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INSIDE THE BIG HOUSE
Reforming the reformers
BY KRISTEN LOMBARDI

In the aftermath of the August 23 murder of defrocked priest John Geoghan — the man who had come to epitomize the worst in the clergy-sexual-abuse scandal roiling the Archdiocese of Boston (see "Shame on the Department of Correction," News and Features, August 29) — the notion of prison reform has finally gained traction. Since Geoghan was strangled in his cell at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, in Shirley, Governor Mitt Romney has convened the Commission on Corrections Reform to examine the prison system in Massachusetts. And the legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Safety has held public hearings on the topic.

Now, legislation establishing an independent body of citizens to monitor the state’s 19 correctional facilities has received a major boost. On December 17, the public-safety committee approved House Bill 2853, which would create a citizen review board to examine the policies, practices, and budget of the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC). Although committee members made some changes to the bill — such as increasing the number of review-board members from 11 to 13 — they left its purpose largely the same.

Bill proponents hail the committee’s approval as a victory. Indeed, legislation similar to House Bill 2853 has been filed every session since 1998. And every time, it’s languished in the public-safety committee. "That we’ve actually been able to accomplish this is a feat," says State Representative Kay Khan (D-Newton), who authored the bill. Khan attributes House Bill 2853’s emergence from the committee stage to "a lot of hard work" on the part of the 24 representatives and senators who have co-sponsored the legislation. Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, and the League of Women Voters have also pushed for the measure.

Still, Khan recognizes that "the cards lined up" for proponents this time around. Aside from the high-profile Geoghan murder, she notes, prison reformers were aided by publicity surrounding the mysterious death of Kelly-Jo Griffen at MCI-Framingham last summer (see "What Happened to Kelly-Jo?", News and Features, September 12). The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation added further ammunition to the cause last month, when it found that the state budget now allocates more than $700 million to the DOC — and thus spends more money on prisons than on higher education.

Khan sees her bill as an extension of the governor’s reform commission, which is headed by former Massachusetts attorney general Scott Harshbarger. A citizen review board would work to implement any recommendations that the commission ends up making next year; it would also make oversight and accountability a permanent piece of the DOC equation. "This would be a tremendous boost to our entire method of corrections," she explains. "We need to think about other ways for taking care of prisoners, not just lock them up and throw away the key."

Of course, the fight over House Bill 2853 isn’t over. Before becoming law, the measure must make its way through the House Committee on Ways and Means, and then the full House. But Khan and fellow proponents are wasting no time in pushing the issue. As Khan puts it, "This is really about public safety, cost containment, and a better way of dealing with the 10,000 people who are locked up in our corrections system."


Issue Date: December 26, 2003 - January 1, 2004
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