Massachusetts State Sen. Patricia Jehlen (D−Middlesex) was recently appointed to a commission aimed at studying the inner workings of the Massachusetts criminal justice system.
The commission will evaluate all aspects of the criminal justice system, including the state and county institutions' sentencing guidelines, in an effort to uncover the most effective and cost−efficient route to achieve prisoner rehabilitation.
"Prison costs are a growing portion of our budget," Jehlen told the Daily, "but we haven't looked at how to reduce those costs."
The committee will be comprised of the Secretary of Public Safety and Security, Senate President Therese Murray, two state senators, two state representatives and a host of representatives from the Boston and Massachusetts Bar Associations and others chosen by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, according to Jehlen.
Massachusetts State Sen. Stan Rosenberg (D−Amherst) spearheaded the creation of the commission, Jehlen explained, and members were appointed a few weeks ago. They met for the first time last week and divided work among themselves.
"We're looking most at pre−trial and post−incarceration and what happens during incarceration," she said.
The committee will consider ways to prevent prison overcrowding. The prisons operate at over 140 percent of their capacity, according to Jehlen.
Commission members will also work to address the high rate of recidivism, or return offenders, among inmates.
"One task is to make an analysis to how to be more effective to reduce recidivism and reduce crime without spending more money," Jehlen said.
One member, Rep. Daniel Winslow (R−Norfolk), hopes the commission will advocate for rehabilitation services in prisons, rather than allow inmates to continue to be warehoused. Winslow explained that there is currently a recidivism rate between 50 and 60 percent in the state.
"It costs $10,000 a year to re−educate and train an incarcerated individual, and upwards of $43,000 to re−incarcerate an individual," he said. "If we warehouse people and put them back on the streets, we have definitely wasted our money."
Winslow hopes that the commission can help transform the criminal justice system into a successful individual−based rehabilitation environment.
"At one point, Massachusetts was the leading state in re−educating," Winslow said. "Massachusetts Correctional Institution (MCI)−Norfolk had a championship debating team. Their famous Norfolk Debating Society alum was an inmate named Malcolm Little, who came out as Malcolm X," he said.
Marcus Schwartz, a volunteer at both Pondville Correctional Center and MCI−Cedar Junction at Walpole who provides religious counsel to inmates, supports the move toward a greater focus on prisoner rehabilitation.
"I can definitely see that the current prison system isn't focusing on rehabilitating," Schwartz, whose brother−in−law is an inmate at Bay State Correctional Center, told the Daily. "It seems hit−or−miss; many of these men sit and ferment on what they already know, and when they're released, without an institutional support system that's available, they relapse. It's all very automated and impersonal."
The commission committee originally planned to finish its business and submit a report detailing its recommendations to Patrick by March 2012, but Jehlen is wary that the work will not be completed by that time.
"There's a lot to accomplish in that amount of time, we may need to ask for an extension," she said.
The commission will look toward grants offered by the Pew Charitable Trusts to carry out any proposals generated by the final report, Jehlen added.
Winslow is hopeful that the commission will produce tangible results.
"I would like to see actual legislation result from this commission that is enacted into law," he said, "and I want to see executive and judicial branches adopt the policy, and make it a system worthy of the people of Massachusetts."
