Detention Ministry News: new york

Showing posts with label new york. Show all posts

Thursday, May 31, 2007

News: 5/31/2007

Suicide Rates Drop in Calfornia State Prisons
More teens kept in adult jails (Ohio)
New director focuses on future of state's prisons (Iowa)
Accommodations Being Made As Average Age of Prisoners Rise (New York)
Counties strain to find room for criminals (Ohio)
GOP report critical of inmate releases, open to changes (Michigan)
The Big Question: Why are our prisons so overcrowded, and how can we tackle the crisis? (UK)
Teens to stay in adult jails (Australia)
Vacant buildings to become prisons (Malaysia)
Children who stay with mothers in prisons hamper – Prison officer (Ghana)
2 prisons plan to expand (Oklahoma)
Camden wants prisons gone from downtown (New Jersey)

Friday, May 18, 2007

News: 5/18/2007

Colorado prisons outpace Pakistan, Libya, China
Drug arrests overload Franklin County Jail (New York)
Corrections employees set to see pay increases (Indiana)
Inmates in Limbo (Guatemala)
Gay holding cells 'may fuel prejudices' (South Africa)
Report: Judge to probe Shaik's hospital stay (South Africa)
Balfour laments overcrowded prisons (South Africa)
Tobago to get new prison
Social workers could ease jail crunch (Kentucky)
Building a nonlethal toothbrush takes some scientific know-how

Monday, May 14, 2007

News: 5/14/2007 (AM)

Prison crisis looming (Nevada)
Pak children in jails vulnerable to sexual abuse (India)
Australian Indigenous people over-represented in prisons: report (Australia)
Make halfway house a priority: residents (Canada)
Judges seek to retain sentencing powers in prisons crisis (UK)
Double the prison population – MP (UK)
Outrage Against Gay Partners–In–Crime Kept Together (India)
York County may follow Hall's lead for jail reimbursements (New York)
Berlin prison could be a boon for North Country (Vermont)

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Prisoner Free Exercise Cases Are Plentiful This Week

Professor Howard Friedman has posted this week's prisoner free exercise cases on his blog, Religion Clause.

Friday, May 11, 2007

News 5/11/2007 (AM)

Commissioners inspect jail (Michigan)
More than 400 immigrants fill state prisons (Oklahoma)
Two instructors assaulted at youth center (Illinois)
27 lifers released (India)
Prison Health Care Plan Looking Strong (Canada)
New ministry is hit by jails crisis on its first day (UK)
Prison worker gets cancer care award (UK)
Prisoner Custody Officers will escort prisoners to and from courts (UK)
DA: Don't free violent inmates (South Africa)
Manufacturing firm saves itself £500000 by employing prisoners (UK)
Brooklyn House of Detention Two Parts Jail, One Part Residential (New York)

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Rockland county jail to hire imam following chaplain's distribution of anti-Islam tracts

Suzan Clarke of the Lower Hudson Journal News continues her coverage of accusations that Rockland County Jail Chaplain Teresa Darden Clapp distributed tracts offensive to Muslim prisoners. It was announced that an Islamic cleric, or imam, will be hired to serve at the jail:

The imam would work one day per week, and additionally as needed for special cases. Those are the same terms governing the way a rabbi and a priest are currently contracted to work at the jail, Undersheriff Thomas Guthrie said today.

Teresa Darden Clapp, an ordained Christian minister and the jail's chaplain, was suspended last month for passing out religious cartoon booklets that condemned Islam and contained derogatory depictions and descriptions of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad.

Since the incident, local Muslims have met with jail officials to discuss their concerns about the tract incident. They also alleged that when they tried to come to the jail to minister to inmates, they were treated unfairly by Clapp.

The county has ordered an independent investigation into Clapp's actions.

Jail officials ordered the tracts removed when the learned of the incident through an inmate's complaints.

Friday, May 4, 2007

April-May prisoner free exercise cases

Professor Howard Friedman has posted his always useful digest of recent prisoner free exercise cases.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

News: 5/3/2007 (PM)

Arizona Corrections Dept. reveals New Castle findings (Indiana)
Governor Seeks Solution to Overcrowded Prisons (Nevada)
Schwarzenegger signs bill to relieve prison crowding (California)
State to release 2000 fewer prisoners than planned (Michigan)
Prisons busting out in Delaware
NIC: Jail conditions ‘awful' (Wisconsin)
Inmate hangs himself in jail (New York)
12000 foreigners in UK jails
Restorative justice schemes backed (UK)
Legal Aids Council saves two prison inmates (Nigeria)
Raising the bar for inmates (Massachusetts)

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

News: 5/2/2007 (AM)

A plea for help for Coalinga prison (California)
Inmate who had seizures dies in lockup (Illinois)
Short notice triggered riot (Indiana)
Bill to alleviate local jail overcrowding clears House (Texas)
State drops surgeon used for lethal injection (Missouri)
Wanted: Indispensable, Disposable Workers (Colorado)
Teen sex offender bill goes to governor’s desk (Arizona)
Sweeney says sex offenders are coming to South Woods (New Jersey)
Board named to consider sex offender residency in Green Bay (Wisconsin)
Jails awash with drugs, says Opposition (Australia)
Guards back in jail (Canada)
McDowell orders inquiry into prisoner's call to radio show (Ireland)
Women's prison will get day in court (Canada)
Package lobbed over wall ignited jailhouse melee (Canada)
Prisoners Could Get More Credit for Good Behavior (Kansas)
Guards armed with new riot gear (Pennsylvania)
Jail expansion still top council priority (South Carolina)
Prison closer to getting water (Mississippi)
Sing Sing, dance, dance (New York)

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

News: 5/1/2007 (AM)

Santa Ana lawmaker contributes to prison reform effort (California)
Mother sues in death of son in county jail (California)
2 say TYC was warned (Texas)
Huron man has date with death (Ohio)
State Changes Inmate Tracking System (Massachusetts)
Legislation would amend release rules to ease jail crowding (Michigan)
Georgia joins talk on mentally ill inmates
O'Connor admits Corrections was wrong (New Zealand)
Pittsford considers siting new prison (Vermont)
Cornell Completes Purchase of Colorado Women's Facility
The GEO Group Reports First Quarter 2007 Results
Shared big jail under study (South Carolina)
Tampa firm taps rising demand for tracking bracelets (Florida)
Inmates take swipe at toilet paper cuts (New York)

Monday, April 30, 2007

News: 4/30/2007 (AM)

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Outside lawyers hired for probe of anti-Islamic tracts at jail

Suzan Clarke of the Lower Hudson Journal News continues her reporting on the case of a Rockland County jail chaplain accused of handing out tracts that insult Muslims. The investigation will be handled by outside attorneys:

Local Muslims called for the Rev. Teresa Darden Clapp's dismissal after they learned of allegations she distributed booklets that condemned Islam and contained derogatory depictions and descriptions of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad, including characterizing Allah as an "idol" and devil and Muhammad as a criminal and a "religious dictator."

Last week, the county's Law Department referred the investigation into the chaplain's actions to outside attorneys to maintain the integrity of the investigation and avoid any possible conflict, Rockland County Sheriff James Kralik said yesterday.

"Whatever my part in it, it's going to be totally impartial, I can guarantee that," he said. "This is going to be something that we're going to take a good, honest look at. When we have conclusions, they'll be based on fact."

The attorneys, Kevin J. Plunkett and Darius P. Chafizadeh of Thacher, Proffitt and Wood in White Plains, are expected to have some answers soon, Kralik said.

"We'll hope to have something by next week, but I'm just going to wait until they do it right, that's the most important thing," he said.

Clapp was suspended with pay April 12. She will continue to be paid until the investigation indicates otherwise, Kralik said.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

News: 4/24/2006 (PM)

Inmates Riot At Indiana Prison
New Rules for Confining the Mentally Ill (New York)
Jail is given high marks (Ohio)
More inmates than space (Pennsylvania)
No Changes to Sex Offender Restriction This Year (Indiana)
Third officer drawn into jail inquiry (New Zealand)
Tension in prisons eases (Greece)
Ex-inmate helps 16 gangsters stop crime (UK)
Alabama Prisons Population at All-Time High
Moving ahead on the Lyon County jail project (Minnesota)

Parishioner provides job training to the incarcerated

Well, it's not what one might think of first regarding prison ministry, but Bob Mattucci credits his Catholic faith as the foundation for his work teaching inmates plumbing. Claudia Mathis of the (Syracuse) Catholic Sun (New York) writes that Mattucci worked as a plumber for 22 years, then became a vocational education teacher. His intention was to create a program for local schools to fill in the gap formed as plumbers retired without replacements:

Mattucci said he got into the corrections field by accident. After being marketed, his program was rejected by all of the public school vocational education programs in the Syracuse region. But Mattucci was determined to find a way to put his training program into practice. After researching education in correctional facilities, Mattucci learned that there was a void in education programs in the corrections system and that educating the inmates could reverse the likelihood of re-incarceration.

Mattucci contemplated what a plumbing curriculum could potentially offer to the incarcerated individuals. His training program was designed to foster success and focus on motivation, decision-making, respectful environment and teamwork as a foundation for change. He saw his program as an experience that might motivate those in prison to contribute to society in a positive way. Tim Gangemi, a fellow parishioner at St. Margaret’s, thinks Mattucci’s training program is a wonderful idea. "I also think some of the other skilled trades like carpentry and masonry should be taught to the inmates," he said.

Taking into consideration the many barriers associated with working within the prison system, Mattucci developed a plan for three phases of inmate education that would build the students’ commitment and responsibility over time while rewarding them with immediate successes in the classroom. Phase I consisted of an eight-session program while in prison; phase II included a 42-session program for after they were released and phase III included admission to a plumber’s union as second-year apprentices.

Convinced of the value of his training program, Mattucci persisted, presenting his program to the education coordinator at the Onondaga County Department of Correction facility in Jamesville, N.Y. in 2000. Mattucci taught the training program in the evening at the Jamesville facility from 2000 to 2002.

(via Catholic Online)