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​Comparison of H.2853 and H.4457

SECTION 1.  There shall be established within the Executive Office of Public Safety, but not subject to the control of said executive office, a Department of Correction Citizen Review Board, hereinafter referred to as The Board.

 

 SECTION 1. There shall be established within the Executive Office of Public Safety, but not subject to the control of said executive officeNotwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be a Department of Correction Citizen Review Board,. hereinafter referred to as The Board. The No longer specifically “within the Executive Office of Public Safety,” nor any language about not being subject to its control

No longer called “Department of Correction Citizen Review Board,” now just “Correction Citizen Review Board”

The Board shall consist of eleven members, including one member appointed by each of the following: the Governor, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Parole Board, the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Council of Churches and The Center for Restorative Justice at Suffolk University.  The terms of the members appointed to The Board by the Governor, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court shall be for three years. The terms of the members appointed to The Board by the Parole Board, the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation shall be for two years and, at the expiration of the first two-year term of the first members appointed by the Parole Board, the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, for three years thereafter.  The terms of the members appointed to The Board by the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Council of Churches and The Center for Restorative Justice at Suffolk University shall be for one year and, at the expiration of the first one-year term of the first members appointed by the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Council of Churches and The Center for Restorative Justice at Suffolk University, for three years thereafter.  No member of The Board shall be appointed to serve more than two consecutive three-year terms.  The Board shall annually elect a chairperson.  Members of The Board shall receive no compensation but each member shall be reimbursed by the Commonwealth for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his or her official duties.  The Board shall adopt bylaws to govern its own proceedings.

 Said Board shall consist of eleven thirteen members, including one member appointed by each of the following: the GovernorSecretary of Public Safety, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Parole Board, the Commissioner of the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union, the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Associations, Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Council of Churches and The Center for Restorative Justice at Suffolk University. The terms of the members appointed to saidThe Board by the Secretary of Public SafetyGovernor, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court shall be for three years. The terms of the members appointed to The Board by the Parole Board, the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union, the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Associations, Massachusetts Correctional Legal ServicesCommissioner of the Department of Public Health, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation shall be for two years and, at the expiration of the first two-year term of the first members appointed by the Parole Board, the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union, the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Associations, Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, for three years thereafter. The terms of the members appointed to saidThe Board by the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Council of Churches and The Center for Restorative Justice at Suffolk University shall be for one year and, at the expiration of the first one-year term of the first members appointed by the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Council of Churches and The Center for Restorative Justice at Suffolk University, for three years thereafter. No member of said The Board shall be appointed to serve more than two consecutive three-year terms. SaidThe Board shall annually elect a chairperson. Members of saidThe Board shall receive no compensation but each member shall be reimbursed by the Commonwealth for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his or her official duties. SaidThe Board shall adopt bylaws to govern its own proceedings.

 

 From eleven members to thirteen members

Added appointees from:  Secretary of Public Safety (replacing “the Governor”); Mass. Correctional Officers Federated Union; Mass. Sheriffs’ Associations; Mass. Correctional Legal Services (MCLS)

Terms of members are same as before, except that:

·        “Governor” is replaced by Secretary of Public Safety (as mentioned above)

·        Listed in the second group (2 years, then 3 thereafter) are the three new members (Correc. Officers Union, Sheriffs, and MCLS).

 
SECTION 2.  Members of The Board shall have access to all Massachusetts Correctional Institutions and all inmates therein upon furnishing a photo identification provided by the Department of Correction. 

 

 SECTION 2. Members of Correction Citizen Review Board The Board shall have access to all Massachusetts Correctional Institutions and all inmates therein upon furnishing a photo identification provided by the Executive Office of Public SafetyDepartment of Correction between the hours of 7 am and 7 pm and upon 48 hours notice to the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, between the hours of 7 pm and 7 am.

 

 Photo ID is now provided by Exec. Office of Pub. Safety, not by “Department of Correction.”

Now it is only between the hours of 7am and 7pm [not clear whether it means the ID card is needed for a visit between 7am – 7pm, and/or (less likely), that the card must be issued between these hours], and upon 48 hours notice to Commissioner of Dept. of Corrections [though the language is not clear, it probably means that notice is only needed for a visit between 7pm and 7am]

 
SECTION 3.  The Board shall have the following duties:

(a) It shall study the medical services, including mental health services, and educational, vocational, employment and rehabilitation programs available to prisoners;

(b) It shall review the annual plans and the budget of the Department of Correction and shall make recommendations to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means and the Joint Committee on Public Safety in regard thereto;

(c) It shall report on the general state of correctional facilities, their administration of correctional policy and practices, the living conditions of inmates therein, and, where appropriate, the impact of Department of Correction policies and inmate living conditions upon rates of recidivism;

(d)  It shall report on the general state of working conditions for Department of Correction employees;

(e) It shall hold quarterly meetings;

(f) It shall advise the Commissioner of the Department of Correction on policy development and priorities for Department of Correction facilities as well as on the Department’s compliance with legislative and judicial mandates;

(g) It shall issue public reports annually to the Department of Correction and the clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate;

 SECTION 3. The Correction Citizen Review Board shall have the following duties:
(a) It shall study the medical services, including mental health services, and educational, vocational, employment and rehabilitation programs available to prisoners;

 

(b) It shall review the annual plans and the budget of the Department of Correction and shall make recommendations to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means and the Joint Committee on Public Safety in regard thereto;

 

(c) It shall report on the general state of correctional facilities, their administration of correctional policy and practices, the living conditions of inmates therein, the general state of working conditions for Department of Correction employees and, where appropriate, the impact of Department of Correction policies and inmate living conditions upon rates of recidivism and over-classification;                                                               

(d) It shall hold quarterly meetings;

 

(f) (e) It shall advise the Commissioner of the Department of Correction on policy development and priorities for Department of Correction facilities as well as on the Department's compliance with legislative and judicial mandates;
(g) (f) It shall issue public reports annually to the Department of Correction and the clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate;(h) It shall create 10 subcommittees, hereinafter referred to as The Subcommittees. The Subcommittees shall each consist of five members. No person shall serve on more than one of The Subcommittees. No member of The Board shall serve on any one of The Subcommittees. Each of The Subcommittees shall be assigned to a different facility of the Department of Correction and to one of the following facilities: Bay State Correctional Center, Massachusetts Treatment Center at Bridgewater, MCI — Cedar Junction, MCI — Concord, MCI - Framingham, MCI — Norfolk, MCI - Shirley Medium, North Central Correctional Institution at Gardner, Old Colony Correctional Center and Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center at Shirley. All Members of The Subcommittees shall be invited by the The Board to participate in not less than two of the four quarterly meetings required by subsection (e) of this section. Each of The Subcommittees created by The Board shall have at least one member who is a person of African-American heritage and at least one member who is a person of Hispanic heritage. All members of The Subcommittees shall have a demonstrated interest in corrections.

SECTION 4. Members of each of The Subcommittees shall have access to the Department of Correction facility to which they are assigned and all inmates therein upon furnishing a photo identification provided by the Department of Correction. Each of The Subcommittees shall fulfill its duties by visiting the facility to which it is assigned at least two times each year. Each of The Subcommittees shall have the following duties:
(a) It shall study the medical services, including mental health services, and educational, vocational, employment and rehabilitation programs available to prisoners at the facility to which it is assigned;
(b) It shall report on the general state of the correctional facility to which it is assigned, its administration of correctional policy and practices and the living conditions of inmates therein;
(c) It shall report on the general state of working conditions for Department of Correction employees at the facility to which it is assigned;
(d) It shall issue annually to The Board a report, including, but not limited to, its findings relative to the duties described in subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section.

 Adds that, where appropriate, the Board will report on the impact of DOC policies and inmate living conditions upon [rates of?  Not clear if this is intended to be included] over-classification

 
(h) It shall create 10 subcommittees, hereinafter referred to as The Subcommittees.  The Subcommittees shall each consist of five members.  No person shall serve on more than one of The Subcommittees.  No member of The Board shall serve on any one of the The Subcommittees.  Each of The Subcommittees shall be assigned to a different facility of the Department of Correction and to one of the following facilities: Bay State Correctional Center, Massachusetts Treatment Center at Bridgewater, MCI – Cedar Junction, MCI –Concord, MCI – Framingham, MCI – Norfolk, MCI – Shirley Medium, North Central Correctional Institution at Gardner, Old Colony Correctional Center and Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center at Shirley.  All Members of The Subcommittees shall be invited by the The Board to participate in not less than two of the four quarterly meetings required by subsection (e) of this section.  Each of The Subcommittees created by The Board shall have at least one member who is a person of African-American heritage and at least one member who is a person of Hispanic heritage.  All members of The Subcommittees shall have a demonstrated interest in corrections.

SECTION 4.  Members of each of The Subcommittees shall have access to the Department of Correction facility to which they are assigned and all inmates therein upon furnishing a photo identification provided by the Department of Correction.  Each of The Subcommittees shall fulfill its duties by visiting the facility to which it is assigned at least two times each year.  Each of The Subcommittees shall have the following duties:

(a) It shall study the medical services, including mental health services, and educational, vocational, employment and rehabilitation programs available to prisoners at the facility to which it is assigned;

(b) It shall report on the general state of the correctional facility to which it is assigned, its administration of correctional policy and practices and the living conditions of inmates therein

(c) It shall report on the general state of working conditions for Department of Correction employees at the facility to which it is assigned

(d) It shall issue annually to The Board a report, including, but not limited to, its findings relative to the duties described in subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section.   

SECTION 5.  Subsection (a) of section  87 of Chapter 127 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2000 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 10, after the word “correction,” the following words:--

“members of the The Department of Correction Citizen Review Board,”.

 

SECTION 4.  This act shall expire on January 1, 2012.

Completely cut out Sections 3(h), Section 4 and Section 5 of 2853 (dealing with the 10 subcommittees), simply replaced them with a sunset clause:  “This act shall expire on January 1, 2012.”