are extremely proud and grateful to reach this milestone for the group. When we started the group nearly three years ago, we had a dream that people with white collar issues living in shame, guilt, fear and isolation could form a supportive community that would embrace compassion, empathy and kindness for each other.” Through taking his message online, he has expanded reach to states across the country. “People are living with issues in isolation and that benefits nobody,” Grant said.
Grant also co-hosts of a popular radio show and podcast, where he and Babz Rawls Ivy talk to a number of guests on various criminal and social justice issues.
White collar cases are often complex and the motivations different. One can imagine the cases involving the college entry scandal (known as “Operation Varsity Blues”) is exposing a number of people to an unfamiliar and punitive federal justice system. While those involved (alleged to be involved) in drug cases and other crimes have known the effects of this justice system for years, many white collar defendants are overwhelmed by the consequences.
About Walt Pavlo:
Walt is a recognized expert on federal white-collar criminal matters and consults with defendants and attorneys on case strategy, You can reach him at waltpavlo@500PearlStreet.com.
New Haven Independent: Rowland: Criminal Justice Reform “Sands Have Shifted”
By Thomas Breen, Reprinted from the New Haven Independent, April 5, 2019
Former Gov. John Rowland has seen the most right-wing of Republicans and the most left-wing of Democrats converge on at least one issue since the height of his political career two decades ago: criminal justice reform, an issue he has experienced firsthand from all sides.
“The sands have shifted dramatically,” Rowland said Friday on the most recent episode of WNHH’s “Criminal Justice Insider with Babz Rawls-Ivy and Jeff Grant.”
The bipartisan political mindset in the 1990s was to be “tough on crime” with mandatory minimum and three-strikes-and-your-out laws, he noted. Now the rare moments of political consensus today center around laws like the First Step Act, which both the conservative Koch Brothers and the liberal American Civil Liberties Union worked with the Trump Administration on in an effort to reduce federal prison populations and bulk up reentry support services.
“You couldn’t be tough enough on crime back in the day,” Rowland said about the 1990s. But in 2019, not so much.
Rowland, who currently serves as the Northeast development director for the Christian nonprofit Prison Fellowship, is uniquely qualified to comment on how mainstream political common sense has changed over the past four decades. In Connecticut, he’s spent many of those years right in the middle of it.
In 1980 at the age of 23, Rowland became the youngest member of the state House of Representatives. Four years later, he became the youngest U.S. congressman, representing Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District.
In 1994, at just 37 years old, he became the state’s youngest governor. He served in Hartford until 2004, when he resigned amidst a corruption investigation, and served 10 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges related to taking $107,000 in favors from state contractors. It was the first of two convictions and prison sentences.
“The world has changed,” Rowland said as he reflected on how Republicans and Democrats alike in the 1980s and 1990s used the specter of gang violence and drug dealing to lock people up in record numbers.
That mindset led to a skyrocketing in the country’s incarcerated population from around 420,000 in the early 1970s to around 2.3 million today.
He said that evangelical Christian organizations like the one he works for as well as racial justice advocates and civil libertarians have formed a bipartisan coalition focused on reducing mandatory minimums and racial disparities in sentencing, closing prisons, and helping the formerly incarcerated finding housing, work, and meaningful social and spiritual support systems.
“We know how to be tough on crime,” he said. “Now we have to be smart on crime.”
Not Sorry
Rowland was also asked how he thinks now about his two stints in federal prison. The first came in 2005, when he served 10 months after pleading guilty to charges related to taking favors from state contractors; the second came in 2014, when he served 15 months for arranging to be paid to work secretly as a political consultant on two congressional campaigns, in violation of federal campaign finance laws.
Is he sorry?
Following is an exchange Rowland had on Friday’s program with WNHH hosts Babz Rawls-Ivy and Jeff Grant about where he stands now on his convictions and time served.
Rawls-Ivy: When you find yourself about to do this for the second time, what’s your thoughts? How did you feel?
Rowland: You look at the motivation. When this first started to occur a few years ago, my lawyer went down to meet with the prosecutors, and they said, ‘Your guy didn’t do enough time 10 years ago. We’re gonna get him.’ OK. This is going to be a problem. It took them about a year ago to put things together. And then you look back over your shoulder, trying to figure what the motivation was, and you see that the guy that went after you, before you’ve even gotten down the steps of the courthouse, he’s running for governor. Oh, that’s interesting. That explains a lot. He had gone after a couple of Democrats and he needed to beef up his meal ticket. So that’s why he went after me. So you understand the motivation. Once you understand that, one of the things I always council people on before they go away, is to leave bitterness behind. If you go into that facility and you’re bitter and you’re mad and you’re angry, you’re the only one that’s going to suffer from that. …
Rawls-Ivy: Did you have an opportunity to apologize or be sorry? Do you feel sorry for whatever you were charged with? Because I know people want to make you sorry.
Rowland: Let me ask you this, for ‘whatever you’ve been charged with.’ My nickel bet is you can’t even come close to suggesting what i’ve been charged with.
Grant: The second time or the first time?
Rowland: Either time. … The point of saying that is, a lot of times things get trumped up, and there’s motivations and purposes behind it. And the motivations and purposes behind what these guys did to me, you’d be hard pressed to see if anybody ever went to prison for these charges. Or any victims or anybody hurt, or anything else.
Grant: Anybody who goes through the system … in some respects, they know that they’re a political refugee. It’s set up for winners and losers. … This is a conversation that has to happen in order for people to reconcile what’s happened to them. But that doesn’t relieve them necessarily of their responsibility and of their need to show remorse and ask for forgiveness. Where are you in that spectrum?
Rowland: Let me put it this way. If I felt that I did something wrong and I’d ask for forgiveness, I would have done a plea deal. But I went to court and I fought it. I went to appeals. The law firms even came in and did all this stuff pro bono. If they did this stuff pro bono, there must be a reason behind it. They took it to the [state] Supreme Court.
So, if you look at the criminal justice system, it is fragmented, with things that take place in the urban communities, but the political motivations that are now coming out are much worse than they were a million years ago. And I say this because if you think you’re safe, look at what’s happening [to President Trump]. Here he is, the most powerful person on the planet arguably, whether you like him or not, a couple of prosecutors decided that they were going to go after him, and they spent two years. But here’s what’s interesting. Can you pursue another human being, another law abiding citizen, if there’s no evidence that a crime has been committed.
Rawls- Ivy: I’m sorry, what?
Rowland: There was no evidence that he committed any crime. And yet’s he’s been investigated.
Rawls-Ivy: We don’t know that. We don’t have the Mueller report. We have Barr’s interpretation.
Rowland: I’m not going there. If they had something, they would have indicted him. My point is, the motivation to start the investigation, there was no blatant evidence of a crime that had been committed. Leave the politics alone for a second, if prosecutors can go after the president of the United States and torture him and his family and his friends, imagine what they can do with ordinary citizens.
Rawls-Ivy: As the only person of color in this room, I just find that whole statement upside down.
Rowland: It has nothing to do with color. What I’m suggesting is that, when prosecutors decide to pursue somebody, it doesn’t matter who they are.
New Haven Independent: Ex-Inmate Seeks To Raise The Bar
by Tom Breen, Reprinted from New Haven Independent, Mar. 18, 2019
Dieter Tejada wants to diversify the legal profession.
Not necessarily by race or by class or by gender. But by an identity he believes is most underrepresented among lawyers today: people who have actually spent time behind bars.
Tejada pitched that vision for a future with more “justice-impacted” lawyers on the latest episode of WNHH’s “Criminal Justice Insider with Babz Rawls-Ivy and Jeff Grant.”
In particular, he’s working on creating a bar association specifically for lawyers and aspiring lawyers who have been to prison or have had a loved one serve time behind bars. He’s also worked with New York University’s Prison Reform and Education Project (PREP) to set up a scholarship specifically for “justice-impacted” law school students.
The 28-year-old Norwalk native said that the four-and-a-half months he spent in Connecticut prisons at the tail end of his teenage years instilled in him a desire to become a lawyer.
Not one who could succeed despite his criminal record. But one who could succeed because of the connection, empathy, and understanding that he believes his own direct experience in prison allows him to have with the men and women he hopes to represent.
“I have a duty to use my experience,” he said.
“I’m justice-impacted,” he continued. “That’s how I identify. … Going into jail, going through that experience, gave me an identity. That’s why I do what I do.”
![Dieter Tejada (center) with WNHH hosts Jeff Grant and Babz Rawls-Ivy. Thomas Breen photo](https://www.newhavenindependent.org/images/made/archives/upload/2019/03/Tom/Dieter1_360_233_86_sha-100.jpg)
Thomas Breen photo
Dieter Tejada (center) with WNHH hosts Jeff Grant and Babz Rawls-Ivy.
Tejada’s first experience with the criminal justice system came at age 19, when he plead guilty to a first-degree felony assault charge that earned him a five-year sentence suspended after nine months. Tejada was just 17 when he committed the crime to which he ultimately pleaded guilty.
“It revolved around a fight in high school,” he said. “You can turn your life upside down very easily.”
After pleading guilty, Tejada spent three months at Bridgeport Correctional Center (BCC), followed by another month-and-a-half at Manson Youth Institution in Cheshire.
“I was 115 pounds and terrified,” he remembered about his first night in lock up. He had just finished his first year at UCONN, but would have to take the next semester off.
In prison, he soon learned to stop feeling bad for himself. He looked around and saw men locked up for much longer sentences, and facing much steeper challenges to reintegrating into society post-release
“I started realizing that, one, my life doesn’t have to be over,” he said. “And two, this thing might be good.”
At Manson, he wrote directly to the warden, asking for early release so that he could pursue his dreams of earning a law degree and becoming a mentor to youth who might be on the same path to prison that he had found himself on.
He got out after four-and-a-half months, finished his bachelor’s at UCONN, then earned his law degree at Vanderbilt.
He passed the bar exam in Connecticut, but is still waiting for the outcome of a requisite character and fitness training before he can be admitted to the state’s bar.
In his work with NYU’s PREP and in his experiences returning to prison this time as a law graduate, and not an inmate, Tejada said he has realized just how few lawyers working today truly know what it’s like for their clients who are behind bars.
“They don’t know the full extent of how it impacts someone’s life,” he said about most lawyers who work with incarcerated clients. They’ve never worn a belly belt or shackles around their wrists and ankles.
So now he’s working to start a bar association for lawyers and aspiring lawyers like himself, people who have had direct personal experience with the criminal justice system. What the National Bar Association has done for African American lawyers historically excluded from the profession, he said, this new organization will do for the justice-impacted.
He’s also hosting a justice impact roundtable with 16 other justice-impacted lawyers at NYU on April 3. The meeting will be streamed live on YouTube, he said. And he’s worked with PREP to set up a scholarship that will provide around $5,000 a year for justice-impacted law school students.
His goal, he said, is to bring more and more of the actual experience of incarceration to the legal profession. “I believe in the value it brings to the field,” he said. “This is a launching pad for the forming of a national bar association for the formerly incarcerated.”
______________________________
Careers after Incarceration: a Roundtable Discussion by Formerly incarcerated professionals, students, and attorneys. Free.
Wed, April 3, 2019
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
NYU Law School Vanderbilt Hall
40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
A roundtable discussion on professional barriers after incarceration with directly impacted students, professionals, and attorneys.
In conjunction with its newly launched scholarship, NYU Law’s Prison Reform and Education Project (PREP) is hosting a roundtable discussion for formerly incarcerated attorneys, students, and activists to discuss professional barriers after incarceration. Attendees aim to start a conversation and community that will increase accessibility to the legal profession and support formerly incarcerated professionals. The discussion will cover both concerns for current practicing attorneys as well as advice to those interested in pursuing this path.
For more information on the scholarship, and to register (free), click here.
Article: Show Up Drunk: Indictments Spotlight Prison Rehab Scams, by Dave Collins, AP
Photo: Jack Donson
Reprinted from Various Sources, by Dave Collins, Associated Press, March 11, 2019
It’s a tip that has been passed onto convicts for years: On your way to federal prison, say you have a substance abuse problem, and you could qualify for a treatment program that knocks up to a year off your sentence.
Federal prosecutors have long suspected abuses in the program, which has enrolled a deep list of high-profile convicts. Recently, a grand jury in Connecticut indicted three people accused of coaching ineligible convicts on how to get into the Residential Drug Abuse Program, or RDAP, by telling them to show up to prison intoxicated and fake withdrawal symptoms. The charges are among the first filed against prison consultants involving the program.
The case has put a spotlight on the unregulated world of prison consulting, in which some ex-convicts and former prison employees charge thousands of dollars for their inside knowledge to help people prepare for life behind bars. Some consultants say there has been wrongdoing in the industry for decades, including encouraging clients to scam their way into the rehab program.
The small industry now is “totally the Wild West,” said Jack Donson, president of New York-based My Federal Prison Consultant and a retired federal Bureau of Prisons employee.
“I hope it brings light to things,” he said, referring to the Connecticut case. “I hope it gives people … pause to not cross that line to illegality and unethical conduct.”
Completing the nine-month, 500-hour treatment program for nonviolent offenders is one of only a few ways inmates can get their sentences reduced. About 15,600 inmates — nearly 10 percent of the current federal prison population — participated in the program last year, and thousands more are on waiting lists. To get in, convicts must present evidence they had substance abuse or addiction problems during the year prior to their arrest. Upon completion, their sentences can be reduced and they can spend the last six months of their sentences in a halfway house.
Christopher Mattei, a former federal prosecutor in Connecticut, said the U.S. attorney’s office increasingly saw white-collar convicts make use of the program.
“It undermines the public’s confidence that all people when they go before a court for sentencing will be treated fairly. People who know how to game the system know how to get the benefits, whereas people who are struggling with addiction don’t know all the angles to play,” Mattei said.
Mattei helped send Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim to prison for nearly seven years for corruption. Ganim took part in the drug treatment program, got released early in 2010 and made a stunning comeback by winning back the mayor’s seat in the 2015 election.
That Ganim even had a substance abuse problem surprised both Mattei and the federal judge who sentenced him, since there had been no indication of such a problem. After his release, Ganim himself worked as a prison consultant and touted his knowledge of the drug program. He did not return messages from the AP seeking comment.
Questions have been raised about other prominent convicts’ admittance to the program.
Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell, sentenced to 30 months for tax evasion, completed the program, but the four-month early release he received was revoked in 2008 after prosecutors raised questions about whether he really had an alcohol problem.
Former Enron Treasurer Ben Glisan Jr. was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty in 2003 in the Enron fraud scandal, but he shaved 18 months off the sentence through good behavior and the drug treatment program.
While testifying at the fraud and conspiracy trial in 2006, Glisan appeared to joke about the program on the witness stand while being questioned by Daniel Petrocelli, the lawyer for former Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling, the AP reported at the time. Glisan said his pre-prison drinking “problem” was consuming two glasses of wine upon returning home and sometimes a bottle when out with colleagues.
“You said one or two drinks. If you have a drinking problem, then I’m in serious trouble,” Petrocelli joked.
“You’ll get a year off,” Glisan replied with a laugh.
Bureau of Prisons officials said they cannot comment on specific inmates who participated in the program or on legal proceedings, including indictments.
“However, we can share that the BOP is committed to the integrity of the Residential Drug Abuse Program,” the agency said in a statement.
The criminal indictments in Connecticut are believed to be among the first criminal charges filed against prison consultants in connection with the treatment program.
Arrested were Michigan residents Tony Pham, 49, and Samuel Copenhaver, 47, both of Grand Rapids; and Constance Moerland, 33, of Hudsonville. The three were managing partners in RDAP Law Consultants, authorities said.
Prosecutors said the three told clients over the past six years to falsely inform Bureau of Prisons officials that they had drug and alcohol problems, taught them how to fake withdrawal symptoms and how to fraudulently obtain medication to treat withdrawal symptoms, so they could show prescriptions to qualify for the program. The partners also told their clients to begin drinking alcohol daily before going to prison and to show up drunk, the indictments said.
Messages were left at phone listings for Pham and Moerland. Copenhaver did not address the allegations in emails with the AP, saying he was too busy to comment. Lawyers for Copenhaver and Moerland declined to comment. A message was left for Pham’s public defender.
“The fraudsters not only undermined the authority of the judicial system to administer fair and impactful sentences, but they diverted vital substance abuse treatment from inmates who really needed it,” said Kristina O’Connell, an Internal Revenue Service agent in charge of New England investigations.
Last year in New York City, a lawyer and three other people were charged with defrauding the government and making false statements. They allegedly submitted bogus information to prison officials, claiming that a convicted drug dealer had a history of addiction, in an effort to get the client into the drug treatment program so he could be released early. The case remains pending.
Other consultants coach people on how to lie to get into the program, according to Donson, who said some also claim they can get convicts sent to prisons that have the RDAP program when only federal prison officials have that authority. He said he sees potential for fraud also as consultants rush to offer help related to a new law that allows federal prisoners sentenced for crack cocaine offenses before late 2010 the opportunity to petition for a lighter penalty.
Donson and other consultants say more monitoring of the industry and prosecutions would help deter misconduct.
“It’s an unregulated industry, so something like this hopefully brings some attention to it,” said Dan Wise, an ex-con who completed the RDAP program and now runs a prison consultant business based in Spokane, Washington.
New Haven Independent: New Corrections Chief Vows Prison Reform
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[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]By Tom Breen, Reprinted from New Haven Independent, March, 6, 2019
When Rollin Cook started his career as a correctional officer in Utah 30 years ago, the criminal justice system prioritized handling inmates with force.
As the new head of Connecticut’s prison system, Cook plans to build off of his predecessor’s reform legacy by championing communication and rehabilitation rather than physical punishment for those behind bars, as well as anti-discrimination for the recently released.
Cook discussed those criminal justice reform goals and the three-decade trajectory of the country’s prison system as a whole on the most recent episode of WNHH’s “Criminal Justice Insider with Babz Rawls-Ivy and Jeff Grant.”
The 51-year-old former head of the Utah prison system is less than two months into his new job as the commissioner-designate of Connecticut’s Department of Correction (DOC), replacing outgoing commissioner and nationally-celebrated reformer Scott Semple.
“There’s a reason why my nose is crooked,” Cook said during the interview. The commissioner-designate, a soft-spoken but burly veteran of the Utah correctional system who worked his way up from correctional officer to commissioner, said that “everything was about force” when he first started working in Utah prisons in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Correctional officers like him were required to go into cells and “take people down.”
“Now,” he continued, “when we’re looking to hire people, we’re looking for people that can problem solve, that can communicate, that can lead. It’s not about forcing someone, but about leading them, coaching them.”
During his five years as the head of Utah’s system, Cook earned praise from his native state’s governor, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Utah, and the Utah Prisoner Advocate Network for both advocating for staff and for improving inmate mental health and restrictive housing policies.
Recently tapped by Gov. Ned Lamont to bring the same humane, reform-minded prison policies to the Nutmeg State, Cook said he is interested in continuing the work done by Semple, who worked with former Gov. Dannel Malloy to shutter prisons, reduce the state’s incarcerated population, and establish the TRUE program in the Cheshire maximum-security prison where young inmates are mentored by older, fellow inmates serving life sentences for crimes that they committed while they were young.
“The reason I came to Connecticut was because of the things that you’re doing,” Cook said. After listening to Semple present at prison commissioner conferences around the country, Cook remembered thinking to himself, “I wanted to be part of that.”
In his new job, Cook said he will prioritize reforming “restrictive housing” policies that keep Connecticut inmates contained in solitary confinement. He’ll also prioritize “staff wellness” so that employees at all levels of the DOC feel empowered to speak up about what’s working and what’s not from their perspectives in the state’s prison system.
And for those who have been released from prison, Cook said, he will be a champion of anti-discrimination legislation like House Bill 6921, introduced by New Haven State Rep. Robyn Porter, which looks to remove barriers to employment, education, and, in particular, housing for those with criminal records trying to reintegrate into society after being released.
“It isn’t just a corrections problem,” he said. “It’s a social justice problem.” A good job and medical treatment and reform-minded legislation can only do so much for someone recently released from prison, he said.
“If they’ don’t have a place to live when they get out,” he said, “they’re gonna fail.”
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Testimony: Before the CT State Appropriations Committee Relating to Medication Assisted Treatment in Prison, March 4, 2019
H.B. No. 7148, AN ACT CONCERNING THE STATE BUDGET FOR THE BIENNIUM ENDING JUNE THIRTIETH 2021, AND MAKING APPROPRIATIONS THEREFOR.
Good evening, Senator Formica, Senator Lavielle, Senator Osten, Representative Walker, and members of the Appropriations Committee. My name is Jeff Grant and I serve as Co-Founder and Minister of Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. (Greenwich, CT), a nonprofit founded in 2012; our mission is to serve individuals and families with white collar and nonviolent incarceration issues. From 2009 – 2019, I served on the Board of Directors and then as Executive Director of Family ReEntry, Inc. (Bridgeport, CT); founded in 1984, Family ReEntry’s mission is to develop, implement, and share innovative and cost-effective solutions to the unprecedented numbers of people involved in the criminal justice system. I have also served on the Board of Directors of Community Partners in Action (Hartford, CT), on the Board of Advisors of ReEntry Survivors and the P.R.I.D.E. Program (Bridgeport, CT) and on the Editorial Board of the book, The Justice Imperative: How Hyper-Incarceration has Hijacked the American Dream (Southport, CT).
I would like to take this opportunity to applaud the commitment that this administration has undertaken to follow and expand upon the bold steps that the prior administration took to reduce the numbers of people in prison through criminal justice reform and Second Chance Society legislation.
I served almost fourteen months in a federal prison for a white-collar crime I committed in 2001 after an over ten (10+) year addiction to prescription opioids. I am now over sixteen (16+) years clean and sober. I kicked the habit in the State of Connecticut after committing my crimes, attended recovery meetings in this state until I went to prison and thereafter, attended court-mandated drug and alcohol counseling upon my return and have lived and remained sober in Connecticut for the over eleven (11+) years since my return from prison. Without support from my wife, the faith community, opportunities to serve this state’s criminal justice nonprofits when I came back from prison, and the larger Connecticut social services safety net, it is unlikely that I would be standing before you today as a tax-paying citizen, non-profit leader and advocate for enlightened criminal justice.
With more individuals addicted to, and incarcerated for crimes related to, opioid addiction, it is all the more urgent that we increase adopt legislation directly responsive thereto. Please note:
- Research shows that forty-four (44%) percent of fatal overdoses in Connecticut occurred among individuals who had a history of having been detained by the Department of Correction [i]. It is easy to see that effective treatment in correctional facilities for alcohol and drug addiction, and specifically opioid use disorder, can have a dramatic effect on reducing these overdoses.
- Progressive treatment for opioid use disorder is good fiscal policy. Compare the cost of incarceration by inmate in CT (in 2015, $62,159 per year) against the cost of comprehensive Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) (as little as $4,000 per year) [ii].
- A 2006 national opinion survey likewise indicates that the general public also favors rehabilitative services for offenders, as opposed to a punishment-only approach by an almost 8 to 1 margin [iii].
As the number of people with addiction to opioids continues swell, it would behoove the legislature to focus on solutions for those in state custody. Everyone will be the beneficiary from these investments that will help restore healthy families, increase public safety, rebuild our communities and continue to reduce our prison population.
Thank you for your attention to this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Respectfully submitted,
Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.
[i] Yale’s 2016 plan for Connecticut Opioid Response (CORE) states that Retrieved from http://www.plan4children.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/COREInitiativeForPublicComment.pdf
[ii] See. “Confronting an Epidemic: The Case for Eliminating Barriers to Medication- Assisted Treatment of Heroin and Opioid Addiction,” The Legal Action Center, March 2015. and “The Price of Prisons 2015: State Spending Trends,” Table 1, The Vera Institute, https://www.vera.org/publications/price-of-prisons-2015-state-spending-trends/price-of-prisons-2015-state-spending-trends/price-of-prisons-2015-state-spending-trends-prison-spendingSource: One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections; PEW Center on the States; March 2009; page 22
[iii] Krisberg, B. & Marchionna, S. (2006). Attitudes of U.S. Voters Toward Prisoner Rehabilitation and Reentry Policies. Oakland, CA: National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
This written testimony was submitted by the author for the record.