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April 24, 2007
MA: Boston Globe Editorial: Hard Time for State Prisons
Boston GLOBE EDITORIAL
Hard time for state prisons
April 24, 2007
OUTGOING Correction commissioner Kathleen Dennehy confronted a culture of secrecy, tolerance of inmate abuse, and rigidity when she took control of the state prison system in 2003 after the ouster of her predecessor by then-Governor Romney. But now it is the reform-minded Dennehy who is under a cloud, and who has been asked to leave her post by Governor Patrick, raising questions about what kind of leader is needed next at the Department of Correction.
The job of overseeing 11,000 inmates and a hard-shelled correction officer union is among the toughest in state government. But it has been tougher than it needs to be due to the absence of any independent oversight of the troubled department. Bills to establish both an inspector general office to review charges of staff misconduct and an external oversight board to review general policies and practices languish in the Legislature. And courting the Legislature was not one of Dennehy's strengths, as noted by the failure of the House to back Patrick's proposal to increase the department's budget by $30 million.
The Correction department needs an outsider at the helm. The department now strains under a suit in federal court seeking to modify the use of long-term solitary confinement for mentally ill prisoners. Nine inmates have taken their own lives since the beginning of 2006. This week, the Globe Spotlight Team uncovered a trail of errors that led to the wrongful confinement of 14 prisoners, including one man who was held for more than four years after his release date. These injustices stem not only from flawed technical systems, but from a departmental culture that accepts a high level of risk for inmates. What Dennehy calls "a quagmire of sentencing structures" was at the root of the wrongful confinements. But deeper still is the problem of some of her staffers who didn't care enough to get it right.
On paper, Dennehy seemed the right person to lead the department. She is a strong public manager who can point to significant accomplishments, including no-nonsense discipline of assaultive correction officers, better staff training, higher quality substance abuse programs, and reductions in sick time. But the 31-year employee of the department could never fully make a clean break from the Correction culture in which she rose. She speaks convincingly of the need for transparency and accountability. But murkiness still remains, including in the important area of prisoner classification.
Numerous studies since 2005 point to the reforms needed in the Correction department. The job doesn't require a visionary. Instead, it calls for a first-rate manager with broad correction experience, a strong mandate from the Patrick administration, and no ties to the current system.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/04/24/hard_time_for_state_prisons
Posted by lois at April 24, 2007 09:31 AM