Experts Make The Case For More College Behind Bars College classes cost less than half of what Mass pays to incarcerate people. So why aren’t we educating more prisoners? “Knowledge of the power structure that runs society has made the biggest difference in my life.” John Yang was released from MCI Concord in 2020, and […]
ON THE WAY HOME
A New Beginning For Formerly Incarcerated Women “Stepping into this house made me feel better … She has a way of transforming pain into passion.” When Stacey Borden exited MCI-Framingham for the final time in 2010, she was done with more than three decades of jail stints and drug use due to untreated trauma. She […]
STILL WAITING
Tainted Drug Evidence Victims Still Waiting For Settlement Payments “We’ve got a system in place where it’s just, grab this money from mostly poor people, but don’t have mechanisms in place to really account for what’s taken.” It may be a new year, but tens of thousands of individuals wrongfully convicted on drug charges in […]
HIGH DRAMA
Unruly, argumentative Governor’s Council inflames Parole Board Hearings There was high drama on display again at a Massachusetts Governor’s Council meeting at the State House last week. During two nomination hearings on June 15, councilors argued with each other, used their podiums to air their pet peeves, and insulted and cut off witnesses. Such antics […]
GOVERNOR’S COUNCIL SIGNALS LANDMARK COMMUTATION LOOMS
Tom Koonce (left) and his son, Thomas Andrews, circa 2018, taken at MCI Norfolk “You had one really horrible day and you paid dearly but I think you paid enough.” On Jan. 26, 54-year-old prisoner Thomas Koonce, a former US Marine who was born in Brockton, spent nine-and-a-half hours at the Massachusetts State House offering […]
