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Are Maine Prisons Out Of Control
April 13, 2010
Maine, the State with the lowest incarceration rate in the nation, appears to be losing to suspicious death a disproportionate number of prisoners from within its segregation facilities. This seems somewhat odd in view of the concerted effort that the Department of Corrections undertook over the past month to defend itself against legislative bill LD1611, an initiative intended to put reasonable restraints on the use and abuse of segregation within Maine’s prisons. Under the time-worn idiom of circling the wagons, the Department pulled out all the stops in opposing the bill, succeeding in reducing it down to a resolve to study itself. A highly respected Captain at Maine State Prison broke down sobbing at the hearing, accusing the sponsors of the bill of insulting the good people in Corrections, insisting that he had never maced anyone. That theme was picked up by the Hon. Rep. Richard Sykes of Harrison, who was heard on the House floor to accuse supporters of the bill of insulting those good people at the prisons who “…put their lives on the line every day,” a debatable premise.
Not only did the Department call on scores of employees to testify against the bill, they corralled numerous others to wear protest stickers and lobby in the halls of the State House, an uncomfortable picture of the activities of our state employees. On the day the House was first expected to debate the bill, employees reportedly were ordered that they were to put on the stickers and report to the 2nd floor of the Capital building, presumably taking the treasured “Comp Time” to avoid the lobbying restrictions imposed on government employees.
Yet, 3 people have died within the past year ... (Please click HERE to continue reading)
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