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ACT NOW TO STOP THE CONSTRUCTION OF ANOTHER JAIL IN OUR COMMUNITY |
| Hampden County is preparing to spend $27 million for the construction of a new women's jail in Chicopee. This didn't make sense when it was originally proposed, and it certainly doesn't make sense now that our state is in the worst budget crisis in almost 10 years. |
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 Proposed Chicopee Women's Jail |
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As community members, politically aware people, service providers, community
organizers and organizations, and elected officials, we see the safety net for our city's
neediest people being dismantled. We are aware of the devastating impact of the budget
cuts on our community. These cuts are affecting housing, education ($40 million in cuts
to UMASS alone), health care (including massive cuts to Masshealth and Medicaid;
HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and care), and drug rehabilitation programs (50% of
beds in detox programs have been cut this year).
Right now, the Massachusetts Department of Corrections is planning to spend $27 million dollars to build a new women's jail in Chicopee, which will cost an additional $12 million per year to operate. Given the current budget crisis, is this really the way we want our tax dollars spent right now? In 1994 The Truth-in-Sentencing Law was created to address the rising population in prisons and jails in Massachusetts by reexamining the sentencing practices of our courts. The Massachusetts Sentencing Commission then created a specific grid for certain offenders that could be appropriate for intermediate sanctions and not incarceration. By using the sentencing grid, certain offenders would, according to the Truth-in-Sentencing Law, be appropriate for intermediate sanctions in the nearest county community corrections center. This is true for men in Hampden Country; however the story is different for women - a majority of whom are incarcerated for non-violent, drug-related charges. Additionally, in a report to the Massachusetts legislature in 1996, the Sentencing Commission noted that there was a need to develop new sanctions and that few alternative sanctions were available through the state. This report stated that "the lack of intermediate sanctions programs for women was an acute problem. Courts across the state do not have intermediate sanctions options for women. and there is almost a total lack of useful vocational referral or training programs (for women)". A majority of the women in the Ludlow jail qualify for intermediate sanctions, but because there is not a viable community corrections center in Hampden County that is gender specific, the women are instead incarcerated, taking upwards of 500 children from their mothers and putting them into the state's poorly funded foster care system. We are demanding 1) that the sentencing practices of female offenders in Hampden County be reevaluated, 2) that mandatory minimum sentences be repealed, and 3) that the $27 million be pulled from the State capital budget for the women's jail and reallocate that money for programs such as job training opportunities for women, drug treatment centers specific to women's needs, health care for women and their children, and more housing available for low-income families. |
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Home
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Economic Justice
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Electoral
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Peace
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The Voice
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W.I.S.E. Calendar | Email | Links | Mission | Support |
| W.I.S.E. Page 1 | W.I.S.E. Page 2 |
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