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Bill would give drug offenders earlier parole
By Emelie Rutherford/ Daily News Staff
Wednesday, November 23, 2005

BOSTON -- Approximately one-tenth of the inmates at Framingham's notoriously overcrowded women's prison would be eligible for parole under a measure backed by a MetroWest lawmaker who drew dozens of supporters to the State House yesterday.


The bill to grant parole eligibility for the first time to inmates serving mandatory minimum drug sentences would reduce overcrowding in Massachusetts' prisons and save the state millions of dollars, supporters said.


"This is not being soft on crime, it's being smart," bill sponsor state Sen. Cynthia Creem, D-Newton, said after it was weighed by the joint Judiciary Committee, on which she sits.


Of the 671 inmates at MCI-Framingham, 65 of them were serving mandatory minimum drug sentences as of Monday, according to state Department of Correction spokeswoman Diane Wiffin.


Across the state there are approximately 10,300 inmates in DOC facilities, with 1,592 serving mandatory minimum drug sentences, she said.


Creem's parole bill would allow such drug offenders to go before the parole board once they have served two-thirds of the maximum sentences for their crimes. The measure would not ensure those inmates are sent home and monitored on parole.


"It won't open the gates, it won't let them out," said Leslie Walker, director of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, which aids indigent prisoners. "It just lets them see the parole board," which she added is "not a notoriously liberal body."


According to Walker, many of the women serving mandatory minimum drug sentences at MCI-Framingham are "wonderfully eligible for parole." That's because many of those women are repentant, lacking of criminal histories and nonviolent, she said. While sentencing judges cannot take such factors into consideration, the parole board can.


MCI-Framingham is the most cramped housing unit in the state's system, and has an overcrowding rate of 331 percent in the awaiting trial unit, Walker said.


Creem's parole bill made its way into a working version of the state budget last year before dying. Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey declined to publicly endorse the bill during yesterday's Judiciary Committee hearing, telling Creem she would talk about it in a more "personal" setting.

Healey was at the hearing to testify in favor of Gov. Mitt Romney's bill to require post-release supervision of felons.
Norwood native Sean Glynn said Creem's parole bill could help his 30-year-old brother, Patrick, who is three years into a five-year sentence for trafficking cocaine, his first-ever offense.
Patrick Glynn is a model prisoner with a job, supportive family and girlfriend waiting for him, Sean Glynn said. Patrick Glynn's continued incarceration is costing the state thousands and causing heartache for his loved ones, his family said.
"I don't think there is a parole board in this country that would not release him," Sean Glynn said.
The Boston Bar Association and League of Women Voters were among the groups that spoke in favor of Creem's parole bill. While no one testified against it, a lawmaker on the committee predicted it would be hotly contested if it advanced to the full Legislature.
Creem said her bill would save the state $10 million to $15 million a year and is supported by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. It costs approximately $43,000 to incarcerate an inmate for one year, Healey said.

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Posted by: RPD931

BS!! This defeats the whole purpose of MANDATORY sentences.

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Posted by: sempergumby

Sure let's let them out early, AND give them all new shiny clean needles to stick into thier arms, legs, toes, breasts, and Poice Officers hands. I love the Communist Peolpe's Republic of Massachusetts.

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