Suffolk University Law School was the venue for a “star-studded” panel of criminal justice advocates recently as Massachusetts’ sentencing and correctional policies came under fire.
Sponsored by the Criminal Justice Policy Coalition, the seminar examined the impact of life without parole sentencing while exploring a range of related topics including addiction treatment, capital punishment, and lack of re-entry strategies.
Three panelists have lost family members to violence, two of them were sons, and added a real-life dimension to the seminar. The focus of the group, however, was on restoration not revenge.
Defense attorney Patricia Garin, who heads the board of Prisoners’ Legal Services, was blunt about sentencing in Massachusetts and described scenarios where perpetrators testify against accessories to crimes and get lighter sentences than those less involved. Such unequal sentences festers in prison and contributes to repeat offenses upon release Garin observed.
Milton Jones of the Louis Brown Peace Institute lost his 18 year-old son to violence but said he never once wanted the death penalty or life without parole for his son’s killers. Most state prisoners will one day be released and Jones said many will be unprepared for re-entry to society. Jones also reflected on the effects of crime on victims and families. Perpetrators, said Jones, injure more than just their victims and often community healing is needed. Also, those held in “bondage” have poorly developed skills for self-support and need coaching and advice.
Kathleen Dennehy, former Massachusetts Department of Corrections Commissioner, was blunt about the lack of treatment programs for prisoners with drug abuse problems. Dennehy claimed that only one in ten prisoners that need treatment were getting it and that the proposed $1.2 billion Corrections budget had very little room for treatment programs. Dennehy said the Massachusetts legislature lacked the political will for prison reform and a sensationalist news media had chilled public interest in those incarcerated except for punishment.
The speaker that hushed the audience the most with her riveting commentary was Janet Connors, a Fellow at the Suffolk University Center for Restorative Justice. Connors lost her 19 year-old son to homicide and has had mediation sessions in prison with her son’s killers. Connors agreed with all panel members that inadequate resources exist to help prisoners regain a productive role in society.
Connors cited the value of her own experience and noted that Minnesota has “restorative circles” prior to release that help reintegrate prisoners into society. The circles include family members and not only provide the prisoner with support but accountability as well.
Connors said she last visited with one of her sons’ killers two weeks ago and told him that he couldn’t bring her son back so that the only thing he could do for her was to salvage his own life.
Fighting back a tear, Janet Connors said, “That is all I can hope for.”
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