Norton Prison Video Conference Begins First City Contact with D.C. Inmates in 10 Years (9/14/07)

Norton Releases Fulwood Statement Beginning the First City Contact with D.C. Inmates in 10 Years and Description of Effects on Inmates and Residents
September 14, 2007

Washington, D.C.--The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released the opening statement of Isaac "Ike" Fulwood, Co-chair of the Black Men and Boys Commission (BMBC), from last night's first video conference between D.C. residents and inmates of Rivers Correctional Institution, a federally-contracted private prison, or any Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility since the federal government assumed control 10 years ago. Former D.C. police chief Fulwood's statement described the BMBC and why the Commission is putting first priority on D.C. men in prisons, beginning with Rivers Correctional Institution in Winton, North Carolina. The video conference between D.C. residents, the Commission and 15 inmates currently housed at Rivers was conducted by Chairman Fulwood and the Commissioners. The first official congressional oversight hearing on District prisoners since the Revitalization Act transferred control from the District will be held by the House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia on October 16th at 2 PM.

The inmates spoke out with force and clarity, many taking personal responsibility for being in prison. Two witnesses present at the crowded One Judiciary Square meeting, Darryl Farley and Andrew Smith-El, who were recently released from Rivers, offered compelling testimony about the successful efforts they were making, the efforts they made to prepare to come home, and what might have helped them. This testimony, followed by moving statements from inmates through video, was matched by the intensity of questions and statements by an outpouring of residents, ex-offenders and their relatives who filled the main hearing room to near capacity. Attendees waited up to a half-hour to speak or ask questions on the many issues that are affecting D.C. inmates. Many individuals running non-profits, or seeking to become involved, offered their phone numbers so that inmates returning home could contact them for help and advice. The Commissioners, some of whom work with ex-offenders in the District, questioned the witnesses on their experiences with substance abuse and subsequent treatment options and also offered the men at Rivers leads on services when they return home.

Norton said, "I have never been in a meeting quite like this one, where so many important submerged trends came together - the hunger of residents for contact with men scattered across the country in BOP facilities and the receptivity of the incarcerated men for a new way to conduct their lives." Perhaps the most valuable notions that came out of the hearing were that (1) some services provided after release would be more valuable if made available in prison before men come home, and (2) Rivers inmates from D.C. are denied the same services as provided at BOP facilities because they come from the District and not through the regular federal system. The Court Services & Offender Supervision Agency, a federal agency established to help D.C. residents with reentry, is in fact seeking to move more services within the prison walls.

Digital photos of the meeting are available upon request. The full text of Fulwood's opening statement follows:

I welcome you on behalf of Co-chair Russ Parr and myself and the Commissioners of the District of Columbia Commission on Black Men and Boys. Russ Parr, of the syndicated Russ Parr Morning Show on 93.9 FM WKYS, is filming a movie out of town. Russ led the Commission's last event, a standing room only Town Hall Meeting on HIV and AIDS.

I was one of the groups of men living in this city whom Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton called together to form the D.C. Commission on Black Men and Boys soon after the Million Man March. She knew that there was great concern here about Black boys who drop out of school, young men who commit crimes and many similar problems and about the unwarranted negative stereotypes in this society and in this city that Black men as a group face. Yet there was no focus on Black males and no vehicle for doing something specific about their issues. The District of Columbia Commission on Black Men and Boys has become that vehicle.

Our Commission is a group of volunteers, all D.C. residents, who have experience working professionally or as volunteers to assist Black boys and men in D.C. An Advisory Board with a broad spectrum of both scholarly and practical expertise on issues relating to the problems of boys and young black men supports and advises the Commission. The purpose of our Commission is to draw on community experience and experts to uncover the barriers to success that young African American men and boys face, to identify opportunities for improvement by the local and federal governments, by the private and non-profit sectors, and by the community, and by Black men and boys themselves and then to develop and monitor an Action Agenda to help change things in this town for our boys and men. During the past few years, the Commission held three very successful community town hall hearings that have addressed the importance of stable families, mentors and role models; of education and training for boys and men; and impact of crime and the effects of the criminal justice system. We also have testified in Congress about the work of our Commission. As part of the Commission's work, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies completed a report in February 2002 on Youth Development Needs and Capacities in the District of Columbia.

This unprecedented meeting to establish contact between our city and the 7,000 men in federal Bureau of Prisons facilities continues the Commission's focus on the most difficult problems facing men and boys in our District through public hearings and discussions for community - wide input. We are interested in actions and solutions to the problems at hand. These problems include the decline of Black family life that leave most of our kids without fathers in the home, poor performance in school, HIV/AIDS, alcoholism and other substance abuse, mental health issues, health problems, shortened life spans for Black men, unemployment that contributes to street and thug life, and criminal activities, incarceration, and reentry. We are especially concerned that the recidivism rate in D.C. is close to two-thirds and that the overwhelming majority of returning offenders had drug charges.

Today's live video conference will offer the first open discussion between residents and some of our men in federal prisons. Rivers Correctional Institution in Winton North Carolina is four hours away, and yet it is the closest to the District of all the institutions where our men are incarcerated. Rivers is a federally contracted private facility with a population of 1,355 inmates. DC residents are over two-thirds of the total population; and the remaining are criminal aliens.

This evening's video discussion between residents and inmates will set the stage for maintaining a relationship with our men for greater attention and involvement by the federal government and the District of Columbia, and for efforts to get more services in prisons and better opportunities for successful re-entry.

This evening we will not be able to cover all of the issues facing men at Rivers and in other BOP prisons. We will focus on drug programs and treatment at this meeting because 50 to 80 percent of the inmates have substance abuse problems. This issue is the Commission's priority because the recidivism rate is closely related to substance abuse and because a man or woman with a substance abuse problem will have difficulty getting a job.

We appreciate the excellent cooperation of Warden George Snyder and his staff in accommodating the Commission for its important meeting. We are also grateful for the assistance of the Court Services Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) in assisting our preparations and for setting up the video conference and to the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer for ensuring a top quality event. We remind residents and inmates that this is not a complaint session for inmates or residents about Rivers or about prison life. Rivers can do no more than what Congress funds it to do. Congress has not provided funds for extensive drug abuse programs and other services at Rivers. The Bureau of Prisons drug abuse programs are certified and more extensive, for example Congresswoman Norton is seeking the needed funding and will have an official hearing in the House of Representatives on October 16. At this session we seek questions and comments from inmates on substance abuse policy and availability and from residents on the effects on families and the city when men return home who have not had access to drug abuse services.

We begin with two former inmates Darryl Farley and Andrew Smith-El whom both served time in Rivers. They will be questioned by the commissioners.

However, most of the time, this evening will be devoted to questions, discussion and comments between you, the residents of our city and from some of the inmates. We ask that you abide by the following rules to maintain an informative, orderly and productive discussion. First, remember that this is a public discussion and personal messages and discussion are not appropriate. Please go to Congresswoman Norton's constituent services table and ask for help on such problems. Second, try to focus your questions and comments on matters pertaining to substance abuse and substance abuse treatment here at Rivers or at other Bureau of Prison facilities. Third limit your questions or comments to 1 minute so that we can hear from as many people as possible. Finally, please continue to be in touch with the Congresswoman's office on 202-783-5065 or email on matters involving the incarceration of D.C. men and women. We would welcome your name and contact information so that you may be kept abreast of incarceration and similar issues.