CJPC Annual Report for 2005

CJPC Gains an Executive Director for the first time since 2002

Increased funding enabled CJPC to pursue a search for an Executive Director in late spring 2006. Over the summer, an excellent group of candidates was interviewed, resulting in the hiring of Brandyn Keating, who began work on a three-day a week basis in late September. Both CJPC and Ms. Keating want to move toward full-time staffing by September of 2006. CJPC will need to renew old and get substantial new donations to make that possible.

Special Projects, Innovative Research

With the leadership of a part-time researcher/special projects coordinator, Patrice Brymner, CJPC initiated The County Project and conducted additional strategic research/writing, including:

• A piece on Voting Rights of Prisoners and Ex- Offenders in Massachusetts (distributed at the October MARC conference and published in the September 2005 CJPC Newsletter.)
• An Overview of Massachusetts District Attorneys published in the November 2005 CJPC Newsletter.


• An Op-Ed on Governor Romney’s proposal to re-instate the death penalty.


• An article on the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission’s 2005 survey of sentencing practices.

Another goal for 2006 fundraising will be to increase CJPCs innovative research through The County Project while continuing to produce materials in other timely and strategic research areas.

The County Corrections Project remains focused on an area of unique opportunity and challenge. County-level autonomy in Massachusetts allows disparity in policies and practices, but also creates opportunities for innovation in programming, hiring and training. The project is designed to research, analyze and disseminate relevant information on the state of county corrections in order to provide community education and call for change in areas needing improvement.

In 2005 CJPC launched a new section of its website entitled County Web Pages. Features include:

• PDF’s with tables containing demographic and economic data on all 14 counties, 2005 budgets for the 14 sheriff’s departments, and overcrowding data on the 13 counties with Houses of Correction facilities.
• Access to an official map showing cities and towns within counties.
• "Quick Facts" page which covers overview facts on county corrections and basic facts on county prisoners and county sheriffs.

Using Technology for Social Change:

CJPC Website Upgraded and Newsletter Format Improved, More Changes Planned

In May of 2005 CJPC employed Amy Carmosino as website manager. At that time, a new system for the newsletter was put in place, yielding a more user friendly email version of the newsletter and one that allowed simpler archiving on the website. We have utilized the website to post useful information on CJ issues, including testimony presented at legislative hearings by organizations and individuals.

The website’s search engine was improved in early fall. With adequate funding, we hope to execute a complete overhaul of the website in 2006, making it a more user-friendly resource and a more effective organizing tool. We also plan to increase member contact and impact through action alerts and updates disseminated through our list serve and available on our web site.

Broad Range of Newsletter Articles Produced, Available in Archive on Website

At the beginning of the 2005-06 legislative session, CJPC published articles and charts outlining the contents of bills impacting CORI, mandatory minimum sentencing and post-release mandatory supervision, jail diversion, and diversion to treatment. Additionally, CJPC produced five reports in conjunction with the Massachusetts Human Services Coalition’s The People’s Budget. The reports give background and FY 05 line item figures for County Corrections, the CORI and SORI Boards, the Department of Corrections, the Judiciary and the Parole Board.

CJPC has disseminated information on a broad range of topics via its newsletter and web site, including:

• Surcharges on prisoner phone calls.
• Prison visiting programs and family experiences.
• A bill passed to compensate those erroneously convicted.
• Hearings before legislative committees and three groups in which CJPC was participating to push important legislation: the Massachusetts Alliance for CORI Reform, the SMART (Smart on Crime) Coalition, and the Coalition to Increase Access to Addiction Treatment.

• Report of the CORI: Balancing Individual Rights and Public Access, published in May by the Boston Foundation and Crime and Justice Institute.
• The state’s Substance Abuse Strategic Plan, made public in mid May.
• The Preliminary Report of the Department of Corrections Advisory Council, released in June.

CJPC welcomed a new volunteer newsletter editor, Kate Watkins, in July of 2005.

Educating, Empowering Mobilizing

• For the third year, CJPC organized the advocate and legislator panel for the Criminal Justice workshop in February’s Legislative Clearinghouse.
• CJPC held a very successful Annual Meeting April 20^th with speaker Frank Cousins, Jr. of Essex County reporting on the work of the Advisory Council on Correctional Reform.
• CJPC helped organize the SMART (Smart on Crime) Coalition to pursue S 929 Parole Eligibility for Drug Mandatory Minimum Sentences and H 3556 Diversion to Treatment Bill, and was active with planning, getting turnout, and testifying at the November 22 Judiciary Committee hearing.
• CJPC joined the Massachusetts Alliance to Reform CORI (MARC) and took a leadership role in the Brockton area, home of Senator Creedon, Senate Chair of the Judiciary Committee.
• We organized attendance, testimony and phone calls and letters to state legislators on CORI reform and mandatory minimum sentencing reform prior to the hearing mentioned above. In 2006, we plan to forge ahead in the Brockton area and state wide with goals of building our membership and winning concrete legislative victories on CORI and mandatory minimum sentencing.