Commonwealth Conversations: Public Safety

An Act Relative to Criminal Sentencing

Greg Massing, General Counsel, Executive Office of Public Safety and Security
General Counsel Greg Massing's bio

One of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s key legislative initiatives this year is reform of the criminal sentencing laws.  Although our bills were filed just over a month ago, hearings have already been scheduled before the legislature’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary, one on March 16 and another on March 30.  We don’t know yet which bills the Committee will hear which day – they have designated March 16 for “parole,” and March 30 for “probation,” but our bills cover both topics.  Still, it is exciting, and a bit scary, to see the attention being paid to this issue.
 
It’s no surprise that these issues are on the front burner.  State and county prisons are overcrowded, and the Commonwealth is facing unprecedented fiscal challenges – we can’t just build more prisons.  Meanwhile, states across the country are reevaluating the costly and ineffective sentencing polices associated with the “War on Drugs.”  And, finally, the public has lost confidence in our system of community supervision, not just because of scandal in the Office of the Commissioner of Probation, but also because in many cases we seem to be keeping the wrong kind of person in prison for too long, letting worse offenders out too soon, and sometimes not supervising the most dangerous criminal at all.
 
The main idea of our proposals is to make sure that repeat, violent offenders get serious time, with costly prison beds are reserved for them and community supervision when they finally get back on the street, but that non-violent offenders whose worst problem is drug addiction are punished in proportion to their crime and are able to get the training, treatment, and services they need.  Our proposals strengthen and close loopholes in the so-called “habitual offender” laws, and those changes are necessary.  At the same time, lengthy mandatory minimum sentences are imposed on thousands convicted of drug crimes.  If these offenders use guns or involve children, they are a danger to their communities and deserve those long sentences.  But we are spending far too much of your money providing costly prison beds for non-violent drug offenders who turned to crime because of addiction.  I am personally familiar with the story of a defendant who was convicted twice for possessing drugs with intent to distribute – both times involved a single, $10 bag of heroin – who received a mandatory minimum term of 5 years, which is what the law requires.  This was a man with a problem, not someone who threatens society so much that he needs five years in a state prison cell to keep us safe.  And there are hundreds of stories like this.
 
It’s easy for lawmakers to “throw the book” at hardened criminals, so I am confident that something like our habitual offender proposals will pass soon.  But it takes courage to say that mandatory minimum sentences are too harsh for some drug offenders and should be eliminated, or at least shortened.  We need both types of changes.  The Governor has shown his common sense, and his courage, by proposing laws that will readjust our sentencing priorities in a way that is both tough, and smart, on crime.

An Act Reforming Re-entry and Community Supervision of Criminal Defendants and Offenders to Strengthen Public Safety

T. Jane Gabriel, Deputy General Counsel, Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, Deputy General Counsel Gabriel's bio

Yesterday, the Patrick-Murray Administration filed legislation which proposes a consolidation of all community supervision of adult offenders and defendants into one single agency.  Having worked in the system for many years, wearing many hats, but mostly as a former probation officer and prosecutor, I am genuinely excited about the potential of this idea because of the positive impact it will have.   

It’s important to understand how the system is currently set up to truly understand why this makes such great sense.  Most people are familiar with the concepts of probation and parole- the probation department supervises offenders in lieu of incarceration, and parole supervises offenders released directly from incarceration.  Many individuals are supervised by both the probation department and parole during their criminal careers, but because the two agencies are separate entities who report to separate authorities, there is little communication between them.  More importantly, each has its own set of rules and guidelines which creates inconsistency and ineffectiveness.  Despite the fact that the two agencies cross paths frequently, records regarding the offenders’ program participation, successes, failures, risks and needs are not shared.  As a result, when one agency picks up where the other left off, services are often duplicated and efforts are wasted. 

The Department of Re-entry and Community Supervision (DRCS) will follow an offender from the early pretrial stages of the criminal process to an inmate’s release from prison.  Services will build on one another.  In making sentencing and prison release decisions, the courts and the Parole Board will be able to rely on recommendations of a single department that will use risk and needs assessments and other evidence-based tools as a matter of practice.  The DRCS will apply a set schedule of intermediate and graduated sanctions creating a system that is consistent and reliable in its punishment for violations, and in its communications and interactions with victims, therefore significantly enhancing public safety in the Commonwealth.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Secretary Mary Elizabeth Heffernan
Secretary, Executive Office of Public Safety and Security
Secretary Heffernan's bio

This past Friday, I was honored to have the opportunity to speak at the 3-Day Institute on Advanced Law Enforcement Practice in Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.   There, veteran law enforcement officers were given the opportunity to learn about cutting edge/best practices in responding to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence.

The training, which ran from Wednesday to Friday last week, was funded by a grant from the EOPSS Office of Grants and Research and was a collaborative effort between EOPSS and the Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC), in coordination with Jane Doe, Inc.  The timing was quite fitting, given that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

I could not have been more pleased than at the end of the training, when I was approached by two veteran Boston Police Officers who wanted me to know that it was the best training they had attended in the past several years. 

Throughout my career, whether as a prosecutor, as Executive Director of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, or in my current role as Secretary, I have seen firsthand how domestic violence and sexual assault cases are among the most complicated and difficult that law enforcement encounter, and because of that, I am extremely proud that over the last few years, we have been able to make a number of advancements in this field. 

Specifically, the Massachusetts Policy for Law Enforcement Response to Domestic Violence was updated and promulgated and the Sexual Assault Law Enforcement Guidelines were created, both of which have been broadly disseminated to law enforcement across the Commonwealth.  

Additionally, this year, Governor Patrick signed two important pieces of legislation into law- the first gives greater protection of victims of sexual abuse and intimidation by allowing victims to obtain criminally enforceable restraining orders against any offender, regardless of their relationship with the victim, and the second expands and updates the use of victim compensation funds to provide greater relief to victims, including extending compensation for reasonable mental health counseling obtained as a result of the crime.

Finally, despite facing difficult budget choices caused by the worst recession in generations, this administration has recognized the importance of the MPTC and proposed to increase funding for it three times in the last two years. We will continue to push for the resources they need. 

Though there is still so much work to be done, I am proud to say that we are moving in the right direction, with increased trainings, standardized best practices and guidelines, and legislative changes which provide better protection and services for those who need it most.