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Subject: It's that time of year again


Author:
Tic-Tac
[Edit]
Date Posted: 22:26:24 11/17/09 Tue
Well what do you know, old Buffalo head, aka Rob Brouillette is running for E-Board again. Seems that now Rob wants to be your Legislative Rep. Let me see if I've got this right. Rob was the Business Agent, and was forced to resign due to the Druce incident. Then he was our BA a second time before Mike Aucoin defeated him. Now Rob wants to be your Legislative Rep.

This guy hates being a CO. He feels that he is above you. Better than you. He wants to represent you, but he refuses to work the line like you do. He'll do all he can to get out of uniform. Whats next Rob? How about a run at VP. Thats two years away though. Change the Constitution and by-laws so that there is an election every year. That way the longest you can be in uniform is only 12 months.

Sorry but I can't support a guy that hates doing what I do so much that he feels the need to run for every possible E-Board position

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Subject: DOC


Author:
Knothead
[Edit]
Date Posted: 14:44:07 11/20/09 Fri
Latini, are you going to annonce the doing away with your job the way you did in 2002? How's it feel kid. Rumor has it you looked shook up Thurs. night. OUR retirement looks good now huh?

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Subject: Hey Ed Ahearn what up with our Union's money books.


Author:
WTF
[Edit]
Date Posted: 14:00:09 10/06/09 Tue
No one is over seeing our Unions funds! It's a fact that the committee voted in to over see the Union spending has never met, ever! What about the PAC funds where is that money?
They want us to hold the line behind the Union's leadership but they are hiding what? There has been millions given to the Union where is it?

Here's a repost of what can happen without oversight.


BY MARYANN SPOTO
The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)



A 23-year veteran of the Hazlet Police Department and treasurer of the local PBA admitted yesterday to stealing more than $16,000 from the union.

Daniel Lynch, 42, of the West Keansburg section of Hazlet, pleaded guilty to one count of theft by deception in connection with a seven-year span of raiding his union's funds, said First Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Peter Warshaw Jr.

Lynch, a corporal, retired from the police department on Thursday, entitling him to collect his pension pending a review of his case by the state Division of Pensions and Benefits.

As a condition of the plea, he has agreed to pay full restitution of $16,041 to PBA Local 189 and will be barred from holding public office in the future, Warshaw said.

Lynch told Superior Court Judge Ronald Reisner in Freehold he used a Visa credit card issued to the PBA between September 2002 and last February to buy personal items, including purchases at home improvement stores, Warshaw said.

Lynch pleaded guilty to an accusation, which keeps the case from going to a grand jury.

Warshaw said Lynch applied for acceptance into the pre-trial intervention program. If his request is approved and he completes the one-year program successfully, there would be no sentencing. If he is not accepted or he does not adhere to the rules of the program, he could face up to five years in prison.

The theft came to light after the PBA local audited its finances and reported its findings to the police chief, who then referred the matter to the prosecutor's office, Warshaw said.

Lynch's attorney, Michael Pappa, could not be reached for comment.

MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@starledger. com.

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Subject: Could save $ 10 to $ 15 million a year


Author:
Save jobs I hope
[Edit]
Date Posted: 09:17:12 11/18/09 Wed
THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING


Senate to take up crime records
Change may help ex-inmates in job search
By Jonathan Saltzman and Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | November 18, 2009

The state Senate plans to vote today on wide-ranging criminal justice legislation that would make it easier for inmates to get jobs after their release from prison, a change that Deval Patrick promoted during his campaign for governor.

The 30-page bill - which loosens the state’s criminal offender record information system, or CORI - has been pushed by advocates, who argue that former prisoners are often unable to get work because potential employers check their records and refuse to hire them.

The legislation would limit employers’ access to the criminal record of potential employees. A separate provision would let nonviolent drug offenders apply for parole before serving the minimum amount of time required for the crime under stringent drug laws. Currently, those inmates cannot apply for parole until after they have reached that threshold.

Inmates released from prison would also be subject to postrelease supervision for up to two years, if they are not already on parole or probation.

State Senator Cynthia Stone Creem, who championed the provision to let prison inmates apply for parole after completing part of their sentence, said the entire bill would help offenders adust to life on the streets, land jobs, and stay out of trouble.

“The buzzword now is being smart on crime,’’ said Creem, a Newton Democrat and Senate chairwoman of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, who cited a financial benefit, as well.

She said that making nonviolent drug offenders eligible for early release would save the Commonwealth $10 million to $15 million a year.

If the bill passes the Senate, it could be taken up by the House later today, according to Representative Eugene L. O’Flaherty, House chairman of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.

“From a general point of view, I am not averse to reforming CORI,’’ said O’Flaherty, a Chelsea Democrat. “As a matter of fact, the draft I’ve seen I would probably agree with wholeheartedly.’’

Patrick is encouraged by the bill’s progress in the Senate, said Kyle Sullivan, a spokesman for the governor, but will not commit to signing any legislation until he sees it.

“The last two years has offered a tremendous opportunity for an exchange of ideas on what the best ways are to increase both employment opportunities and the public’s safety,’’ Sullivan said.

The bill appears to have the support of several organizations that lobby lawmakers on behalf of current and former prisoners as well as Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a group that lobbies on behalf of employers. Top prosecutors have endorsed it as well, including Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

The centerpiece of the bill is the changes it would make to the state’s CORI laws. For years, people convicted of crimes have complained that it is hard, if not impossible, to land jobs after prison because employers check their criminal records in the system and refuse to hire them.

The measure would address that in part by shortening the waiting period for sealing records of convictions from 15 to 10 years for felonies and from 10 to five for misdemeanors.

It would also prohibit employers from asking about arrests or convictions on preliminary job applications. The legislation carves out an exception for firms that are legally barred from hiring criminal offenders for certain sensitive positions, such as those in the financial industry and security field.

Horace Small, executive director of the Union of Minority Neighborhoods and a proponent of CORI reform, said he would prefer sealing records after seven years for felony convictions and three years for misdemeanor convictions; studies have shown that former inmates who stay clean that long are unlikely to commit new crimes, he said.

But he said he would still be delighted if the Senate passes the bill as it stands. Nearly five years ago, he said, the Senate passed another CORI reform measure, and advocates were devastated when the measure died in the House.

“I like the bill; it’s a step forward,’’ Small said of the new legislation. “Sealing criminal records is very important for people to get a second chance.’’

The legislation would also please critics of mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses. Although the bill would not do away with such sentences, it would let convicted offenders apply for parole after completing two-thirds of minimum prison sentences and half of jail sentences.

About 2,500 convicted drug offenders in the state are serving mandatory minimum sentences under Draconian drug laws that date back to the 1980s, said Barbara J. Dougan, Massachusetts project director for Families Against Mandatory Minimums. More than half are effectively barred from applying for parole because their mandatory minimum sentence is only one day less than their full sentence.

“We’ve got too many people serving long prison sentences who don’t need to be there,’’ Dougan said. “And the taxpayers are footing an enormous bill for this.’’

Advocates for sentencing changes are worried, however, because some lawmakers support making laws more stringent. Representative Bradford R. Hill, Republican of Ipswich, has sponsored a “three strikes and you’re out’’ bill that would eliminate parole for habitual offenders, and a Senate aide said a similar bill could be proposed from the floor in that chamber today.

Dougan said such a measure would undermine the Senate bill and would be “totally contrary to the national trend to not pack our prisons full of people who should not be there.’’



© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

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Subject: RO'S


Author:
screw
[Edit]
Date Posted: 20:26:45 11/10/09 Tue
If your a Rec Officer better start looking for a new Job we are not bailing you out this time!!!!

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Subject: PAR 10


Author:
Todd L
[Edit]
Date Posted: 20:14:31 09/04/09 Fri
Why have we not gone to the Boston Fire Dept. and asked them how they defeated the PAR 10 (special-Hiring)list 15-20 years ago?

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Replies:
  • Re: PAR 10 -- joe, 18:28:20 09/14/09 Mon
    • Re: PAR 10 -- It's not REVERSE discrimination!, 15:37:41 09/15/09 Tue
    • FYI: -- There's no such thing as "reverse discrimination", 19:28:09 09/15/09 Tue
  • Re: PAR 10 -- M., 09:47:34 09/15/09 Tue
  • Re: PAR 10 -- Now what?, 08:24:57 09/18/09 Fri
    • Re: PAR 10 (NT) -- And ignorant racists like you, 06:55:07 09/19/09 Sat
      • Re: PAR 10 -- I didn't write the above remark but......, 13:24:25 09/19/09 Sat
      • Re: PAR 10 -- Actually, you sound like the racist....., 20:55:59 09/19/09 Sat
        • Re: PAR 10 -- Here, so simple even you can understand, maybe!, 17:25:05 09/21/09 Mon
          • Re: PAR 10 -- Not Racist, 20:22:34 09/21/09 Mon
          • Re: PAR 10 -- ., 23:21:41 09/21/09 Mon
          • Re: PAR 10 -- "GUYS" as you quoted, refers to gender, not race. DUH!, 00:01:57 09/22/09 Tue
            • Re: PAR 10 -- ., 03:15:55 09/23/09 Wed
            • Re: PAR 10 -- Do you only read what you want?, 06:28:14 09/24/09 Thu
              • Re: PAR 10 -- ., 12:26:27 09/24/09 Thu
                • Re: PAR 10 (NT) -- I guess you can't read simpleton, 18:24:53 09/24/09 Thu
              • Re: PAR 10 -- Apparently, you're new at how this works...., 00:54:08 09/25/09 Fri
              • Re: PAR 10 -- Not Racist, 04:38:53 09/25/09 Fri
                • Re: PAR 10 -- "You guys"?, 06:40:02 09/25/09 Fri
Subject: MCOFU website


Author:
Dave
[Edit]
Date Posted: 12:54:31 10/15/09 Thu
Great job on the website guys. Why even bother? There's never anything there.

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Replies:
Subject: FURLOUGHS


Author:
FURLOUGHS
[Edit]
Date Posted: 19:33:46 10/16/09 Fri
FURLOUGHS

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Subject: I'VE PAID MY DUES


Author:
TIME AFTER TIME
[Edit]
Date Posted: 22:23:21 10/14/09 Wed
I'VE DONE MY SENTENCE, BUT COMMITTED NO CRIME!

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Subject: Subject: Jolt of Reality


Author:
not an E-Board supporter
[Edit]
Date Posted: 21:33:25 08/14/09 Fri
Now is not the time to turn on the E-board or the Union. The DOC is counting on the fact that we always blame the E-board for our problems. While I agree that changes are needed and called for from with-in our ranks, I urge you to consider the importance of presenting a unified front against both the DOC and the Gov. Changes can and will be made through our election process. But until that time arrives, fight the battle against the enemy that is determined to ruin your life and that of your family.Support our E-board for that now represents our best chance to prevail

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Replies:
Subject: Tough times


Author:
moneys tight
[Edit]
Date Posted: 11:15:30 09/11/09 Fri
THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING


Prisons facing $100m in cuts
Fiscal scenario may prompt closings, layoffs
By Jonathan Saltzman and Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | September 11, 2009

Under increasing financial pressure, the state’s prison system is weighing close to $100 million in budget cuts that could force widescale layoffs and the closure of several facilites at a time of growing fears over inmate overcrowding.

Harold W. Clarke, commissioner of the Department of Correction, outlined the bleak fiscal scenario, and its potentially drastic consequences, at a monthly meeting yesterday between top prison managers and union leaders, according to Steve Kenneway, president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union. Clarke told union officials the state is considering closing as many as four prisons and laying off 300 employees, Kenneway said.

“Obviously, we’re stunned that the fiscal situation is so egregious that we may be looking at the closure of several facilities in Massachusetts,’’ Kenneway said. “We believe that public safety is a core mission for Massachusetts government. Period. We can’t let bad people out on the street.’’

The Patrick administration expects to make preliminary decisions on closings and layoffs next month, he said.

The prospect of multiple prison closings alarmed critics who say the system is already dangerously overburdened.

“You have prisoners locked in a cell together for 19 hours a day, with a resultant increase in violence,’’ said Leslie Walker, executive director of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, which provides legal services to inmates. “It’s a mistake that could prove tragic.’’

Clarke’s spokesman, Terrel Harris, said Clarke was speaking broadly about the potential scope of budget cuts, and the department has no current plans to close prisons or lay off correctional workers. It is too early to make firm budget plans, he said.

But if projections hold true, the system would lose nearly $100 million in funding over the next two years, a shortfall that would require drastic spending cuts.

“If the forecasts are as bad as they look, we’d lose about what it costs to run four prisons,’’ Harris said. “We’re not looking at anything specific. We are looking at every possibility we can to try and keep everything going.’’

The state’s 17 prisons are well over capacity, with their population more than tripling over the past two decades to over 11,000.

In July, a riot at the Middlesex Jail, a county facility in Cambridge at more than double its capacity, shone a harsh light on the problem, and has intensified lobbying for relaxed minimum sentences, accelerated parole reviews, and more liberal use of home confinements.

With the state no longer able to afford to build facilities, such measures will be vital to curbing the prison population, supporters said.

In the face of a worsening financial crisis, the prison system also plans to cancel in-service training for correction officers and shelve training for 150 recruits this fall.

In November, it will also close a Bridgewater substance abuse center that treats more than 1,500 men each year who have been civilly committed by the courts.

The men will be transferred to facilities run by the Department of Public Health, said Diane Wiffin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction.

State Senator Jennifer L. Flanagan and state Representative Liz Malia, cochairwomen of the Legislature’s joint committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, said they were “deeply disappointed’’ by the closure.

“Facilities such as [the center] are vital because individuals are given the opportunity to begin their road to recovery, instead of becoming a part of the criminal justice system, which only increases the cost to our state’s taxpayers,’’ the lawmakers said in a statement. “Those who do not receive services that they desperately need are far more likely to criminally offend and never begin their recovery, and we find that unacceptable.’’

Many other states are grappling with overcrowded prisons. Last week, California officials asked the US Supreme Court to block a lower court order to come up with a plan to remove some 40,000 inmates from the prisons.

The lower court ruled that the state’s prisons are so crowded they can no longer provide inmates with adequate medical care.

According to Kenneway, the Massachusetts prison system expects to lose $35 million from its budget this fiscal year and as much as $63 million more next year, although those estimates are subject to change.

The union has strongly opposed previous steps Clarke has taken to deal with the rising prison population, including double-bunking inmates at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley earlier this year.

If four prisons closed, he said, that would result in more double-bunking or the release of inmates onto the streets.

“There’s no place left to put inmates,’’ he said. “They’re going to force-feed a reentry program that clearly wasn’t supposed to be a reentry program.’’



© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

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Subject: Layoffs


Author:
Breaking News!!!!!!
[Edit]
Date Posted: 06:15:36 09/11/09 Fri
Stop whining about your holidays being taken away and get ready to start really crying when Devil Patrick lays off 300 - 400 correction officers and closes Gardner, Baystate and Concord. Just saw it on Fox news so it must be true.

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Replies:
  • Re: Layoffs (NT) -- I didn't see any specific institutions mentioned, 11:30:16 09/12/09 Sat
  • Re: Layoffs -- i agree, 12:12:44 09/12/09 Sat
  • Re: Layoffs (NT) -- No way both Conc. and Gard. can close. Over 2,000 inmates!, 13:30:18 09/12/09 Sat
  • Re: Layoffs (NT) -- Take your shit stirring posts elsewhere, 06:58:41 09/14/09 Mon
  • Re: Layoffs -- john, 09:46:35 09/14/09 Mon
  • Re: Layoffs -- still unconvinced, 07:47:15 09/20/09 Sun
Subject: Facebook Group


Author:
Massmoderators
[Edit]
Date Posted: 22:46:13 08/15/09 Sat
We have created a new "group" on Facebook. You must have or create a Facebook account in order to join.

The URL is:

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=massachusetts+department+of+correction&init=quick#/group.php?gid=118446188465&ref=search&sid=1187686111.1082796380..1

Stay safe and have fun!

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Replies:
Subject: Holiday


Author:
Pissed
[Edit]
Date Posted: 14:44:08 08/29/09 Sat
Well just wanted to thank our great union. 22 Years on and Denied holiday off. Maybe I can get some Comp time to take a Tuesday or Wednesday off.

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Subject: The clear violation of our contract regarding the holidays


Author:
OG CO
[Edit]
Date Posted: 13:23:36 09/10/09 Thu
Here is my idea: when the DOC fails to pay your holiday pay per the contract we should sue them in small claims count individually. We could do it as a group in a class action but individually would force them to think about what they are doing faster than what the Union can do.
You could ask for 3x the amount due to the fact that they knowingly took your pay away.

This is a PRO UNION state!

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Replies:
Subject: I guess they weren't bluffing!


Author:
I'll call and raise you...ooops forget it!
[Edit]
Date Posted: 18:19:43 09/10/09 Thu

< Back to Front Page Text size – + Union official: Mass. considering closing four prisons
Email|Link|Comments (40) September 10, 2009 04:18 PM
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff

The Patrick administration is considering closing four prison facilities to save as much as $98 million, according to the head of the union that represents about 4,500 correction officers, who met with the head of the prison system today.

Steve Kenneway, president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union, said that Harold W. Clarke, the commissioner of the Department of Correction, also informed him that the state is considering laying off 300 employees, which Kenneway assumed meant correction officers. The administration plans to make a decision on closings and layoffs after it gets a better handle on projected state revenues next month.

"Obviously, we're stunned that the fiscal situation is so egregious that we may be looking at the closure of several facilities in Massachusetts," said Kenneway. "We believe that public safety is a core mission for Massachusetts government. Period. We can't let bad people out on the street."

Kenneway said Clarke discussed the possible closings at the monthly meeting in Milford between the union's executive board and top prison managers. He said Clarke's comments came the day after Ronald Duval, a deputy commissioner, called him with other bad news: the state's fiscal crisis was forcing the department to cancel in-service training for correction officers and to delay indefinitely the training of a class of 150 correction officer recruits, which was supposed to start next month.

The prison system also plans to close the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center in Bridgewater on Nov. 6 and transfer people civilly committed there by the courts to other state facilities, Diane Wiffin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction, said today.

The closing will mean that about 100 individuals who are undergoing detoxification and receiving counseling will go to facilities run by the state Department of Public Health, she said.

Wiffin said she did not know how much money the state will save by closing the center. But she said the prison system has no plans to close any prisons.

"We're looking at fiscal 2011 now, and it's too early to project what that could mean," she said.

Kenneway said his union was aware in July that the state planned to close the alcohol and substance abuse center.

He said he was so startled by Clarke's comments about possibly closing four facilities, that he was not sure whether the substance abuse center was among them or in addition to them.

He said Clarke told him the prison system expects the government to cut $35 million from its budget in fiscal 2010 and as much as $63 million more in fiscal 2011, depending on the revenue picture.

"Nothing is etched in stone," he said.

Kenneway's union has strongly opposed previous steps Clarke has taken to deal with a rising prison population, including double-bunking inmates at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley earlier this year. If four prisons closed, he said, that would result in either more double-bunking or the release of inmates onto the streets.

"There's no place left to put inmates," he said. "They're going to force-feed a reentry program that clearly wasn't supposed to be a reentry program."

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