Norton Announces a Hearing on Sentencing and Parole Policies for D.C. Offenders (3/10/08)

Washington, DC - The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), said today that at her request, the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia, chaired by Danny K. Davis (D-IL), will hold a hearing Tuesday, March 11 at 2 PM in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2154 on revocation and longer parole terms under conditions more onerous than anywhere else in the country for the 15,500 D.C. prisoners in the federal parole system. Norton requested the hearing because the transition of jurisdiction for D.C. inmates from local to federal control has left inequities that require federal legislation.

Among the witnesses will be Tyrone Brown, who received his GED and plumbing certificate while at a Bureau of Prisons facility, was released on parole, got a job, remained crime free, but had his parole revoked for a dirty urine sample, and lost credit for the time he had spent on the street. Norton said, "People who re-enter from prison and remain crime free, often with a job, should not be sent back to prison for minor infractions. Losing street time is punitive and counter productive if the point is to encourage a new beginning, productive lives and to end recidivism.

Former Police Chief, Isaac Fulwood, Jr., will testify about a new alternative program that uses sanctions rather than return to prison for minor infractions in an effort to help ex-offenders keep jobs and continue non-violent and productive re-entry. The hearing also will focus on selected post release services provided for initial re-entry by the federal government.

Warden George Snyder, Rivers Corrections Institution, will testify about progress made since the October 2007 subcommittee hearing, on unequal services at Rivers in Winton, North Carolina. Shortly after that hearing, the BOP announced that it would require a state of the art drug treatment at Rivers like the BOP drug program, as well as much improved job training programs. BOP is constructing a facility in preparation for the program.

Norton has been particularly concerned about the absence of the state of the art drug treatment program, inasmuch as 70% of the District's offender population has a history of substance abuse.

Norton said that she was especially grateful to chairman Danny Davis for the scheduled sentencing and parole hearing to match the October 2007 hearing, that together show important critical changes needed for pre-release, re-entry and parole for D.C. residents. Norton said Chairman Davis is a leading expert for re-entry programs for federal prisoners and is the leading sponsor of the Second Chance Act of 2007 of which Congresswoman Norton is a cosponsor.

Other witnesses include Paul A. Quander, Jr., Director, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency and Avis E. Buchanan, Director, Public Defender Services for the District of Columbia both of whom work with ex-offenders on a daily basis and can offer an experts opinion on how re-entry services can be improved. James Austin is an expert on DC prison issues and will present findings from a report addressing the longer sentences of DC residents.

Chief Judge Rufus King of the D.C. Superior Court will address a legislative fix currently in Congress to increase the number of Superior Court judges. Betty Ballester will testify regarding the necessary increase in the hourly rates paid to D.C. Criminal Justice Act and Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect attorneys who represent the indigent.