I I
, I
3
PrI
To
I . .
fe w Detroifers'
t .
I I .
prepar�d · for jobs.
son, said the Corrections stantial amount of local resi- Joca1s keeps Humphries going. post-secondary credit hours
department commits itself to dents, he said. she said. beyond high school in any sub
employinglocalresidentsusual- "VIedidn'tlaydownandplay _ �m a r� and I always .ject to credit hours in prison
ly without �y difficulty. . d�d, because wet did g� suffi- �k for the best," Humphries. �ela!Cd subjec:t such as iminal
But recent findings indicat- oent numbers," Cason said, _ said, . JUStice, she scud.
jog a lack in qualifications and Miriam Humphries, who but she is a little disap- Because local residents are
minimal responses from the lives right across the street from pointed in the results so far, she sometimes inexperienced and
Detroit area residents con- the site of the prisons, said she saifl The department's efforts uneducated, Sta1Jjn� said she
tribute to the correction remains optimistic the strong ve been lDOderat4, she said. believes the ilewstaflwill come
agency's decision to transfer recruiting efforts m the com- .. love my city," Humphries from other areas.
more experienced staff from munity wit! inaease the chan� said. "l will do. anything in � �obert Brown Jr., the CQr-
other prisons, said Dave Cason of e�ploymg Joca1s.Humphries power to make it better. - recaons department's director
Jr., a department recruiter, partJapa�sin a� r� Mildred Stallings, chairper- . said that it is no� pra�ce to
But, recruiting efforts are �o�passmgoutapplicatiODSto . son of the Correctional Facility try�ostaffnewprJsonswitharea
still attempted in the immediate belp� enroll people in com- Liaison Committee, �dd that reslden�. ..
area, he said.' mumty colle� co�. . . the bulk of the new prison staff "We try to staff (prisons) Wlth
"We tried t correct (the Humphries siad that she will not come from the local 60 percent of people &om the
problem) and ao as much as looks at the prison jobs ass area. local area, "Brown said. "ln most
possible," Cason said .. carried simply a means of employing -No business can operate cases we're able to do it without
civil service applications around people Who need the money. with all new employees," Stall- a lot of problems."
in my car." Many in the neighborhood iogs said "Bot that did not stop I The first priority, however, is
co�mun�ing March 986 A job fair was held t the coulduse thejobs andshouldgo the reeruitiag pattern," staffing the priso s with ex-
ccor to a 1 Michigan State Fairground toschooltopreparethemselves, . Reauitment has been con- perienced employees, he said.
��dy by the Ddepartment of providing applications to she said tinual since tile initial an- "We need about 40 percent
Correctioas an the Depart- I "While
ment of Management and everyone, he said. Additional it's here, (local resi- no�cementofthe prisons' con- experienced staff,- Brown said.
Budget, t least 500 jobs uld applications are availa�le in dents) might as well get some of structions, she said But local And sometimes the more ex- .
be aated, with 36 'NO t each neighborhood city hall the money, - Humphries siad. residents who do qualify will perienced staff desires to work
Olo�nter taft' tr_--� . perfrcen branch, he added. Despite the apathetic atmos- first be hired into the system as in the newer facilitie . he
c -,:) 0 s cuaau;rrJDg om "VI ...... _L_ flo W he 'd. WI h sh' . . id.St 11' id L- __
other' tate' Of th 250 e � e Its, su p ere, e continues recruiting a whole and then eventually be wa ID� sal eecause cur-
. s pnsons. e think (the job fair) was a very in the commintiy, she said But transferred to the prison near rent prison staff members al-
�l�t, staff, 180 would be positive effort We're looking there is on).y so much she can their home. ready have the expe�nce and
aDS1beers.. 'ty fth jobs for corrections officers and a few others can do. A major factor keeping 10- the lack of qualifications of
. maJon 0 e wer�. everywhere, - he said "I've preached from the tal- cals from getting the jobs' a some of the 10<21 residents, most
tate ded to go to the local resi- Another problem while iestmountain,"Humpbriessiad change in the educational re- of thje jobs will go to those a1-
de�� �th� nuu:sb� may r�auiting for correctional 0(., WIt's hard to reac:.h people quirements, she said. The re- ready in the system.
gra . r ee more ficers to work at the pew nowadays.-· quirements changed fro m15 "11le60percentwilhiotbeall
qualified Ioca are not found facilities wass negotiating with 'Keeping the faith that the new hirees, - she said. .
. Joseph Gonnlez, a Correc- labor unions, Cason added. But department will live up to its
lions department spo esper- efforts are made to hire a sub- commitment to employ mostly
LANSING - A new busi
ness with more than 500 jobs is
scbeduJed to open in late 1990
on the northeast side of Detroit
ormany, a long line of the
local unemployed would be
waiting to apply, but most of
them fall short of the qualifica
tions.
The business, on a square
strip of land stretching from
Ryan Road to Mound Road, is
a pair of regional correctional
facilities, offering full- and part
time jobs to individuals who
meet the requirements. But
these potential employees may
not be found inside the local
Te
mandatoI}"
By," yM 011
0zpiIDl News �ervice
LANSING I - a convicted
-r pist enters a prison and
nurse dra blood from his arm.
The sample is found to be posi-
I tive for AIDS. A second test
confirms it.
The inm te is sent' to IWad
ministrative segregation, an in
p tient heal�h care unit" or
another unit separate from the .
general prison population for
counseling and health care.
That could be a 'scene at
prison across Michigan in
March when a mandatory
AIDS-testing policy is imple
mented. Currently, prisoners
receive AIDS tests if they re
quest them, said State Corree-
. tio Director Robert Brown Jr.
Supporters of the recently
approved legislation allowing
such tests and follow-up for con
victs say the procedure protects
the non-infected and infected
inmates and facility employees,
especially guards.
Opponents say it dis
criminates and segregates.
Rep. Robert BeJlder, a Mid
dleville Republican, poaa0re4
the I . tion, . requires
AIDS testing of all convicts
tno n to be homos�xualt
I .
bisexual or intravenous drug.
users as they enter Michigan
prisons.
Due to the number of ,50-
called false positives and false
negatives, two tests wi:ll be ad
ministered. Those with AIDS
or AIDS-related commplex
would be notified. The tests
results would remain confiden
tial and would be disclosed ·only
to persons, not including
prisoners, who demonstrated a
need to know the rcsulla, W the
law states.
SEGREGATION
PRESCRIBED
Those who are found guilty of
sexual misconduct, illepI use of
c:ootroned substaacc$ or ul
tive or pr datory behavior
u1d be sepepted.
Se�tinl some prisooers
and tbiDkiDg they. are the oaly
o who pole aD AIDS risk is
couaterprod ctive, laid
Elizabeth Arnovitl, exccutiyc
director of the MiclUpa Coun
cil on Crime and Deliquency, a
private criminal justice pllnninS
l0ipnizatiOD that· opposed the
legislation. [I
The positive tests of some in- •
mates will give guards a false
senae of security" by making
them think they haYC found all
the AIDS cases, she said. A bet
ter way she contended would be
to continue the po . cy of using
rubber gloves and other
safeguards for all incidents in
wiving prisoners' body Ouids.
-If 'you ¥tute this kind of
testing it gives a real false sense
. of security to people, to the
staff," she said. -Maybe u's besr
Dot to have the information
when you don't know what
you're going to do with it .. "
But Bendel', who introduced
egislation af; er meeting
with rison guards in Ionia, said
. . important for facility
mployee to know how and
hat they are dealing with. He
added that the segregation is
nothing new; it is used in other
cifcumstances such as diseipli
nary cases.
-(Prison employees) are in a
situation here they are work
ing in a direct contact with the
inmates and the environment
they work in ge pretty hostile,
he said .
'But Henry Messer, a board
member of the Michigan Or
pDizatioo for Human Ripts,
said there' is one reason prison
officials and poIiticiaDI want
mandatory AIDS testing
eorhe only reason officials
want to t prisoners is to dis
. cri!l"n.ate against them, W he
m.lDt .. ned.
It is po sible that pri on
employees could be afraid to aid
u inmate known' to ha'Ie the
n
, I
Death alty ref ects
lust for vengeance .
By yM· ..... '·
capital News Service
LANSING - The only viable
reason for the death penalty is
vengeance, said State Correc
tions Director Robert Brown
Jr., but he asked if people really
"want to resort to killiDg each
other," I
If vengeance 'is tbe goal, Why
are so many steps taken to en
sure the execution is Wquick and
painless, W Brown also asked.
The recent execution of
serlal-murder Ted Bundy and a
lawmaker's can to reinstitute
the death penalty for high y
murderers after a string of such
shooting across southeastern
Michigan have revived the capi
tal pmishmeDt debate. '
�, BrOWD.said he is
opposed to capital plDishmeot
As head of the 's 00Il'C(;
lions facilities, be said capital
p"Qishrnent has beea an iDefIiec...
live deterrent to c:rime as tatcs
with the death penalty have
sho' n no decrease in
homici
Rep. Vincent Eorreca, a
Trenton Demoaat, has intro
du� a resolutioD that would
ameod state CODItitution to
allo the deatb penalty in
freeway murders., A TrentOD
maD wa hot a d kined in
0Yember while be asleep
in a car by his wile on 1-75 in
Soutligate. Several similar as
haYe folloWed.
Cost one of the don
. BroWD cited � displaytbe �
J t1
penaltYs inetlectiYeness.
"lt costs a lot more to exeaate
someone that to keep them in
prison all their life, - Brown said.
Court proces.cin& trials and
possible multiple appeals keep
costs of maintiini1 a death raw
population high, e said. The
U.S. Supreme Court also ruled
that someone cannot be ex
eeated unless they are healthy
and 'Sane, r� extr aII
todial care that also can boost
costs, Brown said.
There's an obligation to
keep that person healthy and
alive·. so the tate can esecute
them," he . d.
States with the death penalty
at least should ana the ezecu
tions to be carried out InO e
quickly, Brown said.
Porreca dmits the threat of
the death penalty would do
nothing to deter meone. Iikc
Ted Bundy, W but it could
pr�t others from.� I
-I think if you're talking
about peop e going out there
thinking it's a prank or me
thing (shooting at �ple OD
highways), they might think
twice about it,. Porreca . d.
I The threat of a death P.CDaItY
end a message to - Id
blooded killer - he said
-society' j fed
these type of people and
we're ooocerned, we' e .
sayilpg. 'Hey, if you're I' to
oomlDit cold-blooded def,
YOU'r� going to forfeit life '
too, W rorreca said.
4 I.