ACU Update
Jailhouse drug treatment for hardened inmates pays off
according to a two-year study released in October of an experimental treatment program in Montgomery County, Md. The program provides eight hours a day of intensive personal and group therapy to inmates who have a long history of drug abuse and criminal behavior. Prisoners who'd been through the program showed recidivism rates 20 percent lower than untreated prisoners....
Local 1695 in Louisiana doubled its membership
this September when it recruited 65 new members in the Feliciana Forensic Facility....
An inmate in Coleman, Fla., claims the federal government owes him $20,000
in back wages, because he wasn't paid the minimum wage during his two years working in a prison factory....
Spraying correctional officers in the face with pepper mace during training is not unconstitutional
a federal district court ruled in February. The court ruled that those who seek out law enforcement jobs "implicitly consent" to pain, and that an officer's freedom to walk off the job rather than be sprayed fulfills his or her right to freedom from bodily harm....
A New York State Supreme Court justice ruled against double-celling
this August. The judge found that the state of New York had acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by allowing the permanent double-celling of inmates in state prisons, and issued an order blocking the implementation of double occupancy cells....
Illinois gov. Jim Edgar signed legislation banning curtains in prison cells
by April 1, 1997. This in spite of initial opposition to the legislation from Edgar's administration. Illinois AFSCME reports that cell coverings are already starting to come down....
Maine corrections officers bargained their first pay raise since July 1991
in a Council 93 contract that also includes restoration of an hour and a half to their workweek. The time was originally cut to save money. COs will receive a one-time lump-sum payment of 2.25 percent of annual pay in January 1997, and base salary increases of 2 percent each in July 1997 and July 1998.
