» Culture of violence pervades prisons

Baltimore Sun > Letters To The Editor | December 26, 2007

The Sun's editorial "Mishandling evidence" (Dec. 20) sheds light on an area of significant need and concern - the need to end prison violence and change the culture that allows it to flourish.

The end to prison violence will occur only with a commitment from the state - a commitment that was made on paper during the 2007 legislative session.

Legislators voted to convene a Prison Violence Task Force charged with looking at this issue and submitting a preliminary report by Dec. 31.

This task force has not convened its first meeting, and as a result, the deadline will come and go while the conditions that motivated the planned report remain unabated.

While the case that prompted recent articles by Greg Garland (e.g., "Officer left prison with knife sought in fatal stabbing, records show," Dec. 19) and The Sun's editorial are tragic, the problems they expose are not surprising given the lack of commitment to the issue.

Until the state makes a sincere effort to look at and address the violence and conditions of confinement that exist behind prison walls, we will continue to endure the impact of a culture of violence and anger for which the community will pay a price in the long run.

Kimberly Haven
Sally Dworak-Fisher
Baltimore

The writers are, respectively, the executive director of Justice Maryland and an attorney for the Public Justice Center.

» Maryland Governor Restores Voting Rights to 50,000

ANNAPOLIS, MD - Governor Martin O'Malley today signed legislation re-enfranchising more than 50,000 Maryland residents who have completed their felony sentences of prison, parole, and probation. O'Malley's support of the "Voting Registration Protection Act" ends the state's draconian lifetime voting ban and eliminates the three-year waiting period for certain people with past felony convictions.

Last month, the Senate approved the bill 28 to 19; the House voted 78 to 60 in favor.

"This is a progressive moment in Maryland and a new direction for our State," said Kimberly Haven, Executive Director of Justice Maryland who had been disenfranchised due to a felony record. "By signing this legislation, Maryland moves into the political mainstream. We applaud the commitment of the Governor and the members of the General Assembly who voted to support expanded democracy in Maryland."

Prior to the new legislation, more than 110,000 Maryland residents were disenfranchised due to felony convictions, one out of every 37 residents. The state was one of only 11 with a permanent felony disenfranchisement policy, and one of only six states that disenfranchised some who had been convicted of misdemeanors. Among those with felony records nearly half (52,272) have completed their full sentence, while another 31% are living in the community on probation or parole.

"Maryland today goes from having one of the most complicated felony disenfranchisement system in the country to one of the simplest," said Renée Paradis, Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. "We applaud Maryland's leaders for recognizing the need for change."

Maryland joins a national trend of expanding voting access to people with felony convictions. This month, Florida paved the way to restore the vote to hundreds of thousands of people who had completed their felony terms, and previously were permanently barred from voting. In November, Rhode Island residents voted in favor of a measure that removed the voting ban for people under felony probation and parole supervision. As of today, a total of 39 states and the District of Columbia allow voting upon completion of sentence, if not sooner.

Since 1997, 16 states have taken steps to reform disenfranchisement laws, and prior to April 2007 more than 630,000 people had regained their voting rights, according to analysis conducted by The Sentencing Project.

"Maryland joins a reform movement that values fair voting laws which engage more citizens in the political process and restore rights when an individual's sentence ends," said Marc Mauer, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project. "Antiquated laws still disenfranchise millions of Americans for their past mistakes. Changing these laws will contribute to successful re-entry and rehabilitation."

» Charles "Roc" Dutton Urges Passage of Legislation

At this moment, Governor O’Malley has on his desk a landmark voting rights bill passed by the General Assembly this week. Senate Bill 488, the Voter Registration Protection Act, is a long-overdue reform to Maryland’s felony disenfranchisement practices. If the Governor signs the bill, it will restore the right to vote to 50,000 Maryland citizens who have completed their criminal sentences and are living, working, and paying taxes in their communities. I urge Governor O’Malley to stand up for fairness by signing the Act into law.

I am a longtime Maryland citizen who was once convicted of a crime. I can tell you first-hand that rehabilitating yourself after a criminal conviction is a difficult road to walk. Often our laws do not help us to avoid the ever-present pitfalls of recidivism.

In my experience, the path to good citizenship comes from acceptance of responsibility. Responsibility is the guiding force behind an ex-offender’s motivation to change his life. Give him a serious responsibility, and you give him a purpose. A purpose to get up in the morning. A purpose to be productive. A purpose to take care of his family. A purpose to be a good citizen. A purpose to be a member of the community. I feel strongly that restoring the right to vote to ex-offenders is a means of restoring purpose to their lives.

There are tens of thousands of formerly incarcerated people in Maryland who have been back in their communities for years; they are productive and law-abiding citizens, part of Maryland’s sustained labor force, paying their taxes—and still they are not allowed to vote. In other words, the state takes our hard-earned money in taxes, but does not give us a voice in our government. As any student of American history knows, our country went to war over this very issue—taxation without representation.

Maryland is one of only eleven states that disenfranchises people with felony convictions for life. We’re one of only six states that disenfranchise people who commit misdemeanors, which are less serious crimes. We’re one of only two states that disenfranchise people for committing those minor crimes even if they never serve a day in jail. The Voter Registration Protection Act would change our old-fashioned rules and move Maryland into the mainstream of the nation, by restoring voting rights automatically after people complete their criminal sentences.

This law is about just one thing—basic fairness. If someone has paid his dues to society, has done his time, has finished his sentence, then it is time to say enough is enough. Let this be the year when we stop this voter disenfranchisement and restore voting rights to thousands of Maryland citizens.

Fairness—that’s all I’m talking about here. Please join me in urging the Governor to do the right thing and sign the Maryland Voter Registration Protection Act.

Charles Dutton is a nationally renowned director and actor who lives in Maryland.

» Jessup's Doors Slam Shut for Good

The Washington Post | March 20, 2007

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley strolled confidently alongside a three-story-tall bank of prison cells, each barely large enough to contain the rusting metal bed frame attached to the wall, the uncovered toilet and the tiny sink.

For decades, prisoners packed into these 6-by-9-foot spaces had been responsible for attacks on one another and on the officers guarding them. But yesterday, at O'Malley's order, the House of Correction at Jessup was finally empty…

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» In Surprise Move, Md. Closes Jessup Prison, Transfers Inmates

The Washington Post | March 19, 2007

Operating with extraordinary secrecy, Maryland corrections officials over the past several weeks transferred all 850 inmates out of the Maryland House of Correction in Jessup, effectively closing the notoriously violent 129-year-old maximum-security prison and ending its decades-long history of riots, fights, escapes and attacks on correctional officers.

Fearful that leaked news of the closure could spark violence in the prison's final days, officials loaded inmates onto buses by the dozens for transfer, some under the cover of night. Prisoners were not told of their destinations until after leaving. Only five of the corrections secretary's 12 top aides were informed of the plan, and some only in the past week…

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» Violent prison shuts down

The Baltimore Sun | March 18, 2007

State officials have abruptly shut down the Maryland House of Correction, an antiquated and notorious maximum-security prison in Jessup where inmate violence had spiraled out of control and corruption had run rampant.

Prison administrators had planned to convert the 128-year-old prison - where a correctional officer and three inmates have been killed within the past year - to a minimum-security facility in coming months. But the state's top correctional official said yesterday that he began laying plans to close the prison within hours of the non-fatal March 2 stabbing of a correctional officer there…

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» Corrections authorities agree to meeting

The Baltimore Examiner | October 12, 2006

Prison authorities Wednesday agreed to meet with civil rights groups about recent incidents of violence in Marylands jails and prisons…

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» Justice Maryland calls for meeting on jail violence

The Baltimore Examiner | October 10, 2006

The executive director of Justice Maryland is calling for an emergency meeting with jail authorities after two men were stabbed - one fatally - at the Baltimore City Detention Center over the weekend.

In a letter sent to Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services Mary Ann Saar on Monday, Kimberly Haven, the executive director of Justice Maryland, wrote that her office constantly hears concerns from people who feel unsafe while in various correctional institutions…

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» Best Nonprofit Organization

Baltimore City Paper | September 20, 2006

The Baltimore City Paper has named Justice Maryland the "Best Nonprofit Organization" for 2006!

African-Americans make up 28 percent of Maryland's population, but 76 percent of the prison population. Ninety percent of them are serving time for drug-related offenses. And thousands of ex-offenders attempt to re-enter society each year only to recidivate and find themselves back in jail. Since 2002, Justice Maryland, a statewide coalition of individuals and organizations, has been working to reform Maryland's justice system, which they feel perpetuates poverty and racial injustice. The leaders of this group have spent time on the ground in Maryland, advocating for the rights of ex-offenders in front of legislators across the state.

» The Price Of Violence

Baltimore Sun | September 21, 2006

By Greg Garland and Annie Linskey

Maryland is on track to spend upward of $1 million to treat inmates who have been injured in prison violence this year, a tab that doesn't include the cost borne by local governments of transporting inmates to hospitals and of prosecuting assailants, records show…

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» Kimberly Haven: Who's not voting in Maryland?

The Baltimore Examiner | September 13, 2006

Tuesday was primary day in Maryland, and I could not vote. Maryland law bars me from voting until 2009 because I have been previously convicted of a felony. I cannot vote even though I work every day, live in and support my community, lead an honest life and value the power of voting. I, and more than 100,000 others like me, are barred from the polls because of a felony conviction.

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