« Jerry Rosenberg, Jailhouse Lawyer, Dies at 72 | Main | Despite Bleak Economy, Crime Numbers Take Positive Turn »
June 02, 2009
MA: Representative Gloria L. Fox’s statement regarding visit to Old Colony Correctional Center
Representative Gloria L. Fox’s statement regarding visit to Old Colony Correctional Center
By Herald staff | Monday, June 1, 2009 |
Saturday , May 30, 2009
REPRESENTATIVE GLORIA L. FOX
"Those who know my work in the communities I serve know that a critical part of my platform for entering public service was reform of the Commonwealths Corrections system. More Black and Latino brothers and sisters are incarcerated than go to college this should be a concern to us all. For over 20 years, I have been a leader in CORI reform efforts because the ability of those released to get jobs and earn a livable wage for themselves and their families is essential in reducing recidivism. Since there has been no substantial CORI reform, we are left with a revolving door system and our communities have had to disproportionately bear the negative impacts of joblessness and the lack of services for the newly released who want to turn their lives around.
When a group of inmates decided to tackle the violence in our community by putting together a video titled Voices From Behind the Wall, which is a document style video against the senseless street violence too many of our teens are engaged in, I was very supportive of this effort. Through the community group producing this video, I learned that some of the inmates involved in the project had some serious issues internally with a few corrections officers. Because of my history of fighting prison injustices, I was asked by the group as an elected official to hear their grievances directly. My visit to the facility was to listen at length to the issues raised by the inmates. I was totally unaware that there was an alleged relationship between Ms. Marinova who was a member of the Voices From Behind the Wall production team, and my transportation to the facility that day. I refuse to have anyone cast me as a perpetrator of any kind for doing my duty as a public servant. With that said, there really isn’t anything else to this story and I will not comment any further.
Yours in community service,
Representative Gloria L. Fox
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1176139
Posted by lois at June 2, 2009 06:56 PM