| June, 2005
Read On About:
Mental Health in the Criminal Justice System is Forum Focus
On Friday, April 22, 2005, SURJ and the Delaware Center for
Justice held Visions of Justice VI, Mental Health and the Criminal
Justice System: Opportunities for Change, at the University of
Delaware's Clayton Hall. About 150 people attended the forum, which was
moderated by Jim Lafferty, executive director, Mental Health
Association in Delaware, and featured five speakers who spoke about the
treatment of those with mental health illnesses in our criminal justice
system, both in Delaware and nationally.
 Featured
speaker, Fred C. Osher, MD, Director of the Center for Behavioral
Health, Justice, and Public Policy, and an Associate Professor of
Psychiatry at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, explained
that people with mental health problems have a very high risk of
incarceration. Once in prison, these individuals often do not receive
the treatment they need, are ill-prepared to leave prison once their
sentences are served, and consequently, many end up cycling in and out
prison. Dr. Osher explained that change is necessary, not only because
it is the right thing to do, but because not changing is costly in terms
of money, public safety, and public health.
Dr. Osher concluded by suggesting that
the best avenues to success would be to build a greater scientific
research base; broaden our understanding of how the incarceration of
mentally ill individuals affects other larger societal issues; address
the stigma and discrimination against mentally ill individuals; and
develop meaningful partnerships with community-based programs,
policymakers and corrections officials.
Susan McLaughlin, director of the Treatment Access Center (TASC),
and the Hon. Joseph F. Flickinger, III, Mental Health Court
Judge, gave a joint presentation on the New Castle County Mental Health
Court Pilot Program. This program, a collaboration among the court,
TASC, the Public Defender’s Office, and the Attorney General’s office,
has been remarkably successful in the short time that it has been in
operation. Of the 55 people who received services in the last year, 26
have successfully completed the program; two people were terminated from
the program; and none of the original graduates has recidivated. Judge
Flickinger ended the presentation by expressing his interest in seeing
this program expand to all three counties, and to include felony
offenders.
Jeremy McEntyre and Don Napoli, from First Correctional
Medical, discussed the mental health services that inmates receive in
prison. They described the process by which inmates are identified as
needing mental health treatment, and shared some thoughts about how to
improve the reentry process for these men and women.
The floor was opened for a panel discussion after the presentations.
To see pictures from the event, click here.
To see Dr. Osher's excellent PowerPoint presentation, click
here.
To read the complete minutes of the event, go
here.
To see the original invitation for the event, go here.
Women and
Reentry Addressed at League Day in Dover
A large
crowd gathered at the Sheraton in Dover on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 to
participate in "The Woman in Prison - Transition Back to Society,”
an event hosted by the
League of Women
Voters of Delaware (LWV). This forum, put together by the
LWV Justice Committee, was dedicated to the memory of Phyllis Laffey,
chair of the committee, and an active contributing member of SURJ and
its
Policy Committee.
Marlene
Lichtenstadter, former Chairperson and Director of the
Delaware Board of Parole and a member of SURJ’s Board of Directors,
moderated the event.
Warden Patrick
Ryan, Superintendent of Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution (BWCI),
spoke about the critical staffing shortage that plagues the entire
Department of Correction, and that has prohibited the opening of the
Women’s Work Release Center at BWCI, completed last July.
Delaware Superior
Court Judge Susan Del Pesco presented three recommendations for reform
at BWCI: opening the Women’s Work Release Center; building a nursery for
pregnant inmates and their children; and providing a space for worship,
as the other prisons have in this state.
During a question
and answer period following the presentations, two audience members
asked about the
repeal of mandatory minimum drug laws, and were greeted by
applause from many in the audience.
To read more about the League Day event
click here.
To see the handout prepared by the
League of Women Voters of Delaware,
go
here.
To visit the League of Women Voters of Delaware's site, click
here.
To learn more about how mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws affect
women and children, go here.
Many Urge the Opening of the Women’s
Work Release Center
SURJ has joined eighteen other organizations in advocating for the
opening of the Women’s Work Release Center at BWCI in New Castle.
According to the Department of Correction, this center, completed nine
months ago, has not been opened due to staffing shortage.
A crowd of more than
70 people gathered at the site on May 15, 2005, to call attention to the
plight of women who need the services of a women’s work-release center
and are being denied them. Instead, they must attend work-release
programs with men, and many concerned citizens believe that women’s
chances at success are limited because these programs are designed to
meet the needs of male offenders. Superior Court Judge Del Pesco
reports that some women have asked to be placed in the maximum-security
women’s prison rather than share space with men in a work-release
program.
The May 15 event’s
show of support prompted two articles in The News Journal and
coverage on WILM and WDEL. While this is a good start, it is critical
that support for opening Women’s Work Release Center remains strong.
|
“Smart on Crime”
House Bill 181 Moves Through the House
On Thursday, May
12, Representative Joe DiPinto introduced SURJ’s legislation to repeal
Delaware’s mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws as House Bill 181,
with 35 co-sponsors. Assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, it now
has over half of the legislature on board as co-sponsors, which is very
encouraging!
This bill would
return sentencing discretion to Delaware’s excellent judiciary.
Currently, these harsh sentencing laws prevent Delaware’s judges from
crafting sentences that consider any mitigating factors in the case
before them. With swollen prison populations and current budget
constraints in the state, this “smart on crime” reform will help ease
the prison population explosion by ensuring that offenders are serving
the time that fits their crime.
The session ends on
June 30. We have less than a month to get this bill passed.
-
Contact
your legislators to encourage them to vote for
House Bill 181. To learn more
about the bill, please click here. To
learn who your legislators are, click here
or contact the SURJ office (E-mail:
info@surj.org; Phone: 302-426-9252). You can also call Legislative
Hall in Dover for this information: 302-744-4114.
-
Come out
to show your support for HB 181 by attending the House Judiciary
Committee Hearing on House Bill 181 that will be held on
Thursday, June 2 at 11:30 a.m. in the House Chamber of Legislative
Hall in Dover.
Thanks!
Many thanks to
those SURJ members who already have taken time to contact legislators
and encourage their support. We need your continued help to maintain
momentum and get this bill through the House!
Support
We have the support of
36 local community and religious organizations. They are joined
in their stance by the Delaware State Bar Association and 17 of its
former presidents. At the national level, those opposed to mandatory
minimum drug laws include at least four U.S. Supreme Court justices,
including Chief Justice Rehnquist, the
National Association of Veteran Police Officers, the American Bar
Association, each of the twelve United States Circuit Courts of Appeals,
the Judicial Conference of the United States, and The Federal Courts
Study Committee, among many others.
Upcoming Events
House Judiciary
Committee Hearing on House Bill 181 will be held on Thursday, June 2
at 11:30 a.m. in the House Chamber of Legislative Hall in Dover.
Full House Hearing and
Vote anticipated in mid-June. We will let you know the date
and time once it is finalized in early June.
Send Us Your Updated Information!
If you have changed
your home, work or e-mail address since joining SURJ, or you are not
receiving e-mails from us yet, send your information to
info@surj.org . We want to keep everyone current on upcoming
events, criminal justice reform-related news, and the progress of House
Bill 181 through occasional e-mail announcements and through our
e-newsletter.
Thank you!
Thank you
to everyone who came out for our Grassroots Workshops in Lewes, Camden,
Newark, and Wilmington. We appreciate your ongoing support of SURJ’s
work to improve Delaware’s criminal justice system.
We would
also like to express our sincere appreciation to St. Peter’s Episcopal
Church in Lewes, Camden Friends Meeting, the Newark Public Library and
the Community Service Building Corporation for allowing us to use their
space for these meetings.
If you
were not able to attend one of the workshops but would like a copy of
the material that we distributed, please let Dana know by e-mailing her
at:
dsorenson@surj.org .
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