http://www.statehousenews.com/cgi/as_web.exe?rev2010.ask+D+11205756
By Kyle Cheney
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JULY 31, 2010…..Gov. Deval Patrick was urged by his legal team to postpone a push for criminal justice reforms until after newspaper reports highlighting abuses in the state's probation system were published, according to a memo read aloud on the Senate floor Saturday night.
"We recommend waiting until after the weekend when the Globe may run their spotlight series on the Department of Community Supervision reform to determine whether to work with legislators to push for the following: creation of a Department of Community Supervision; requiring reports from probation; or merely a commission to study the creation of a Department of Community Supervision," Cowan wrote in the memo to Patrick, dated May 20 and obtained by Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester).
Tarr said the memo, bearing the subject line "Crime Bill Strategy," was a sign that the administration was making political considerations about its crime priorities, and he compared it to emails that showed political considerations in the administration's selection of a Gloucester charter school. Tarr said the Cowan memo ended up in a pile of documents he received during the conference committee negotiations.
The Boston Globe has published several investigative pieces on the state's probation department, describing a cozy relationship between lawmakers and top probation officials that contributed to an inefficient and sometimes inept system of oversight. The administration has showed deference to the newspaper before. In a February email, Patrick's top education aide, Paul Reville, told the state's education commissioner the administration had to approve a charter school to avoid being "permanently labeled as hostile" and harm its standing with "key, moderate allies like the Globe and the Boston Foundation."
The memo was dated prior to the House's debate on a crime package that stripped out Senate-passed provisions dealing with early parole for certain non-violent drug offenders and post-release supervision for former inmates. In the memo, Cowan and his deputy Abim Thomas predict the House's move to strip out the sentencing provisions and he urges the governor to back off a push to reinsert those provisions during the House's floor debate.
"If these sentencing reform amendments were pushed and failed, the House would be on record opposing sentencing reform and it would make it more difficult to fight for sentencing reform in conference [committee]," Cowan and Thomas wrote. "The sentencing reform advocates … are also working to make sure that these amendments don't get filed. The advocates want to wait for a more favorable opportunity and until they can secure votes before pushing for sentencing reform.
The memo seemed to catch senators off-guard - Sen. Cynthia Creem, co-chair of the Committee on the Judiciary stared intently from the side of the Senate rostrum as Tarr read the memo and indicated she'd like a copy.
Although the House never did consider amendments dealing with sentencing reform, the conference committee opted not to accept the most controversial Senate-passed provisions, with House conferees calling them too politically difficult and noting that they had never been voted on by the full House membership.
Carbon-copied on the memo is Patrick's intergovernmental affairs chief, Patricia Wynn.
Patrick communications director Kyle Sullivan declined comment late Saturday.
-END-
07/31/2010
By Kyle Cheney
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JULY 31, 2010…..Gov. Deval Patrick was urged by his legal team to postpone a push for criminal justice reforms until after newspaper reports highlighting abuses in the state's probation system were published, according to a memo read aloud on the Senate floor Saturday night.
"We recommend waiting until after the weekend when the Globe may run their spotlight series on the Department of Community Supervision reform to determine whether to work with legislators to push for the following: creation of a Department of Community Supervision; requiring reports from probation; or merely a commission to study the creation of a Department of Community Supervision," Cowan wrote in the memo to Patrick, dated May 20 and obtained by Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester).
Tarr said the memo, bearing the subject line "Crime Bill Strategy," was a sign that the administration was making political considerations about its crime priorities, and he compared it to emails that showed political considerations in the administration's selection of a Gloucester charter school. Tarr said the Cowan memo ended up in a pile of documents he received during the conference committee negotiations.
The Boston Globe has published several investigative pieces on the state's probation department, describing a cozy relationship between lawmakers and top probation officials that contributed to an inefficient and sometimes inept system of oversight. The administration has showed deference to the newspaper before. In a February email, Patrick's top education aide, Paul Reville, told the state's education commissioner the administration had to approve a charter school to avoid being "permanently labeled as hostile" and harm its standing with "key, moderate allies like the Globe and the Boston Foundation."
The memo was dated prior to the House's debate on a crime package that stripped out Senate-passed provisions dealing with early parole for certain non-violent drug offenders and post-release supervision for former inmates. In the memo, Cowan and his deputy Abim Thomas predict the House's move to strip out the sentencing provisions and he urges the governor to back off a push to reinsert those provisions during the House's floor debate.
"If these sentencing reform amendments were pushed and failed, the House would be on record opposing sentencing reform and it would make it more difficult to fight for sentencing reform in conference [committee]," Cowan and Thomas wrote. "The sentencing reform advocates … are also working to make sure that these amendments don't get filed. The advocates want to wait for a more favorable opportunity and until they can secure votes before pushing for sentencing reform.
The memo seemed to catch senators off-guard - Sen. Cynthia Creem, co-chair of the Committee on the Judiciary stared intently from the side of the Senate rostrum as Tarr read the memo and indicated she'd like a copy.
Although the House never did consider amendments dealing with sentencing reform, the conference committee opted not to accept the most controversial Senate-passed provisions, with House conferees calling them too politically difficult and noting that they had never been voted on by the full House membership.
Carbon-copied on the memo is Patrick's intergovernmental affairs chief, Patricia Wynn.
Patrick communications director Kyle Sullivan declined comment late Saturday.
-END-
07/31/2010
