February 10, 2022 In light of the news conference today about “ending the medical parole loophole for murderers,” Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts would like to address misperceptions surrounding the medical parole process and highlight the importance of ensuring access to it. In 2018, the Massachusetts Legislature enacted the medical parole statute as part of […]
Massachusetts Department of Correction Gives a Lesson in How to Get Around Solitary Confinement Reforms
November 20, 2019
Solitary Watch
By Katie Rose Quandt
Rules would place ‘gag order’ on committee overseeing solitary confinement in Massachusetts jails and prisons
MassLive July 8th, 2019 By Shira Schoenberg BOSTON — Amid controversy over Massachusetts’ solitary confinement policies, prisoners’ rights advocates say the Department of Correction is seeking to hamstring an oversight committee with restrictive regulations that would limit members’ ability to visit prisons and bar them from speaking to the press. Those who expressed concern include key […]
There was a consensus to reduce solitary confinement. But it hasn’t translated into action
The Boston Globe February 27th, 2019 By Adrian Walker Can Massachusetts break its longstanding bond with solitary confinement? That question was supposed to have been settled in 2018. As the state enacted sweeping criminal justice reforms, one feature of the new law was a concerted effort to drive down the number of prisoners being held […]
’You’re creating monsters’: Advocates say new rules fail to reform solitary confinement in Massachusetts
MassLive February 20th, 2019 By Shira Schoenberg The criminal justice reform law that the Legislature passed last year contains reforms to the state’s solitary confinement system meant to provide inmates with better living conditions, limit the length of time someone can be held without review, and keep mentally ill inmates out of solitary confinement. The Department […]