DOC criticized for changes to isolation

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State Representative Liz Miranda COURTESY PHOTO

When the Massachusetts Department of Correction announced in June that it would disband its segregation unit over a three-year period, State Representative Liz Miranda was not satisfied.

The change, announced on June 29, is the result of the Falcon Report, an independent study into the containment practices of mass DOCs. Falcon Correctional and Community Services researchers, based on months of study and interviews with inmates, ask DOC to disband the department’s disciplinary unit, saying the unit is designed for super-maximum containment long-term punitive. Falcon recommends that all restrictive accommodation be eliminated.

The conversation about prison reform in Massachusetts needs attention, Miranda told The Banner. During this tenure, she prioritizes the needs of inmates in her legislation and oversees actions taken as a result of the Falcon report.

As I visited them, I began to realize that there were thousands of people, mostly of color, who are in the care and custody of the Commonwealth, [but] people saw them as disposable people, she said.

Here’s what the report found about incarcerated people who experienced solitary or restrictive housing in Massachusetts:

There are several types of restricted housing units, each with varying degrees of complaints from inmates depending on the reason they were kept there and the conditions of the living spaces.

In Restrictive Housing Units (RHUs), many inmates wait to be assigned to the UDD or are serving a temporary sentence for a number of reasons. People staying at RHUs often complained of procedural ambiguity about why they stayed at RHUs, the researchers wrote. The inmates expressed frustration at not knowing why they were there or how long they would stay there.

The Safe Treatment Program (STP) is for people with severe mental illness at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster.

Some said they were grateful to be in the STP rather than the DDU, the researchers wrote.

In the secure adaptation units (SAU) of other institutions, they saw inmates in restricted accommodation because they were afraid to return to their home institutions due to conflicts with other inmates, the report.

And in the DDU, which Falcon researchers say the DOC should end, they’ve seen the most complaints.

DDU detainees were the most vocal about their conditions of detention and the perception that they were being stored and unfairly punished, they wrote.

Miranda said of the report, Punishing people with prolonged isolation is inhumane, period. It doesn’t matter what we call it.

DOC, in its statement on the report, highlighted its apparent legacy of leadership in corrections policy rather than the experiences of inmates.

This comprehensive review process was guided by contributions from a wide range of stakeholders, and the recommendations set the Massachusetts Department of Correction on the path to eliminating restrictive housing system-wide, the secretary said. to Public Safety and Security Thomas Turco in the DOC statement. I congratulate Commissioner Mici and her team who have led the DOC with a deep sense of obligation and pride in the accomplishment of its mission.

For prison abolitionists and some members of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, this issue is more about the individuals involved than policy changes.

Representative Brandy Fluker Oakley supports legislation by Senators Jamie Eldridge and Miranda that could fill a gap in previous criminal justice reform legislation of 2019 and provide more protection for inmates with mental illnesses and others who often end up in solitary confinement.

The DOC is expected to implement these changes in full, with immediate effect, Fluker Oakley said in his joint statement with Miranda. To respond to the atrocious conclusions of the Falcon Report, the ministry must both change its long-term policies and embrace reform through culture change and evidence-based best practices across the ministry.

Abolitionists and lawmakers say DOC has a habit of bending the rules in order to maintain inhumane conditions.

After the ministry began implementing the 2019 reforms, they came under scrutiny for trying to meet technical compliance without actually making things better for inmates in segregation.

For example, the law caps confinement at 10 p.m., but the DOC’s new secure adjustment unit allows 9 p.m.

We need to codify these things into law because DOC is known to get around things, Miranda said.

Mass DOC, Massachusetts Department of Correction, Solitary Confinement, State Rep. Liz Miranda

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