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What We've Been Up To
Making Presentations: In our ongoing efforts to bring
criminal justice topics out to the public, the CJPC
makes presentations to church and civic groups around
the state. This month Lloyd Fillion, the Chair of the
Board, presented on the need for the Citizen Review
Board at the Neponset Valley Sunrise Rotary. He will
also be speaking at the Westwoord Rotary Club on
February 5th and at Mt. Ida College in Newton on
February 5. Jim Hannon, Professor of Criminal Justice
at Bridgewater State College and Board Member will
speak on the state of the state's prisons and the need
for citizen oversight at First Parrish Church Concord,
on Sunday, February 22nd.
Outreach Campaign: Beginning last October we
enlisted Patrice Brymner, a lawyer and journalist
living in the western suburbs, to conduct an outreach
campaign targeting churches and civic organizations in
the Boston Metrowest area. The goal was to schedule
speaking engagements to educate the public on the need
for prison reform and the citizen review board. To
date, about forty direct and indirect contacts have
been made. Unfortunately, the campaign to date has
produced far fewer engagements than hoped for. Many
groups indicated that they have decided to limit their
efforts and interests to other topics, and still
others never responded to our telephone calls or
letters. If you are a member of a chuch or club that
would be interested in hosting a presentation please
let us know.
The Blog: For those of you who are new to "blogging"
please check out http://cjpc.blogspot.com/ Blog
technology allows us to post things as soon as we
learn of them. It is similar to a website and similar
to a bulletin board, but the technology is slightly
more user friendly. We are trying to find the best way
to keep interested people informed. Let us know what
you think.
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Massachuesetts' Re-entry Roundtable |
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By John Chistian Boston Public Health Commission
and Board Member
On December 3, 2003, the Massachusetts Housing
and Shelter Alliance convened a group of more than
45 people currently working with ex-offenders in
Massachusetts to discuss barriers that those
coming out of prison face during the re-entry
process and to develop ideas for making their
re-entry more successful. Participants of the
"Re-entry Roundtable" event came from both public
and private agencies including the Massachusetts
Department of Correction; county houses of
correction; community-based programs for
ex-offenders and homeless people; halfway houses;
substance abuse and mental health service
providers; and faith-based programs for
ex-offenders. Participants spent the morning
working in smaller groups, discussing some of the
problems they routinely faced. To see their
suggestions check the CJPC website at the link
below.
Read on...
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More Criminal Justice Advocates in
Massachusetts |
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By Patrice Brymner Criminal Justice Policy
Coalition
The Real Cost of Prisons Project of
Northampton, MA is beginning outreach efforts to
take it's popular education workshops on "The Real
Cost of the War on Drugs, "The Real Cost of
Prisons on Women and Their Children," and "The
Real Cost of Financing and Siting of Prisons" to
community organizations throughout the country.
The workshops, already presented in Springfield
and Northampton, bring together activists and
political economists to explore both the immediate
and long-term costs of incarceration on
individuals, families, communities, and the
nation. According to their website, the project's
goals are to "strengthen and deepen the organizing
capacity of grassroots prison/justice activists
and to broaden the public's understanding of the
economic and social consequences of mass
incarceration." If you'd like to bring a workshop
to your community, they would welcome the
opportunity. Each workshop lasts two and a half
hours, and participating organizations are
encouraged to schedule an additional half hour to
discuss their organizations efforts within the
community. Cost of the workshops depends on an
organization's ability to pay, and can be offered
at no charge to the organization. The project is
also developing comic book versions of the
workshops for distribution to organizations,
according to Ahrens, and may consider videotaped
workshops in the future.
Check Their Website
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Mandatory Minimums |
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By Fatema Gunja Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts
With close to 50 related bills in the current
legislative session, drug policy continues to be
an important area for criminal justice reform in
Massachusetts. While the bills vary in scope from
civil asset forfeiture to methadone treatment,
many of the reform bills share a common theme:
reducing the harms associated with illegal drug
use and our current drug laws. The Drug Policy
Forum and CJPC are working hard to bring attention
to these bills and see to it that our legislature
makes the best decisions for the Commonwealth.
More on Drug Policy Bills
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Help us Expand the Network of Concerned
Citizens! |
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At the bottom of this email is a "forward to a
friend" option. Please send this email along to as
many people as you can. Though we of course need
paying members, it is first and foremost our
desire to educate the people about the criminal
justice policies in Massachusetts.
We are growing more and more confident and
capable, due to the involvement of our members, of
staying on top of current issues and getting this
information to you. The blog mentioned above will
probably be our best resource in our efforts.
Please help. We can't do it without you.
Go to the Blog
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Letters to the Editor |
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The CJPC recently submitted letters to the editors
of about 24 weekly and daily newspapers throughout
the state. The letter called for support of H2853,
the act to create a citizens' review board to
oversee the Department of Correction. To date, the
letter has run in the Fitchburg Sentinel &
Enterprise, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and
the Bolton Common. The letter may have run in
other papers, but escaped our notice.
You can help by keeping an eye on criminal
justice issues in your home newspaper and letting
us know if there is a need for a letter to your
editor.
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