CONNECTICUT CURRENT CRISIS

Once before Governor Rowland tried to solve Connecticut's budget problems by shipping prisoners to Virginia. The Wallens Ridge debacle has not deterred him from once again trying to balance the Connecticut budget on the backs of inmate families. Well, the families say, "NO MORE"!

CONTACT: Barb Fair justicepeace75@hotmail.com

A press conference will be staged in front of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford to protest the proposed compromise that will allow the governor to send 2000 out of state in exchange for signing off on the prison reform bill.

We, the people do not accept this compromise and we are coming to Hartford to the legislators who are planning this compromise to say "HELL NO", they must find others ways to balance their messed up budget besides sending our loved ones all over this country. The governor's budget man screwed up the budget then he has to pay the price.

We the disenfranchised have paid enough in this state so that Rowland could stay in the good graces of the rich. We say "NO MORE'. We want prison reform but not at the expense of sending our loved ones away. JOIN US IN PROTEST!!!!

PEACE, Barb Fair, Connecticut C.U.R.E.
justicepeace75@hotmail.com

Joanna Ferris , Director
ct_mtwt@yahoo.com
203-755-8337
MORE INFO ON WALLENS RIDGE
Connecticut Making The Walls Transparent
http://www.ct-mtwt.50megs.com

Inmate Export Issue Heats Prison Reform Debate
July 10, 2003
By DWIGHT F. BLINT, Courant Staff Writer

Activists and prison union officials are calling on the legislature to reject a compromise that would allow Gov. John G. Rowland to send more inmates out of state in exchange for signing a prison reform package.

The activists held a press conference Wednesday in front of the state Legislative Office Building. Union officials today began placing ads in area papers, including The Courant.

Both groups say the state needs reform measures to address overcrowding and the state's ballooning prison budget. But they oppose a plan to send 1,500 more inmates out of state; the state now houses 500 inmates in Virginia.

"We are extremely upset that our loved ones are being used as a bargaining chip," said activist Barbara Fair, a member of People Against Injustice. "We the people who you represent don't believe for a moment that prison reform legislation will be any more than words on a paper as long as it is profitable to our state to keep people in cells."

The activists say that instead of sending the inmates out of state, legislators should adopt the reform package, which calls for shorter prison stays for some inmates and increased funding for community-based treatment and job-training programs for former offenders. It also would increase the number of parole and probation officers.

"But these reforms are not going to happen as long as the Department of Correction can send as many prisoners as they like out of state," said Sally Joughin of People Against Injustice.

Simone Mason, of A Different Perspective Inc., said she is concerned that inmates sent to other states are being warehoused instead of rehabilitated, and will not be prepared for society when they are released.

Officials of Council 4 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees say they oppose out-of-state placements because they do not save money and eventually could result in the closing of prisons and a loss of jobs.

Rowland's office and correction officials have supported the transfers on the grounds that it will save the state money. They note that taxpayers spend an average of $74 per day to house inmates in Connecticut, compared with $64 a day in Virginia.

Union officials say those numbers are misleading because the state is "cherry-picking" inmates who have no disciplinary and medical problems to transfer to Virginia. The union says these inmates are the least costly to manage and may cost more to maintain in another state than they would in Connecticut. They also say the state's figures do not take into account transportation, monitoring and lawsuits.

"The Rowland administration and state lawmakers have concocted a budget gimmick they claim will save money, but is really political window dressing and will actually result in higher costs for the state," said Sal Luciano, executive director of Council 4.

State Reps. William Dyson D-New Haven, and Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, said they prefer not to send any more inmates out of state, but have little choice but to support such a measure.

Dyson, chairman of the legislature's appropriations committee, said he is most opposed to building more prisons. Because the state is in the midst of a prison crowding crisis, he said, short of letting inmates go free, he sees no other option to sending them out of state. "I'm waiting on someone to give me another option," Dyson said.

He said the reform package is the only way to reduce the number of inmates, thereby eliminating the need for out-of-state placements.

Lawlor, co-chairman of the legislature judiciary committee, said he would support out-of-state placements if the bill includes reforms and requires correction officials to appear before his committee and the appropriations committee for approval before signing any new contracts.

"I definitely think that if 2,000 inmates are sent out of state and we do nothing else, it would be the most regrettable public policy mistake we would have made in a long time," Lawlor said.