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November,
2006
Read On About:
Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences:
SURJ Prepares for 2007
In June, we were sorry to report that House Bill 181, the SURJ bill that
would have repealed Delaware’s mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws,
was pulled from the House Agenda and did not come up for a vote. SURJ
had worked hard to gain support for this crucial reform, and HB 181 had
25 sponsors in the House and was backed by
leaders in the legal, law enforcement, and faith communities. However,
in the final days of the legislative session, we faced strong opposition
from the Attorney General’s office that we were not able to overcome.
We know that
the repeal of mandatory minimum drug sentences is right for Delaware.
Not only do mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws strip judges of their
discretion, but by risking inaccurate, arbitrary sentences and the
excessive incarceration of non-violent offenders, mandatory minimum drug
sentencing laws contribute to Delaware’s soaring incarcerated population
and corrections expenditures.
SURJ
recognizes the urgent need for reform in Delaware and we will continue
to fight for the repeal of these laws by introducing new legislation in
2007. As always, we thank each and every one of you for your support.
Your help has been deeply appreciated and in the months to come we will
call on you again as we prepare for the upcoming legislative session.
We know that it is only with enough citizen involvement and
participation that these laws will be repealed. We appreciate your
continued support and look forward to future success!
Why Should Mandatory Minimums
Be Repealed?
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One-size-fits-all mandatory minimum drug
sentences are inaccurate and risk adding to our already bloated
incarcerated population;
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Nation-wide, states are reevaluating these laws,
19 have rolled back or restructured mandatory minimum drug laws;
particularly relating to non-violent drug offenders;
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Delaware spends more, per capita, on corrections
expenditures than any other state and has one of the highest
incarceration rates in the country;
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Each inmate costs Delaware taxpayers $26,000 a
year; and
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Alternatives to incarceration, such as drug
treatment, would be more cost- effective.
Delaware Reentry
Roundtable a Success!
The Delaware Reentry Roundtable, co-sponsored by SURJ and the Delaware
Center for Justice (DCJ), took place on September 29, 2006 at Widener
University School of Law. The Roundtable brought together close to 100
key stakeholders to address reentry issues, including state
policymakers, community leaders, and criminal justice experts.
Participants were equipped with reentry data and charged with developing
research-based recommendations to improve the success of ex-offenders
reentering our communities.
The day
began with a presentation profiling Delaware’s offender population given
by Dr. Danilo Yanich of the
University of Delaware. At
lunch, JoAnne Page, President and CEO of
The Fortune Society,
addressed the audience and shared her experiences of working with
ex-offenders in New York. The event also included breakout sessions in
the morning and afternoon addressing the barriers ex-offenders face in
terms of housing, employment, physical/mental health, and substance
abuse.
"Where can you make the critical inch forward?" asked
JoAnne Page. She offered "administrative twitches" as a
possibility.
The
Delaware Reentry Roundtable was an important first step toward
significantly improving Delaware’s criminal justice system by addressing
a problem of increasing concern: how to better ensure the successful
transition of ex-offenders from prison to our communities.
However, much work remains to be done. SURJ plans to continue the
momentum of the Roundtable by issuing a final report that will include
action steps and policy initiatives designed to improve reentry in
Delaware. Providing inmates with identification upon release that is
recognized by all state agencies and compiling a directory of available
services for released inmates are examples of the many recommendations
that were discussed at the Roundtable. SURJ is also planning public
education events about ex-offender reentry during the winter and early
spring. For more information about the barriers to reentry and the
recommendations that were discussed at the Roundtable, click
here.
From left: Janet Leban, executive director of DCJ, Dr.
Yanich of the University of Delaware, and Stephanie Symons, SURJ's
executive director. |
Two
New Faces at SURJ
In June,
Katie Wolinski joined SURJ as an
AmeriCorps*VISTA Member. Katie will spend a year with SURJ focusing on
ex-offender reentry in Delaware. Already her contribution to the
Reentry Roundtable has been invaluable and she continues her hard work
addressing this important issue. Later this year, Katie will be
organizing and coordinating public education events across the state of
Delaware about reentry.
Katie
graduated from the University of Delaware in May 2006, with a major in
History and a minor in Women’s Studies. During college she was very
involved in community service and served as a Public Relations intern at
Planned Parenthood of Delaware. Although still unsure about what she’d
like to do in the future, the time Katie has spent at SURJ has
interested her in pursuing a career in the criminal justice field. To learn
more about the AmeriCorps*VISTA project go to:
http://www.americorps.gov/about/programs/vista.asp.
In August,
Joanna Champney joined SURJ
part-time as our Research Assistant/Office Coordinator. As a former
SURJ intern in the summer of 2005, Joanna assisted SURJ with researching
mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws. Joanna will continue to provide
SURJ with exemplary research, as well as oversee the operations of the
office.
Joanna
graduated from the University of Delaware in January 2006 with a
Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. As an undergraduate, she was
named a UD Woman of Promise and was President of the Tassel Chapter of
the Mortar Board Senior National Honor Society. While in college,
Joanna worked for a criminal defense attorney in Maryland, and also
interned at Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Delaware as a
correctional counselor where she became familiar with the treatment
programs available to inmates. Joanna plans to pursue graduate studies
in Criminology, with emphasis on researching prisoner reentry and
barriers to ex-offender employment.
2006 Summer Interns:
Thanks!
This
summer, SURJ welcomed two full-time summer interns:
Andrew Mehdizadeh and
Kristine Campanelli. Andrew and Kristine worked long hours to
help us complete the report for the Delaware Reentry Roundtable and we
don’t know what we would have done without them!
Andrew is
now a junior at Washington College pursuing a degree in Political
Science. Kristine is a senior at the University of Delaware, pursuing a
degree in Psychology. Both plan to attend law school and are interested
in careers in public service. We wish them the best of luck!
HB 443: Police to be Trained in Identifying and
Responding to Mental Illness
Across the
country, the prison population is growing at an alarming rate. One major
factor contributing to this growth is the increased incarceration of the
mentally ill. According to the
Reentry
Policy Council, eight to 16 percent of the prison population and ten
percent of the jail population has at least one identified serious
mental health disorder and is in need of treatment. One step toward
addressing this problem was the June passage of House Bill 443,
sponsored by Rep. Dennis Williams (D-District 1). Thanks to HB 443, all
Delaware police officers will now be required to undergo training to
help them to identify symptoms of mental illness, mental disability,
and/or physical disability and to respond appropriately to individuals
who display these signs.
The
passage of this bill is an important step toward helping Delaware’s
police to address the unique concerns of the mentally or physically ill
and disabled. Lack of police training in responding to the unique needs
of the mentally ill can result in an arrest for a minor infraction when
a referral to a treatment option could be a viable, and more
appropriate, alternative.
In
Delaware, an alternative to arrest can include a referral to the
Delaware Psychiatric Hospital. If a mentally ill or disabled person is
arrested, Delaware’s Mental Health Court can provide incarceration
alternatives when the individual is diagnosed with an Axis I mental
illness.
National Statistics of Ex-offender Reentry
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Every year more than 600,000 adults—nearly 1600
each day—leave federal and state prison and return to their homes.
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The average prison term is now 2.5 years.
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More than 59 million Americans have a criminal
record on file in state repositories.
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A Bureau
of Justice Statistics study found that 30% of all released
prisoners are rearrested in the first six months, 44% are arrested
within the first year, and 67.5% are rearrested within three years of
release from prison.
Fortune Society CEO speaks at Reentry Roundtable
Joanne Page, President and CEO of The Fortune Society in New York City’s
West Harlem, presented a keynote address at the Reentry Roundtable on
September 29, 2006. Staffed primarily by former prisoners, The Fortune
Society’s mission is to bring attention to criminal justice issues. The
Society helps former prisoners and at-risk youth break the cycle of
crime and incarceration through direct services, including a residence
program for adults that is recognized by New York courts as an
alternative to incarceration. The residence program, also called The
Fortune Academy or “The Castle”, provides housing and job training to
former prisoners. With sixty current residents, the program boasts low
costs and the lowest recidivism rate in the city. To read more about The Fortune Society’s success, visit this
site.
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