EXPERIENCE COUNTS
EXPERIENCE COUNTS
Glendening Has Poor Prison Plan |
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Prison Construction Program Stalled The prison building program is a safety issue that affects everyone living in the State
of Maryland, but it is difficult to understand how constantly As a candidate for governor in 1994, Glendening promoted, "increase mandatory minimum sentences for all violent offenders; impose alternatives, such as boot camps, for nonviolent offenders…" CONSTRUCTION STOPPED But, in January 19, 1996, The Washington Post reported that Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening had suspended the construction of new correctional facilities in the state. He put no money in his five year budget for a prison in Cumberland, which had already been approved by the legislature. By February 4, 1996, he was reassuring lawmakers that no new prisons needed to be built. Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy-Townsend was among those defending this decision. "We want to make sure that we’re not just building prisons if we don’t have to build prisons," said Kennedy-Townsend. LEGISLATION PUZZLED Glendening’s position puzzled lawmakers, because the prison population in 1996 was 23,000, and it was overwhelming the state’s correctional facilities. "I do not know what the agenda of the governor is because there are so many inconsistencies," said Senator Walter Baker, a Democrat from Cecil County and Chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee at that time. "Which direction is this ship sailing?" PRISON RIOTS On April 27, 1996, 100 inmates at the Maryland House of Corrections in Jessup barricaded themselves inside a dormitory for approximately 6 hours. The Washington Post reported on Sunday, May 11, 1996 that an "inmate riot" at the Maryland House of Corrections annex the previous week resulted in serious injuries to 3 guards. On May 6, 1997, an outbreak of violence in the mess hall at the Maryland House of Corrections Annex resulted in 12 officers and 7 inmates being injured. On July 5, 1997, Maryland prison officials announced plans to reduce the number of inmates in the Maryland House of Corrections from 1,800 to 1,200. Half of the 600 prisoners, who were moved, were transferred to a new medium security prison in Allegheny County. On July 16, 1997, The Washington Post reported on the reaction of the deaths of three inmates in Maryland prisons in five days. "It happens," said Leonard A. Sipes, Jr., a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. MORITORIUM LIFTED On September 21, 1997, The Washington Post reported that Governor Parris H. Glendening was lifting his moratorium on prison construction and would support a significant increase in maximum security cells. After 21 months of violent outbreaks in the prison system, involving serious injuries to several guards, Governor Glendening discovered that Maryland did need to build new prisons. Better late than never Parris. |
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Copyright�1998 |
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changing policies of Governor Parris
Glendening will solve this problem.