Geoghan Murder, 10/1/2003

PRESS RELEASE

At a press conference today, Leslie Walker stated:

 "Catherine Geoghan believes the investigation into John Geoghan's death is being subverted by prison guards who are intimidating and harassing witnesses and by prison administrators who are punishing potential witnesses. She is right."

In support of Ms. Geoghan's statement, Ms. Walker reported the following:

• "Guards are threatening prisoners who were interviewed by MCLS attorneys, investigators for the Governor's panel, and investigators for the Worcester County District Attorney. Some were charged with questionable violations of prison rules and have been placed in solitary confinement. Guards have told prisoners that when public attention fades, they will take their revenge. Similarly, corrections staff have been warned not to speak and some fear for their jobs. Examples of specific threats are contained in a letter MCLS sent to the Commissioner of Correction on September 23, 2003. Copies of that letter are available to you. There has been no response to this letter."

• "The prisoners in the unit where Geoghan died have been locked in their cells for all but a few minutes per day since shortly after his murder on August 23. The lockdown of the unit did not begin right after John Geoghan died but was instituted only after prisoners publicly criticized the Department for failing to protect him. This regimen is illegal. It is also a prime example of the Department of Corrections mismanagement. It is not necessary to lock these prisoners in their cells constantly in order to protect them. What is required is a removal of the predatory prisoners, yet that has not occurred.  What is also required is a careful examination of the system that houses the vulnerable with the violent. No competent correctional administration would hold vulnerable protective custody prisoners,"many of whom are mentally ill or mentally retarded - in the same unit as violent predators."

Copies of Ms. Walker's letter to Superintendent Ficco protesting this lockdown are also available to you. It has similarly received no response.

• "Irrationality in prisoner housing decisions is a hallmark of current Department of Correction practice. The Department's own research demonstrates that the majority of all DOC prisoners are held in expensive high security prisons. The housing of prisoners in these facilities is entirely unnecessary. It is an enormously expensive practice and a waste of taxpayers money. John Geoghan was an excellent example of such mismanagement. A non-violent prisoner, he was placed in a super-maximum prison only because guards who wanted him to suffer manipulated the system to put him there."

"The only thing that separates John Geoghan from countless other prisoners is that he died. Many prisoners experience the same abuse and mistreatment. Since the current panel's investigation is limited to the circumstances surrounding Geoghan's death, it is imperative that numerous critical, systemic issues be reviewed in depth by a Blue Ribbon commission. MCLS therefore calls for the appointment of a Blue Ribbon commission charged with taking a long-overdue critical look at the three quarters of a billion dollars expended annually on corrections. The commission must also investigate the culture of abuse and mismanagement that is the norm in the Commonwealth's prisons. No state agency should remain unaccountable.

"Massachusetts has a golden opportunity to make significant, long overdue changes in its correctional system.  Secretary Edward Flynn was chosen by the Governor in part because of reputation as someone willing to make changes, someone committed to best practices and innovation. The Department would like nothing better than to have things return to business as usual. Massachusetts deserves better."