Ending the Inhumanity of Our Carceral System

Prison

Curbing Solitary Confinement (H.2504)

No Cost Calls (S.1559)

Visitation Rights (H.2440)

Thursday, October 21st, 2021

Testimony to the Joint Committee on Public Safety

My name is Caroline Bays. I am board president of Progressive Massachusetts, Thank you to the chairs, Sen. Timilty and Rep. Gonzalez and the other members of this committee for hearing my testimony. As I said I am testifying as board President of PM for these three bills we are supporting (H.2504 on solitary confinement, S.1559 no cost calls, and H.2440 on visitation rights), but more importantly, I am also testifying as a person who has a dear friend currently experiencing the horrors of our prison system as it is currently run. 

I have been visiting my friend since November of 2016 when I received a call from a mutual friend asking me to go visit this…well…kid who was suicidal and had been put in 10 Block. That has led me on a journey that was impossible to imagine prior to meeting him.  I have listened to him cry about being tortured himself and cry even harder about witnessing the torture of others over the four years he spent in solitary confinement. I have watched the DOC get around the solitary provisions of the CJRA by changing names of units and allowing fifteen extra minutes out of cell time so they don’t have to follow the law. I have been a victim of the DOC’s  concerted efforts to limit visitations – to the point now that after visiting him on a weekly basis, I have only been able to visit him three times since October of 2020 when he was moved from DDU to Souza-Baranowski. I have received the frantic emails asking for money so he can call family – and phones are the only link to us he has left to him since Souza has reduced the visiting schedule to virtually non-existent. But the most horrific thing I have witnessed over the last five ½ years has been the torture that he experienced while in solitary confinement. And if you think I am using the term torture flippantly or I’m exagerating – then please, please, please read the DOJ report which found the DOC guilty of torture and in violation of the 8th amendment. I read the report and as graphic and horrific as the stories were to me – they could have been taken from any of the letters from my friend. I beg you to address the egregious and inexcusable overuse of solitary confinement in the DOC. In fact – to give you an exampleof it’s overuse – My friend was recently put back in solitary confinement. What did he do wrong? He received mail that tested positive for drugs – from his lawyers. 

In summation – these three bills are all necessary to address the concerted effort DOC has made to limit contact between people inside and their loved ones, despite everything we know about how important maintaining relationships to loved ones is for successful re-entry.  I have witnessed first hand how the DOC has tried to get around the solitary confinement provisions in the CJRA of 2018. I have watched loved ones sent away because they weren’t on the approved visitation list. And I have experienced the frantic emails begging for money just so he can call a loved one who was in crisis.

As board President of PM I ask you to report these three bills out favorably – but as a citizen of Massachusetts who has someone I care about inside, I beg you – – please – please help those of us who are suffering by passing these important bills enabling us to keep in contact with our loved ones. Thank you for hearing my testimony. 

Caroline Bays

MA Needs to End Poverty Wages

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Chairwoman Jehlen, Chairman Cutler, and members of the Joint Labor and Workforce Development Committee: 

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts. Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide grassroots advocacy organization that fights for shared prosperity, racial and social justice, good government and strong democracy, and sustainable infrastructure and environmental protection. 

Central to our agenda of shared prosperity is good-paying jobs with fair working conditions. As such, Progressive Massachusetts would like to go on the record in support of H.1971/S.1213 (An Act Requiring One Fair Wage). 

The tipped minimum wage in Massachusetts stands at a mere $5.55. In 2023, when the recently passed minimum wage increase takes full effect, it will stand at only $6.75. This is not a living wage. [1]

Although employers are supposed to guarantee that workers get the full minimum wage with tips, this has never been common practice, and wage theft is rampant in the industry. The tiered wage system allows this to happen. 

Moreover, sexual harassment remains widespread in the restaurant industry. [2] As our country is slowly but surely starting to grapple with the problem of sexual harassment and sexual assault across industries, we must face up to the fact that unequal wage systems create the breeding ground for such inappropriate and predatory behaviors. 

Massachusetts is both one of the wealthiest and one of the most unequal states in this country. Giving a favorable report to H.1971/S.1213 (An Act Requiring One Fair Wage) will take us one step further in ensuring that our Commonwealth’s prosperity is shared by all. 

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn 

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts 


[1] http://livingwage.mit.edu/states/25

[2] http://rocunited.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/TakeUsOffTheMenu_Report_2.pdf

“Young adults, especially young adults of color, are overrepresented in our criminal justice system. “

October 13, 2021

Chairman Eldridge, Chairman Day, members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary,

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy group fighting to make Massachusetts a leader on progressive policy.

Our platform demands justice for all, wherein underrepresented and/or vulnerable communities are protected under the law and treated with dignity and respect and tools for economic mobility. Criminal justice reform is an essential part of that, especially creating a system that ensures public safety, strong communities, and effective use of public funds.

The comprehensive criminal justice reform bill passed in 2018 took many important steps in such a direction, born out of a recognition of the social and economic costs of mass incarceration. However, the fact that the law was comprehensive does not mean that it was complete, and many vital reforms were left on the table.

One example is raising the age of criminal majority. That is why we are submitting testimony today in support of H.1826/S.920: An Act to Promote Public Safety and Better Outcomes for Young Adults.

This bill will gradually raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include 18, then 19, and then 20-year-olds over a five-year period. The recidivism rate of teens in the juvenile system is less than half of that of young people automatically prosecuted as adults. In the juvenile system, such emerging adults have access to the educational and counseling services that are so vital when they are still developing.

Young adults, especially young adults of color, are overrepresented in our criminal justice system. Reducing the number of young people who experience a system that is not designed for their developmental needs will have a positive impact on such young people, helping them to better be productive, engaged citizens and whole people upon release. And that means stronger, more resilient communities.

We urge you to build on the progress from last session and give a favorable report to H.826/S.920.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Ending the De Facto Disenfranchisement in Our Carceral System

Prison

October 6, 2021

Chairman Finegold, Chairman Ryan, and Members of the Joint Committee on Election Laws:

I am submitting testimony in my capacity as Chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts. We urge a favorable report for S.474 / H.836: An Act to Protect the Voting Rights of Eligible Incarcerated People.

Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide grassroots organization devoted to advancing policies that would make Massachusetts more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic.

We believe that our democracy is strongest when all are able to participate, but many prospective voters face near insurmountable barriers in seeking to do so.

Take, for example, those who are incarcerated. In Massachusetts, individuals who are incarcerated without felony convictions maintain their right to vote, but too often they are unable to exercise that vote in practice. If individuals do not have timely access to the materials and information they need to vote, then that right does not exist.

It is important to remember that many of these incarcerated individuals are in pre-trial detention: in other words, they have not yet been convicted of any crime, but they are, in practice, losing their right to vote.

When incarceration leads to a loss of voting rights, it is clear that mass incarceration is a form of racist voter suppression. Indeed, while only 21 percent of the state’s population is Black or Latinx, more than 54 percent of the people incarcerated in the Department of Corrections are. Mass incarceration is systematically reducing Black and Brown voters from the electorate.

It is not lost on us that the only two states in the US that have full voter enfranchisement, including for those incarcerated with felony convictions, are Maine and Vermont, the two whitest states. Indeed, we can see the clear connections to the history of racist voter suppression in this country that we routinely call out when it happens elsewhere and need to call out when it happens here.

The practices and procedures around voting within our correctional system have an impact on incarcerated individuals even beyond their time there. When individuals are confused about whether or not they maintain their right to vote, they can be led to believe that they have lost it, even when they return to the community. Even though we have no laws disenfranchising individuals post-incarceration, I have—in my experience volunteering around the commonwealth—encountered individuals who believed they could not vote because of a past conviction. Confusion is a hallmark of voter suppression.

These bills would help us end such disenfranchisement by requiring sheriffs to provide all eligible voters ballot applications, voting materials, and a private place to vote, and to ensure timely return of applications and ballots, among other steps; and by improving registration rates for returning citizens. It also strengthens data and reporting because you can’t fix what you can’t measure.

Studies have shown that voting and civic participation are conducive to successful re-entry by giving returning citizens a stake in the future of their community. When we vote, we are voting for the world we want, or at least prefer, to live in, and we are strengthening the social fabric.

We urge you to vote in support of this bill to make the right to vote meaningful ­­­­­­for all.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts

Mass Incarceration Is Bad for MA. These Bills Can Make a Difference.

Prison

October 5, 2021

Chairman Eldridge, Chairman Day, and Members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary:

I am submitting testimony in my capacity as Chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts. We urge a favorable report for the following bills:

  • H.1868: An Act regarding decarceration and COVID-19 (Sabadosa)
  • H.1900: An Act relative to telephone service for inmates in all correctional and other penal institutions in the Commonwealth (Tyler)
  • H.1905: An Act establishing a jail and prison construction moratorium (Tyler)
  • H.1797: An Act to reduce mass incarceration (Miranda/Livingstone)
  • H.1910/S.977: An Act to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences related to drug offenses (Uyterhoeven – Creem)

H.1868: An Act Regarding Decarceration and COVID-19

Incarceration is always harmful, but during a deadly pandemic—and at a time when many correctional officers have resisted vaccination, it is truly a matter of life or death.

Those who are not fed appropriately or allowed appropriate exercise, are more likely than most to have comorbidities, a fact which increases the likelihood that they will die from this disease. Whatever reason they might be in prison for, nobody was sentenced to illness or death. When the state incarcerates someone, the state becomes responsible for ensuring their well-being.  That means releasing as many people as possible in order to ensure that these tragic deaths do not continue and spiral out of control.

H.1900: An Act relative to telephone service for inmates in all correctional and other penal institutions in the Commonwealth

Families across Massachusetts are charged exorbitant fees to maintain vital connections with incarcerated loved ones. This is a regressive tax on the most vulnerable populations, and the MA Legislature can end it.

As communities already struggle with the high cost of housing, health care, and transportation, no one should be forced to choose between paying rent or buying groceries and maintaining contact with loved ones. Moreover, punitive policies targeted at the families of incarcerated individuals leave us all worse off: numerous studies have shown that contact with loved ones promotes public safety by supporting successful reentry.

H.1905: An Act establishing a jail and prison construction moratorium

Massachusetts has one of the lowest rates of incarceration in the country, yet we spend more on jails and prisons than most other states. Indeed, while the incarcerated population in MA decreased 21% from 2011-19, spending on incarceration has increased 25% over the same period. According to the Department of Corrections, the cost of keeping one woman incarcerated at MCI-Framingham is $162,260 — money that could be better spent on social supports that help women get back on their feet.

Conditions inside many MA prisons and jails are toxic and inhumane, despite the millions of dollars already poured into them. We cannot put more money in them and expect a different outcome than the one we see today, one that exacerbates racial inequity and trauma.

A five-year moratorium on new prison construction and the expansion of existing prisons and jails will give the Commonwealth the chance to shift spending priorities, especially as we recover from COVID, and the inequalities COVID revealed. We need to give communities the opportunity to create and sustain solutions that address the root causes of incarceration.

Sentencing Reforms: H.1797: An Act to reduce mass incarceration & H.1910/S.977: An Act to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences related to drug offenses

In 2018, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a sweeping criminal justice reform bill. Recognizing that mandatory minimum sentences were a part of a failed “tough on crime” model that fueled mass incarceration, the Legislature eliminated many of them. However, the bill also created new mandatory minimums, continuing this problematic legacy of tying the hands of judges and failing to either deter or address the root causes of offenses.

Similarly ineffective is the sentence of life without parole. Studies have shown that severe sentences are not a deterrent to crime, and the sentence of life without parole forecloses on any possibility of rehabilitation, increases the size of our prison population, and saddles the prison system with the burden of elder care it is not equipped to provide. Enabling individuals who have served for twenty-five years to have a parole hearing is a common-sense reform.

We urge you to give these bills a favorable report and to contribute to our state’s re-evaluation of public safety in line with public health and racial equity.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts

Tackling Twin Crises of Climate Change and Inequality

Flooding

September 29, 2021

Chairman Barrett, Chairman Roy, and Members of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy:

I am submitting testimony in my capacity as Chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts. We urge a favorable report for S. 2226/H. 3365: An Act providing for building justice with jobs.

Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide grassroots advocacy group fighting for a Massachusetts that is more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic. We are appreciative that the Legislature began the session by passing the Next Generation Roadmap bill. But if we are to meet the targets set out in the bill (and go even further), we must take additional action to address the emissions across sectors. These bills, filed by Sen. Marc Pacheco and Reps. Maria Robinson and David LeBoeuf, would be a powerful step toward doing so.

After the transportation sector, the residential sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state. However, many homes—notably in underserved communities—are older and must be retrofitted in order to achieve maximum energy efficiency. At the same time, many underserved communities where unemployment remains a significant problem would benefit greatly from programs that address retrofitting. 

The Building Justice with Jobs bill would do so by adopting housing regulations mandating minimum energy efficiency, energy performance, or related energy standards and by putting thousands of MA residents to work retrofitting 100,000 homes each year to improve energy efficiency and health outcomes, as well as reduce utility bills and carbon emissions.

We can address both the climate crisis and the inequality crisis at the same time; indeed, we have to. 

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts

Testimony in Support of Data Equity & Indigenous Peoples Day

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Dear Chairman Pacheco, Chairman Cabral, and Members of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee at Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy group working to advance progressive policy here in the Commonwealth.

We would like to go on record in support of two bills being heard today: H.3115 (An Act Ensuring Equitable Representation in the Commonwealth) and H.3191/S.2027 (An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day).

The diversity in our Commonwealth is a source of our strength, and we are continuing to get more diverse. Our state programs, policies, and investments need to understand that diversity in its entirety, and that cannot happen without accurate data. The demographic groups in the Commonwealth are not monoliths, and without disaggregating the data, we risk erasing persistent social, economic, or educational inequalities.

All ethnic subgroups have different histories, background, needs, and challenges. Without accurate data broken down by detailed sub-ethnic groups, critical needs of some communities in areas such as language, economic status, education, and health could be left unmet. Indeed, they already are. We cannot correct the inequities that we cannot see, and we cannot see them without comprehensive data.

Government agencies that currently collect voluntary demographic data based on race or ethnicity of residents should include voluntary subgroup options for Asian, Pacific Islander, Latino, Black and African American, and White. This would highlight and uplift data representing communities including but not limited to Vietnamese, Cambodian, Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Haitian, Cape Verdean, Ethiopian, Somalian, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Dominicans, and Colombians. We must also recognize the diversity within the Native American, Middle Eastern, and North African communities in Massachusetts, which currently have limited recognition by the Census Bureau.

According to a famous saying, we measure what we value. If we value the diversity of our state, and the importance of correcting systemic inequities, then we need to pass H.3115 as swiftly as possible.  

For decades, Christopher Columbus has been celebrated as a “hero” who “discovered America.” Indigenous people have made it clear that, to the contrary, these lands were invaded, not “discovered,” and that Columbus and his men were responsible for the enslavement, rape, and murder of countless Indigenous peoples in the Caribbean. Since the 1970s, Indigenous people have asked that Indigenous Peoples Day should instead be celebrated on the second Monday in October as a positive day to learn about and honor Indigenous history and peoples.

Our neighbors in Maine and Vermont already celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, as do an increasing number of cities and towns in Massachusetts. The Commonwealth should join them, and H.3191/S.2027: An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day will make that happen.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts

The Next Step for Police Accountability: Tackling QI

Qualified Immunity

September 23, 2021

Chairman Eldridge, Chairman Day, and Members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary:

I am submitting testimony in my capacity as Chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts. We urge a favorable report for S.945, An Act to allow restitution for civil rights violations, and S. 946, An Act to Secure Civil Rights Through the Courts of the Commonwealth.

Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide grassroots advocacy group fighting for a Massachusetts that is more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic. We are appreciative of the work that the Legislature did last session in passing police accountability legislation that created better standards for police professionalization as well as stronger limitations on the use of force. But there is more work to be done. 

One area that was insufficiently addressed last session was qualified immunity (QI). QI is a court-made doctrine that shields police from accountability and prevents victims of police brutality from having their fair day in court. The QI doctrine holds that, unless a perfectly matched precedent can be found in which an officer was held accountable for violating someone’s constitutional rights, then the officer cannot be held accountable, even in cases where the victim has to incur significant medical expenses.

This creates a perverse Catch-22: if a case of misconduct has not previously been found to be a “clearly established” violation of the law, then a case can’t proceed, but if it can’t proceed, then new precedent can’t be established.

If that sounds nonsensical to you, that is because it is, and we need to change it by reforming QI. These bills would rebalance the scales of justice in support of accountability. Under these bills, QI would apply only when the law is clear that the police did not violate the law. If an officer has doubt about whether an action is lawful, they should refrain from shooting first and justifying later.

The current doctrine of qualified immunity denies justice and reinforces the systemic racism of our criminal legal system. Since last summer, people around the state have been taking to the streets in support of bolder action on racial justice and police accountability. By passing S.945 and S.946, the Legislature can show that they are listening.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts

Our Students Deserve an Inclusive Curriculum

Classroom

Monday, September 13, 2021

Chairman Lewis, Chairwoman Peisch, and Members of the Joint Committee on Education:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee at Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy group committed to a more equitable, just, democratic, and sustainable vision for Massachusetts.

We urge you to give a favorable report to S.365/H.584: An Act relative to anti-racism, equity and justice in education (Lewis – Elugardo / Uyterhoeven).

The events of the past year and a half have put a spotlight on the racial inequities in US society: the COVID-19 pandemic, the growing attention to police brutality since the George Floyd murder, and the rise of anti-Asian racism—not to mention how the January 6th attack on the US Capitol manifested the dark legacy of racism and white supremacy in our country’s past and present.

Our schools need to be equipping students with the tools and knowledge to understand the totality of our country’s history, to critically engage with current events, and to be agents of change in their communities. And we need to ensure that all students can see the contributions that people who look like them made to our nation’s history by teaching history in its fullest.

These bills would do so by creating a Commission for Anti-Racism and Equity in Education, with members chosen from advocacy groups, teacher and superintendent unions and associations, and parent groups, to develop curriculum materials with a social justice perspective and to ensure that ethnic studies and racial justice are taught at all grade levels using an analytical and age-appropriate approach. The Commission would also be tasked with advising the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on how best to support and retain teachers and school counselors of color and with ensuring that teachers and counselors have access to professional development that fosters an equitable and inclusive pedagogy.

Thank you for your work on this important legislation.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Mass

Treating Housing as a Right with the COVID Housing Equity Bill

eviction notice

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Chairman Keenan, Chairman Arciero, and Members of the Joint Committee on Housing:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts. Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide grassroots advocacy organization that fights for shared prosperity and racial and social justice.

We urge you to give a favorable report to H.1434/S.891: An act to prevent COVID-19 evictions and foreclosures and promote an equitable housing recovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored how important affordable housing is to public health. It’s simple: when we asked people to stay home to avoid the spread of the virus, that could only be possible if they had a home to stay in.

The Legislature recognized this and passed a strong moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, and we are appreciative of all the work that went into that.

Although that moratorium has lapsed, housing instability, economic instability, and the pandemic all remain. Massachusetts has hundreds of millions of dollars of federal rental assistance, but that money often doesn’t reach tenants due to a cumbersome application process. And evictions have been rising.

These bills, known as the COVID Housing Equity Bill, offer a solution. The COVID Housing Equity Bill pensures an equitable distribution of rental assistance funds, pauses no-fault evictions during the COVID recovery period, and requires that landlords pursue and cooperate with rental assistance programs before evicting.

Tenants are not the only ones at risk, and the bill recognizes this. It would pause residential foreclosures and require mortgage forbearance based on federal policies. Owning a home is one of the only paths toward building wealth for communities of color, and we cannot allow the pandemic to make already existing racial and economic inequalities worse.

Every day without this bill, more families in the Commonwealth are put at risk of housing insecurity, and we urge swift passage.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts