The Criminal Justice Policy Coalition sponsored a panel discussion on life without parole sentencing in Massachusetts. The seminar, held at Suffolk University Law School, explored the effects of mandatory life sentences served by approximately 950 state prisoners for first degree murder.
Coalition chair Eric Tennen kept the far-ranging discussion on point as he moderated the two-hour panel. Besides life without parole, the panel explored addiction treatment, unfair sentencing deals by prosecutors, restorative justice, capital punishment, and media sensationalism.
In a state where the infamous Willie Horton case casts a long shadow, sentencing reform is a “hornet’s nest” said former Department of Corrections Commissioner Kathleen Dennehy. While most panelists opposed life without parole sentences, Dennehy was emphatic in her support as she explained her position comes from her opposition to capital punishment. Saying there is no political will for prison reform in the Massachusetts legislature the ex-warden said that life without parole sentences was the alternative to executions in today’s political climate.
Suffolk County assistant prosecutor Daniel Mulhern, head of the District Attorney’s gang unit, explained there is no “cookie-cutter” answer and that each case is unique because of particular facts. Mulhern expressed his own frustrations after seeing the alleged killer of a family member get acquitted while individuals with less culpability went to prison.
Defense attorney Patricia Garin, also president of the board of the Prisoners’ Legal Services, explained that uneven sentencing because of deals with prosecutors put some prisoners behind bars for life while others, more guilty, got less time. Garin also questioned sentencing policy for specific groups of prisoners like mentally ill juveniles.
One eloquent voice for a new approach to sentencing was from a former prisoner, Darrin Howell. Although Howell only served one year on a weapons charge he was facing a possible life sentence and decided to turn his life around. The first thing Howell learned after deciding to take a new path was that there was no roadmap or guide.
Howell explained the difficulties with the stigma of being an ex-prisoner, the inability to obtain employment, coping with estranged family members and community, and the ever-present street life that got him in trouble in the first place.
All the panelists agreed that current policies have some prisoners who are ready for release remaining locked up while others, not ready, being turned out to the streets with inadequate support and supervision.
The non-partisan Criminal Justice Policy Coalition holds quarterly events like the panel discussion to inform the public and help shape policy decisions. The Coalition also supports research into new methodology and practices in the criminal justice system.
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