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.