New Haven Independent: Whalley Jail Picketed

Whalley Jail Picketed

by Melinda Tuhus | November 27, 2007 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Jackie Joyner (pictured) lives across the street from the Whalley Avenue jail. That made it easy for her to join a protest outside the jail against Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s ban on parole — in which Joyner has a personal interest.

More than 50 people gathered Monday night on the sidewalk in front of the main entrance on County Street. They were protesting their loved ones and fellow community members being incarcerated beyond the dates they would have been paroled, because the murders of three women in the Petit family in Cheshire caused a convulsion in the prison system.

Joyner said her son was convicted of robbery at age 18 (though she claims he was with her at the time of the robbery and is innocent of the charge) and sentenced to four years. She said he was approved for parole before the Petit murders in July, but that decision was reversed. Click here for her explanation. “I’m going to the rally for my son,” she said, “because he has no rights now. If I don’t speak up for him, who will?”

barb%27s%20son.jpg A major theme of the rally was that inmates who were almost finished paying their debt to society — the majority black and Latino — are being punished for the actions of two white men (the two parolees charged in the Petit murders). That’s led to prison overcrowding. Some legislators are proposing building two new prisons to accommodate the increase. “What are we going to do to keep people from going to prison in the first place,” shouted Sheldon Tucker (pictured). Click here to listen to his thoughts about creating programs to help people with drug or mental health problems who are arrested; to improve education and job prospects to provide alternatives to crime, and to deal with what he called his “scarlet letter” of being forever considered a violent offender “even though the offense I committed was almost 20 years ago.” Now 33, he’s a husband and father and works in construction.

Protesters demanded that state officials address the overcrowding and attendant appalling conditions. (Click here for a previous story.)

Another speaker, Gary Holden Winfield, said a new state study shows that those who are released on parole rather than serving their entire sentences behind bars are less likely to re-offend, so what’s the real point of canceling parole. “Why are we putting these people back into prison? This is really about politics. This is about people trying to make sure they get re-elected. This is about an image because when you want to be tough on crime, what do you do? You put people in jail.”

Nikki Brown (pictured) said the parole ban came about because people in Cheshire got outraged. “We’re not outraged enough! We don’t vote enough!” she yelled. Click here for more.

Many of the speakers expressed horror at the Petit murders, and sympathy for the family and their community, but said they needed some of that same compassion. They said those who commit crimes, including their loved ones, should pay for their misdeeds, but not for the crimes of others.

After Gov. Rell cancelled parole in the wake of the Petit murders and appointed a commission to study the situation. Theresa Lantz, Commissioner of the Department of Correction and Robert Farr, chairman of the Parole Department, ordered a top to bottom review of policies and procedures at prisons and jails. DOC spokesman Brian Garnett says that review was finished in mid-October and some inmates are again being granted parole, and being sent to halfway houses to finish their sentences.

But people at the rally say the whole “prison industrial complex” is rotten and must be reformed.

Comments

Posted by: cedarhillresident | November 27, 2007 9:53 AM

ok here again I am going to get slammed for my comment......

I am glad they did away with the parole! MY MOTHER WAS KILLED and I am the family member that got to watch the KILLER get out early!!! I understand that some should not be held for certain crimes. But what about the VICTIMS of the crimes that these people committed?? DO WE NOT HAVE RIGHTS????

When you rob a house those people get to spend there lives worrying about being robbed again..
When you sell drugs to someone the victims are not just the user but the loved ones of that person and there children. They get to suffer there lives with that crime.
When you mug someone, that person get to spend there life looking over there shoulders.

You can sit there and say it is a petty crime BUT NOT TO THE PERSON the crime was committed!! against!!
Jail is NOT a HOTEL!! It is a place for people who hurt other people!! Not just physically! The victims get to do a life sentence! While the criminal sits in jail with 3 meals a day and TV!

I do believe that reform of some sort needs to happen prior to the release of inmates, so that they do not have to commit crimes upon there release. And yes the over crowding has to be addressed....but remember the crime that one commits is a LIFE SENTENCE to the ones that they commit them on

Posted by: CTK | November 27, 2007 10:05 AM

So is parole a right or a priviledge?

Posted by: cedarhillresident | November 27, 2007 10:58 AM

I found this answer:

Parole is NOT a right, but a privilege, and as such the question of whether to grant a prisoner parole or withhold it is up to the discretion of the parole board. Typically the parole eligibility dates are determined by statute, although in some states they can be modified at the discretion of the sentencing judge.

Although the laws vary from state to state, their basic approach is the same. Once a person is convicted of a crime, he is sentenced to a prison term. There are two types of prison terms: indeterminate and determinate. An indeterminate sentence fixes wide-ranging minimum and maximum lengths of time; determinate terms are fixed terms of imprisonment (e.g., 5 years for armed robbery).

If an offender receives a minimum and maximum sentence, once the offender serves the minimum sentence (or serves a specified percentage under some state's statutes), they may become eligible for a parole consideration hearing. If an offender serves the fixed period of imprisonment imposed by the court, they may be released without further supervision or automatically placed on parole, again depending on the nature and severity of their offense and their potential for re-imprisonment.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | November 27, 2007 11:23 AM

Cedarhillresident
Than You Would Have To Agree That The Illegal Immigrants That New Haven And The Churchs That Are Habouring Them Are Breaking The Law And Since They Are Breaking The Law Should Those Involed Be Put In Jail!!! How About The Police Department Who Are Told By The Mayor And Police Chief Not To ask Immigrants About There Status. Is That also Not Breaking The Law. Seems You Have A Double Edge.Becuse Last I read You are For The Illegal Immigrants.

Posted by: westvillecharlie | November 27, 2007 11:34 AM

I gotta go with the side of caution on this one. If my family member were robbed, hurt or murdered, I would want the assailant not only to serve all of their time, but to suffer during it. The Petit family has become the battlecry for those of us who believe that our brothers who commit violent acts need to pay a hefty price. The article mentions the families of the incarcerated feeling compassion and sympathy, however i see no quotes to back that up.
The ex-offender who is finally released from prision has paid his due, and should expect the entire community's respect, and help. One of the byproducts of having so many illegal aliens in our city is that many of the jobs these people should be expecting to get are taken by people who have moved into the area while thses men were behind bars. I'd like to see the good folks at People Against Injustice tackle that issue before they worry about getting people convicted of violent crimes getting out early.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | November 27, 2007 2:04 PM

THREEFIFTHS

Yes I am for Immigrant reform. 100% for it! I also think that the government of the Good ole' usa allowed these immigrants to come to this country and turned a blinds eye to the law while 14 million people came over the borders. And yes while these people are breaken the law it is a law that has not been enforced. What is your answer arrest all 14 million??

So as you read my above comment were I state...

"I understand that some should not be held for certain crimes."

I can not compare a person that commits a non violent crime with a person that commits a violent crime. Is your comment saying that you think that people that mug someone in your family, should get a slap on the hand?? Is that not just promoting the ok to commit these petty crimes? When a person sells drugs or commits a robbery they know there is that chance of getting caught...but they also know that they will only do a quarter of the time for that crime and weigh it out as a risk worth taken. How does that stop people from doing it??? Do you not believe that a stiffer penalty can stop someone from even taken the chance of committing the crime in the first place?

Although I kind of see where you are going with this.... I have to say that I think that the two are totally separate issues.

For some reason people have been de-sensitized into thinking that a mugging, drug dealing and robbery's are not such a big deal. And they are! When did it turn into a slap on the hand??

As for immigrant I don't think you can get rid of 14 million people. I think we need to start looking at that situation the Europe has. And then and only then will this country work for all that live here. But that is just my view. Since you asked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

tag your it... still luv ya my little fraction :)

Posted by: jasmine | November 28, 2007 1:15 PM

What do we do when were under attack?STAND TALL FIGHT BACK?This is what we were yelling at the rally in front of the jail because we as a community of African Americansand Latinos need to stand tall in what we believe in.Eveyone shouldnt have to pay for what those guys did in Chesire .They should get punished and let the rest of the people go on with their life.I will stand up for my people and be against the parole banand make some changes .

Posted by: cedarhillresident | November 28, 2007 4:59 PM

jasmine

Can I ask you something??? So the people you are fighting for have committed crimes??

The guys in Cheshire were the last straw, not the only straw.

Posted by: eli | November 29, 2007 11:50 AM

Jasmine, why don't you "Stand Tall and Fight Back" whenever a kid drops out of school, or you see a 10 year old riding a bicycle at midnight in the summertime? Do you "stand tall and fight back" when someone is shot in daylight and nobody will give the police any information because it's considered "snitching". If you can answer yes to all of these, then i apologise and applaud you. If not, perhaps you could do better by redirecting your protests.

Posted by: Mike Ortiz | November 29, 2007 5:31 PM

Who cares if these criminals can't come out, what about the victims, do they have anybody sticking up for them, or standing tall for them?

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Whalley Jail Picketed

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