Activism/Advocacy in Phoenix, AZ [Archive]

LeFay

08-16-2003, 11:02 AM

This is from Middle Ground and is the most detail that I have:
UPCOMING SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION ON CORRECTIONS: We have been advised that there will be a special legislative session called by the Governor sometime in mid to late September to deal with overcrowding/corrections. At this session, expected to last only a few days, bills will be introduced which will deal with sentencing reform, proposals to reduce mandatory sentencing (probably for DUI offenders, etc.) At the present time, however, NO law has been passed to reduce sentences or to revert our sentencing code to its previous 2 for 1 earning of release credits. Such proposals MAY be considered in September, but a specific proposed legislative bill has not yet been introduced. This message is posted July 24, 2003. We will keep our members/constituents updated as more information becomes available.

I didn't know we have a new DOC Director as well. This is also from Middle Ground:
New DOC Director: Effective July 1, 2003, the former Director of the Missouri DOC, Dora Schriro. Ed.D; J.D., will become Arizona's new DOC Director. Dr. Schriro has a law degree from St. Louis University, a doctorate in Education Administration from Columbia University in New York; a master's degree in psychology from the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and a bachelor's degree from Northeastern University in Boston. She has taught courses in law, justice, psychology and education since 1978. During her term as Missouri's DOC Director, the rate of recidivism dropped from 34 percent to 19.2 percent. The number of inmate lawsuits dropped from 1,700 to 380 in part, because she developed an internal dispute resolution program. She also developed a program called a ``parallel universe,'' system which means that because most inmates will eventually be released into society, the micro-society behind bars in which they serve their sentences should be similar to that of the outside world. As Ms. Schriro says, ``Creating this environment better prepares them to successfully assimilate back into society.''

We attended the State Bar Convention Luncheon on June 13th, 2003 when Governor Napolitano announced this executive appointment. Dr. Schriro's appointment is subject to a Senate Judiciary Hearing and full Senate confirmation.

Dr. Schriro's ``parallel universe'' program is one that apparently has positively affected the reduced recidivism rate in Missouri. We tracked Dr. Schriro's writings on this program and there is certainly nothing wrong with what she says about the importance of preparing offenders for successful release into the community. Our concern lies in what she faces here in Arizona, and whether she will have the backing from the Governor and the legislature to do what needs to be done to truly change the Corrections Department. Clearly, the collateral consequences of a felony record (in obtaining employment, housing, etc.) will require legislative cooperation in repealing some laws if ex-offenders are truly to benefit from treatment while in prison under a ``parallel universe'' program. Does operating a ``parallel universe'' for prisoners mean that the Director will eliminate SMU I and SMU II? Surely she knows that no one in free society lives in a metal and concrete cage 24/7, with the lights on all night, and with no meaningful contact with other human beings for years at a time, in an environment that is recognized by the courts to cause psychological damage. If she continues to operate the Special Management Units, will she at least require a transition period to a lower-custody setting for inmates who are about to be released into the community? Will she parallel the free-world court system which permits lawyers to represent poor people at adversarial hearings and makes a record of the proceedings, or will she continue with the present prison disciplinary system that doesn't allow a tape recording of the hearing or an advocate of the inmate's choosing to be present, even when substantial due process rights (forfeiture of earned release credits) are involved?

Unfortunately, a true ``parallel universe'' for prisoners who are to be treated as though they were in the community would actually be a very negative experience: Due to a felony record, felons are denied housing in all but the worst flop-house apartments. They are denied student loans in some cases due to a felony record. They are denied public welfare and other social service benefits, in some cases, due to a felony record. Almost all ex-offenders are denied jobs based on their felony record. Arizona law prohibits many of them from forever seeking employment in certain professions due to a felony record. When they are hired, public pressure sometimes results in loss of a job (ex: former inmate/law school graduate James Hamm was hired as an adjunct professor at ASU, but public pressure on the Board of Regents caused them to ``cave'' and withdraw his contract to teach on the same day it was offered). We are very supportive of post-secondary educational opportunities for prisoners. However, all the education and job-skill training in the world doesn't prepare most inmates for the humiliation and rejection they will face as they attempt to put their lives back together again after prison.

The Arizona Department of Corrections is at a pivotal point in its history. During the past two decades, it has been on a slippery slope of regression and oppression under the past two prison administrators. The new director faces a Department that is entrenched in a ``good `ole boy'' network that is decades-old in Florence. She faces a mounting problem with gangs that has been dealt with by previous administrations with a head-in-the-sand approach, never addressing the reason why gangs are so rampant in the first place. Communicable diseases such as TB, Hep C and AIDS are ever-increasing among inmate populations and are astonishingly ignored for the most part in correctional medical circles. Inmate grievances are lost or ``invalid.'' Female prisoners face subtle and not-so-subtle forms of sexual harassment. The females who don't directly experience sexual harassment face a type of ``collateral sexual terrorism'' as they live in fear of what might happen to them if they report what they see, or if they somehow become a target of someone's oppressive power. Hope is lost within the inmate population due to exceedingly long sentences and little meaningful work or opportunity to program. Drugs are a problem in the prison system, and not just as a result of inmate use. Staff are not routinely screened for drug-use, nor are they properly or effectively searched when they enter the prison for work shifts. There are excessive numbers of middle management staff. Employee turn-over is high and staff morale is at an all-time low. Inmate programs are sporadic and ineffective, and don't lead to degrees or credentialization in any meaningful way. Families of prisoners are used as ``cash cows'' by bilking vast amounts of money from them (mostly from the poor or disadvantaged) for collect telephone charges which provide huge kick-back profits to the prisons themselves. Visitation is arbitrarily terminated and excessive use of extended periods of visitation denial create large numbers of inmates who receive no visitors at all. Prisoners are forced to pay $3/visit for so-called medical visits, most of the time with a person who is not even a doctor or registered nurse. Meaningful work opportunities rarely exist, and the Correctional Industries program is a dumping ground for terminated or incompetent correctional department employees. Only a very small percentage of Arizona's prisoners are allowed to work in correctional industry programs. Parole officers act as ``cops,'' who view their job as merely toe-tapping until the prisoner is sent back to prison on a technical violation. The list of practical problems is almost endless.

Clearly, Ms. Schriro has her job cut out for her. We hope she is up to the task and that she has the integrity, character and heart to be a true leader. In addition, it is certain that the only way to bring about authentic change within the Arizona Department of Corrections is to allow the new director to ``clean house'' by terminating certain staff who are very much a part of the problem. The new director will need the Governor's support for this, and we certainly hope she will receive it.

Although we realize the prospect of a new administration is always a hopeful time, we have been around too long (through 21 years of prison administrators and administrations) to become overly excited. Instead, we will take a wait-and-see approach. However, we certainly leave open the possibility that real change will occur within the Arizona Department of Corrections, and that it will be a change for the good of victims, prisoners and their families, and for public safety in general.

My husband is in Eyman (Cook) and they have a new Warden There is been a lot of rumors that major changes are in the works, and it would seem possible under this new Director

I am continuing to research who to send letters to in addition to our legislature representatives I'll let you all know what I find out

LeFay:yes: