Welcome to our web site!
The Middlesex Prison Coordinating Committee, Inc. is a nonprofit organization formed in 1982 and is composed of the faith communities of Middlesex County, MA. It is committed to a ministry of the whole prison system...the correctional officers, the staff, the administration, and the prisoners. Read about our goals and accomplishments and consider becoming a member.
Mary Ann Donaldson, MCPCC Chair; Sheriff James V. DiPaola,speaker; and Deputy Supt. Sean McAdam at MCPCC mtg. 5/26/09
A group from the Boston Community Choir singing
at the Billerica House of Correction on May 16, 2009.
This concert was initiated by
Mary Ann Donaldson, MCPCC Chair, and member of the choir.
Group which heard Sheriff DiPaola speak on May 26, 2009
(Photo courtesy of Meghan Lee.)
Our Accomplishments
Organization Goals
We are always looking for people interested in joining our organization.
Who Can Join?
We invite anybody interested in the issues and topics we focus our efforts on to join. Members should be able to dedicate enough time to attend monthly meetings in West Newton.
How Can You Join?
To join we need a completed application and $10 membership dues for the first year. Please contact us for more information and a copy of the application.
Benefits of Joining
There are several benefits to becoming a member of our organization. Our members are close friends and we have a great time when we get together. Of course we also have a common interest, and we hope to further our cause. All members will receive our monthly newsletter either by mail or e-mail..
Thank you for visiting our web site. We encourage you to contact us if you would like more information or are interested in becoming a part of our organization.
You may reach us at:
Phone: Marjorie Moerschner, Secretary (617) 527-5613
Mail: MCPCC, Inc., 177 Forest Ave., West Newton, MA 02465
Or send us an e-mail! MCPCC1_verizon.net
On this page we will provide links to information about other our organizations which are also involved in prison issues.
MCPCC NEWSLETTER
(Middlesex County Prison Coordinating Committee)
MCPCC met on January 9, 2002 in Bedford. Beverly Wilkins,
Elizabeth Woodbridge, Tom Crowther, Judith Lustig and Marjorie
Moerschner were present. Our guest speaker was Rev. Milton
Thomas Sr., Billerica's Protestant chaplain. Rev. Thomas gave the
opening prayer.
Rev. Thomas received an M.Div. from the BU School of
Theology, where he was a student of Dr Seth Asaré. Weekdays, he
is the recently appointed full-time Protestant chaplain at
Billerica. He is also the pastor of a church in Lowell, which he
started.
We asked him how MCPCC could help him and he said that one
area would be Christmas celebrations.
The DOC no longer allows donations of toiletries for the men
at Christmas- they might make alcohol from them. The Salvation
Army provides one pair of white socks for each inmate. Each man
gets 3 Christmas cards with postage to send to family or friends;
the cards are donated by Vision New England. The greatest need is
for donated gifts for the Angel Tree program, which distributes
gifts to the children of prisoners. There are 700 inmates at
Billerica, 300 at the Cambridge Jail and probably an average of
2 children per prisoner; this adds up to a lot of gifts.
Rev. Thomas arranged for a quartet to perform at the prison
Christmas service, and he will have a choir come in at Easter.
Each man who wants one, gets a Bible from the MA Bible
Society. Spanish Bibles are available, but there is some need
for Portuguese and Cambodian Bibles. The Bibles must be soft
cover- hard cover books can be used as weapons.
Rev. Thomas intends to start an inmate choir. His services
include congregational singing, and the choir will grow out of
that. He makes copies of the hymns to be sung and distibutes
them- again, hard cover hymn books are not allowed.
The prison has purchased a keyboard with amplifier and a
prisoner who used to play has begun to practice it. One man
plays the guitar.
About 65-70 men come to worship services, which are held on
Monday nights in the dining room, from 6:30 to 8 PM. When Rev.
Thomas first came to the prison, attendance averaged about 45
men, many of them just there for recreation time; but things are
changing and the men are more serious about why they're there.
One man recently refused to get into a fight because of his
exposure to the worship message.
Unfortunately visiting hours do conflict with the Monday
services.
Thursday afternoon he has scripture and Bible study relating
to the real issues the men face. 12 or more attend.
There is a violence intervention program in one of the
modular units, which has a mandatory meeting every Monday
afternoon, from 1 to 3, with several regular speakers. Rev.
Thomas is one of those speakers, as is Dr. Sperber, and someone
talks about parenting. Rev. Thomas talks about spiritual issues,
such as forgiveness He likes to get a discussion going, to get
the men to wrestle with these issues.
Another of the mods houses men who are involved in a very
intensive drug intervention program. Rev. Thomas goes there on
Wednesdays to work with those who have reached the 1lth and 12th
steps of the 12 step program.
It's difficult for him to meet with work release men since
they are away from the prison on weekdays. He tries to get
around to see them in the evening.
He had been going once a week to Cambridge, but has decided
to focus on Billerica. He would like for someone to be in
Cambridge, though.
He has a questionnaire on prison ministry for interested
people to fill out, but he would like to have prison ministry
done by pastors rather than lay people.
We were very pleased to meet and talk with Rev. Thomas! He
brings lots of energy, humor, empathy and good ideas to the
chaplancy, and we look forward to working with him.
Beverly reported that the prison art contest is over, and that
there are some fine entries. Linda Justice used proceeds from
the sale of greeting cards from last year's contest for the prize
money, and the sheriff contributed matching amounts.
Tom's church, the First Church of Christ, Congregational, in Bedford,
gave 9 English and 9 English-Spanish dictionaries to the prison
library.
We want to thank the following churches and individuals who gave
money to MCPCC during 2001. Your gifts are very much appreciated!
Central Church, Newtonville
Edwards Church of Framingham
Eliot Church of Newton
First Church of Christ, Bedford
First Parish in Lincoln
Presbyterian Church of Sudbury
Second Church, Newton
United Methodist Church, Newton
Wilmington Methodist Church
David Berkeley
Michael Sperber
Betty and Charles Wilson
Mike Myers, who directs the prison program of the City Mission
Society will be with us at our next meeting.
NEXT MEETING: FEBRUARY 5, 2002 at 7 PM
CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 218 WALNUT ST. NEWTONVILLE
MIDDLESEX COUNTY PRISON COORDINATING COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER
MCPCC met on Feb. 12, 2003 in West Newton. Mary Ann Donaldson, Beverly Wilkins, Tom Crowther, Bill Bergquist and Marjorie Moerschner were present. Lee Gartenberg, Inmates' Attorney, Middlesex County Sheriff's Department, was our guest speaker.
This newsletter is a bit longer than usual because we wanted to include something about Lee's recent visit to Siberia.
Budget Concerns
Lee spoke first about the state budget, filed by the governor as House Bill 1. This year's version is big on "restructuring", which usually means cuts. Under this bill, people in need will probably have access to far fewer services.
The sheriff's department is included in a separate budget and will probably not be affected until the end of this fiscal year. There will continue to be money to run the prison but programs may suffer. The mental health grant at Billerica was not refunded and the social workers have gone. Dr. Sperber is there part time, and another psychiatrist visits the Cambridge Jail. The deacons, chaplain, and Lee try to fill the gaps.
There are also some vacant slots for case workers at Billerica. The case workers who are there are very good. Cut-backs will affect prisoners especially when they get out, when fewer services may be available to them. The office of community corrections in Lowell are functioning well and Lee hopes they will be refunded. A lack of reintegration services would affect everyone.
One of the governor's proposals would greatly reduce the number of lawyers attached to various State agencies. The rest would be consolidated into a state law firm under the solicitor general. Legal specialists could be lost; the hiring of private law firms at a much greater expense would result.
The Cambridge Jail is very crowded now. Cases are moving very slowly through the courts, which experienced cutbacks in personnel last year- and will probably experience more. The Clerk's Office at Lowell District Court has to close at noon so they can spend the rest of the day just on processing paperwork. There are cutbacks in court reporters and interpreters as well as clerks in many courts, including Superior Court.
Police Training,
Lee is Chair of The Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section Council of The MA Bar Association which has prepared a legislative package for the approval of the MBA, one provision of which would require police to be trained to address mental health issues. Some police departments are already doing this. The Criminal Justice Training Council oversees and sets state-wide standards for police training and has a training apparatus for police departments.
Cuts in police protection seem inevitable.
Prisoners' right to wear religious symbols.
A case has come down from the appeals court which involved a Muslim prisoner in a state facility who wanted to wear a kufi, the skullcap which is worn as a religious symbol. Prison officials had forbidden him to do so for security reasons- he might be hiding something under it. The appeals court's decision established a prisoner's right to wear or display things which are fundamental to his religious practice. There are limitations- rosary beads should be all one color, for example, because gangs sometimes identify their members by certain colors or color combinations of beads. Prisons have to balance the constitutional rights of the incarcerated with security matters.
Judicial conduct.
Most Massachusetts judges are outstanding, in part because they are appointed, not elected, and can be above politics.
Romney has appointed a judicial conduct commission and appointed good people to it.
Innocence Legislation.
Lee brought in a copy of a bill entitled "Legislation relative to compensation for certain erroneous convictions," otherwise known as innocence legislation. This bill was filed by Rep Patricia Jehlen of Somerville as a response to the many convicted persons who've later been found innocent because of DNA or other evidence. Those who qualify would receive compensation not to exceed $400,000, plus some education benefits.
Immigration issues.
Lots of prisoners have immigration issues. Even if they have become citizens, they're deportable if they are convicted of aggravated felony or crimes of moral turpitude.
Convicted immigrants must serve their sentences first, are then taken into custody by the INS and eventually given a hearing. Then they are usually deported. They are not givenl lawyers but may hire one. Lee tries to get men with such problems in touch with appropriate services, though the services don't usually provide lawyers. There are also pamphlets available about immigration law in Spanish and in English.
Child Support.
Men in prison still have to pay child support, and many men owe a lot in back payments. A deal has been worked out with the Dept. of Revenue whereby the amount of child support a man must pay is reduced to $50. a month. When he leaves prison he resumes paying this amount, but if he gets a job, that is not an overwhelming burden. Many men who had been shirking payments are now getting back into the system. State Aid to Dependant Children makes up the difference.
* * * * * * *
Lee was chosen to go to Tomsk in Siberia for a week last October as part of a delegation of 7 MA judges and lawyers sponsored by the Russian American Rule of Law Project, funded by the US Agency for International Development through the Library of Congress. The American Bar Association was also involved. The project partners U.S. states with Russian regions to help Russia
democratize its justice system. The Russian Federation recently changed its criminal code from the old system in which the judge was essentially also the prosecutor, to an adversarial system
like our own, with prosecution and defense arguing the case before a jury. Jury trials have not been used in Russia since czarist days.
Tomsk was a closed city during the cold war because its universities were engaged in nuclear research. Now the people of Tomsk are delighted to have contact with the outside world again,
and the delegation was received with the greatest warmth and hospitality.
Tomsk State University has 2000 law students and their professors are leading them into change. The delegation watched a mock trial in which one student argued for the prosecution and
one for the defense. Lee found this an amazing reversal of the old USSR system of justice.
The delegation was able to visit a prison, an event which was covered by Tomsk TV. Lee was delighted to find some law students from a prison law clinic there working with the prisoners, and he was able to talk to them. They were helping prisoners with criminal and civil legal issues, but were not allowed to do any prisoners' rights advocacy regarding conditions in the prison. Lee would like to see that happen. The conditions in the prison were not great. Particularly troubling is the medical care. There is a lot of drug resistant TB in Russian prisons but a group called the New York Health Institute is in the Tomsk Prison under a grant, trying to deal with this. There are also many prisoners with AIDS, and unfortunately they are not getting treatment because there is no money for it.
Members of the delegation demonstrated litigation, with the polish that comes with experience, before the students who acted as the jury, and who broke into applause at the end. The concept
of performing in front of a jury is new to the students, as is the concept of plea bargaining. The Russian people are also going to have to be willing to serve on juries- this will be a big test of how well the new system will work.
Lee felt that people have confidence in Putin. The economy has improved. Corruption is still a fact of life, but somewhat less so now than under Yeltsin.
Lee was impressed that there was really no crackdown on civil liberties after the theatre incident in Moscow.
Last summer several judges and a lawyer from Tomsk came here- Lee gave them a tour of the Cambridge Jail- and another group will come later this year, so the involvement continues.
Lee found this experience tremendously exciting and worthwhile, and we greatly appreciate hearing about it!
NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY MARCH 12 at 7 PM
SECOND CHURCH UCC, 60 HIGHLAND STREET, WEST NEWTON
MCPCC met on March 5, 2002 in Newtonville. Beverly Wilkins, Tom
Crowther, Judy Lustig, Dorothy Weitzman and Marjorie Moerschner
were present, together with our guest speaker and long-time
friend, Lee Gartenburg.
Attorney Lee Gartenburg has been on the Middlesex County Sheriff's staff as the provider of inmate legal services at Billerica HOC and the Cambridge Jail since 1982; he has also been on the board of directors of MA Correctional Services since 1983. He has just completed a term as chairman of the Criminal Justice Section Council of the MA Bar Association.
He spoke first about Chaplain Bud Wood, who died February 15.
Bud wanted to help people celebrate their faith, whatever that
faith might be. He had had a tough time himself as a youth; he
understood the men and could talk their talk. He was completely
devoted to his work and to the men, and this kept him going in
spite of increasingly serious health problems.
Lee then talked about reintegration, a current trend in criminal
justice. Reintegration means that prisoners who have completed
their sentences or are being paroled, will be sent back into the
streets with sufficient preparation and sufficient support
systems to give them a chance of making it out there. Ideally,
this process starts when a man enters prison, with a program
created for him which will stay with him when he is back in the
community. Accountability, treatment, teaching and monitoring
all help a man to stay away from bad habits and out of prison.
In spite of budgetary constraints and the cutting back of
programs, this process is beginning to happen. The truth-in-
sentencing law, though far from perfect, did set up an office of
community corrections; there are now community corrections
facilities in every county except Plymouth. Middlesex has an office in Cambridge with one about to open in Lowell. These offices are funded through the legislature and subcontracted to the sheriffs who operate them in cooperation with Probation and Parole. The overall office of community corrections is an agency within the trial courts.
There are three ways that an inmate can get to an office of
community corrections.
1. If he is near the end of his sentence he can be
classified to level four. This involves electronic monitoring:
men live at home and may have jobs, but if they go where they are not authorized to go, the electronic bracelet sets off an alarm.
2. The court can place a person on probation with the
condition that he participate in the office of community
corrections, which provides monitoring, education and treatment
programs and gets him hooked up with community agencies.
3. Through the parole board. Parole is a perfect match
for community corrections. Drug testing etc., which parole may
require, can be done by the community corrections office.
The proposed sentencing guidelines legislation, which plays into
the reintegration concept through its proposal for intermediate
sanctions , has been stalemated in the legislature for eight
years. The Senate wants a bill which follows the truth-in-
sentencing proposals; the House proposed a tougher bill. The
D.A.'s Ass'n opposed both as too liberal. Lee is a member of a
MA Bar Ass'n Task Force aimed at working out an acceptable
compromise. The Task Force came up with a proposal for post-
incarceration supervision, applicable to all those sentenced to a year or more of jail time. The longer the sentence, the longer
the period of post-incarceration supervision, 6 months being the
shortest period. Those who choose to serve out their sentences
rather than take parole, and those who have taken parole and
failed, would be subject to this supervision; those who have done well on parole would not. Supervision would be by the parole board, with resources to be provided by probation and offices of community corrections, institutions which already exist.
A sentencing guidelines proposal finally made it through the House of Representatives, but it had been amended so much that it was a bad bill, unwieldy and very costly; however it did include the good post-incarceration proposal. A sentencing guidelines bill will probably not pass the Senate at this time.
Meanwhi1e, Mass. Inc., a think tank, proposed Post
Incarceration Supervision for everyone, setting up an elaborate
bureaucracy to implement it without any provision for funding. A
Globe editorial recommended the MA Bar's Task Force proposal as a simpler and more sensible one. Lee feels that the proposed
Senate bill, plus the Task Force proposal for post-incarceration
supervision would be the ideal compromise.
Parole Board. The Board is made up mostly of police and D.A.s.
Michael Pomerol is now the chairman of the Parole Board and some
changes are being made in the way it does business. Parole Board
members now go themselves to county correctional institutions to
interview prisoners requesting parole; before, only a hearing
officer would go to conduct these interviews. A few years ago
paroles were almost non-existent and regarded as irrelevant; now
more prisoners are being paroled, and the Parole Board is once
more an important part of the criminal justice system. This is
reintegration again- prisoners are encouraged, with supervision
and accountability, to work toward reentry into society. Until
recently, many prisoners opted not to work toward parole, but to
serve out their sentences in prison, after which they'd be
through with the system, at least until they got into trouble
again. Now they're again choosing to leave prison sooner and go
on parole. Good time now can come off parole.
Though sentencing guidelines have not passed, judges actually
are using the guidelines proposed by the Senate bill. They can
do this as long as they stay within the statutory limits, which
are quite broad.
The sentencing commission still has an office. Every year it
issues a very useful analysis of sentences given during the past
year, how many, type, duration, and so forth.
The prisons are seeing more people with mental problems now
whether those problems are diagnosed or not. This is mostly due
to cuts in mental health and retardation money. Grant money
allowing sheriffs to hire social workers has been cut. There is
one full-time social worker at Billerica. Two psychiatrists
visit Billerica, and one goes to the Cambridge Jail.
Many court emp1oyees, including interpreters, have been laid
off. There are fewer resources and the justice system functions
more slowly. People will be in jail longer awaiting trial. Many
of the courthouses themselves are in bad shape.
The D.O.C. is eliminating many minimum security beds, which will
adversely affect the preparation of inmates for reentry into the
community.
Billerica will not be building a new facility in the foreseeable
future, but has plans to expand and modernize.
The Protestant chaplain and the two Catholic deacons want to set
up a spirituality program at Billerica. Lee wants to make sure
this caters to all religions, and the chaplains are open to this. Religion and even programs like AA sometimes assume an unhealthy, drug-like quality in prison, almost addictive in themselves.
Many thanks to Lee for speaking with us!
******
Beverly reported the good news that Dr. Seth Asaré will be again going to the Cambridge Jail one evening a month.
We discussed the possibility of our joining the Criminal Justice
Policy Coalition.
The MA Bible Society will provide Billerica with Portuguese
Bibles, and we thank them for their helpfulness.
Robin Cazarjian, author of Houses of Healing, gave a talk
recently in Concord. Judy attended and found it very inspiring.
Dorothy Weitzman reported that the Social Work Criminal Justice
Committee has started what she hopes will be a series on county
corrections. She would like to have input from MCPCC at a
meeting in May or June. Beverly and Mary Ann Donaldson will go.
MCPCC's web address: http://home.earthlink.net/~mcpcc/
Next meeting April 2, 2002
MCPCC met April 2. 2002, in Newtonvi1le. Those present were
Beverly Wilkins, Mary Ann Donaldson, Elizabeth Woodbridge, Tom
Crowther, Judy Lustig and Marjorie Moerschner. Our guest
speakers were Carol Peters and Rev. Margie Saphier, who teach
Houses of Healing (emotional awareness) courses at MCI Shirley.
Program
Margie Saphier is a an associate minister and part-time
chaplain, and a member of the The Partakers, an interfaith
organization, which, among other things, sponsors College Behind
Bars. They try to recruit church congregations willing to finance an inmate in a collegiate program run by Boston University, and/or set up a committee to provide tutoring and moral support for him or her. The prisoner must apply to B.U., and if accepted, must be approved for the program by the Dept of Corrections. Norfolk, Bay State and Framingham are involved in this program. A prisoner from another facility who had been accepted by B.U. would have to apply for transfer to one of the above facilities. The cost of the program is $2500 for each participant.
The emotional awareness program. Houses of Healing, based
on Robin Casarjian's book, has been given at Shirley for about
six years. Currently Shirley is in the happy position of having
more volunteers to teach the program than are needed. We would
like to see this course given at Billerica if the prison
approves, and Margie and Carol have offered to provide the
teaching.
Carol Peters, a student at Andover-Newton, has been teaching Houses of Healing at Shirley for about a year. She was recruited by Jeanette Hanlon of Partakers. Each course starts with about 20 men; a few usually drop out, and they end up with about 15. They try to have two outside people with some experience with Houses of Healing to act as facilitators, and they encourage others from the outside community to participate as students in the course. Facilitators and visitors must commit to stay for the whole course, This is a good way to train people to teach emotional awareness and also, as Margie noted, it means a lot to the men to have this connection with the outside community. Inmates who have taken the course once often want to take it again, and they are encouraged to do so, and to become
facilitators themselves.
They meet for 1.5 hours a week for 12 weeks. There is an
officer stationed in the building nearby, but not in the
classroom. Prisoners sign up for the course, and at Shirley
there is a waiting list, Each man is there because he chooses to
be, but sometimes it is recommended that he take the class, Men
are given a certificate when they finish; this is good to have
when they go before the parole board.
Carol would like to see an ongoing program at Billerica.
with courses given two or three times a year.
In addition to space big enough for 16-20 people, a TV
monitor for videotapes and a blackboard would be needed. There
are handouts, and participants should have pocket folders to put
them in.
Houses of Healing creates a safe place where people can
express their feelings and validate their insights, and it can be life-transforming. Carol has found teaching this course the most rewarding thing she has ever done.
Robin Casarjian will donate the first 20 books for a class.
but asks that people try to get outside financing. Books cost
$10. each if bought in quantities of 10 or more. Men sometimes
like to keep their books. Reading ability is not a real
criterion for participation.
Robin is now working on a curriculum to be used in schools.
Many thanks to Margie Saphier and Carol Peters for talking to us
and for being willing to teach Houses of Healing classes at
Billerica. MCPCC would really like to see this happening and
we're excited about the possibility!
Business Meeting.
It was voted to join the Criminal Justice Policy Coalition.
The fee is $50. a year.
We are very pleased to report that we have sponsors for 3
camperships this summer for children of prisoners at Billerica!
The camp is in Maine and is only for the children of prisoners,
so that no child need feel different for this reason. The Church
of Christ, Congregational, in Bedford will sponsor one child, and Central Congregational Church, Newtonville will sponsor two from a special fund that had been set aside for mission projects.
Perhaps other churches would be willing to sponsor a whole
or partial campership for a Billerica's prisoner's child.
Tom's church, First Church of Christ, Bedford, has also donated 100 used hymnal supplements to the Billerica prison. Many thanks!
New note-cards showing Billerica inmates' art work have been prepared by Tom. They are very attractive, and will be on sale in the prison canteen and at several of our churches.
We have received generous donations from
The Congregational Church of Littleton
and from
Anne Curran
Margot Lindsay
Barbara MacKay
Catherine and Robert Robertson
Dorothy Weitzman
We greatly appreciate these gifts.
Note that our next meeting will be on the second Tuesday of May.
NEXT MEETING: TUESDAY, May 14, at 7 PM
CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 218 Walnut St., NEWTONVILLE
MCPCC met on Sept. 10, 2002 in Newtonville. Present were Chairman Mary Ann Donaldson, Beverly WiIkins, Elizabeth Woodbridge, Tom Crowther, Judith Lustig, Dorothy Weitzman, Fran Seasholes and Marjorie Moerschner. Our guest speaker was Dr. Michael Sperber.
We are sorry to report that Judy Garafolo, a clinical social worker at Billerica, who spoke to us in June, is no longer there. Her grant from the Division of Mental Health was not renewed, a sign of the economic times. The other clinical social worker at Billerica, also under a grant, is also gone. Among other things, they provided assessments of troubled prisoners and made mental health referrals for men leaving the prison. Dr. Sperber will now be expected to do much of their work.
Dorothy noted that the state eliminated county mental health services to prisons from the budget in the hopes that the counties or their sheriffs would be able to fill the gap, which hasn't happened. One sheriff has even suggested that he be sued on the grounds that mental health standards are not being met, in order to attract the attention of the Commonwealth.
Dr. Sperber says he is expected to spend only 15 minutes with a patient. This barely gives him time to say hello. He has to see patients either in the dental office, or, in the mod 2 unit, in a room with paper-thin walls.
The prison is not really set up to handle suicidal prisoners. In spite of T.V. monitors and supervision, a man bent on killing himself can usually find a way, however bizarre, to do so. In the past the number of prisoners Dr. Sperber could send to Bridgewater for safety reasons was quite restricted, but fortunately that policy has recently been relaxed and Dr. Sperber can now send any man who is a suicide risk there.
