The MichigorDilv--Thursday July 15; 1982--Page 3
PHILOSOPHER TO QUESTION VALUE OF IMPRISONMENT
Eastern prison hires ex-prof
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A former professor
who believes in questioning society's right to lock
people up is being hired as a resident philosopher for
the state prison system.
David Lovell takes the resident-philosopher's post
- one of the first of its kind in the country - at a time
when prison overcrowding has become a touchy
issue.
But Lovell believes basic questions of justice may
be ignored in the scramble by corrections officials to
find enough room in their jails for increasing num-
bers of inmates.
"IDEALLY, WE have a system of justice which
treats people not just as numbers, not just as means
to an end - but as an end in themselves," Lovell said.
"There are problems that empirical inquiry and cost-
benefit analyses are just not going to solve."
Political and practical concersn often result in
violations of standards of justice, Lovell said. "This
conflict between utilitarianism and ontology is what
I'll try to explore," he said.
Utilitarianism is a branch of philosophy concerned
with practical conclusions, while ontology deals with
the nature of being.
JOHN MANSON, commissioner of the Connecticut
Department of Correction, agrees there is a need for
philosophy in prisons.
"The overcrowding is all the more reason to hire
someone from the outside," Manson said. "We're so
busy with it that we don't have time to ponder any of
the larger questions ourselves."
One such question centers on rehabilitation of in-
mates. Lovell believes some inmates may be difficult
or impossible to reform, but he said, "Many of them
will benefit from therapy, and the system often blows
its opportunity to work with these people."
REHABILITATION PROGRAMS lost favor among
correctional officers because "a lot of expensive,
highly touted programs failed," Lovell said. They
failed in part because their proponents were trying to
work through the prisons to correct problems that
originate outside.
"Criminals and the criminal justice system have
been a scapegoat for economic problems, a lot of
other problems," Lovell said.
Lovell will be paid $20,000 through a grant from the
Connecticut Council of Humanities to serve in the
new resident-philosopher's post for 10 months,
beginning in September.
DURING THAT TIME Lovell will talk to judges
and legislators, wardens and guards - "all of the ac-
tors in the drama," he said. He may be based in a
single institutions working in one of its programs.
"This will give me a way of being naturally in-
volved with prisoners and staff," he said. "I want to
get some idea of what individuals in decision-making
positions think they're doing - what justification
they offer for the decisions they make."
As part of his work, Lovellwill give a series of lec-
tures and will come up with a list of recommen-
dations for the department.
David Lovell has been working as a therapist in a
special treatment program at the Hudson Correc-
tional Facility in Hudson, N.Y.
He was chosen for his new post late last week
through the New York consulting firm - Audiobatics
- that employs him.
State may
face more
budget cuts
Miller says
LANSING (UPI)- Budget Director
Gerald Miller refused yesterday to rule
out further budget cuts this year in the
face of disastrous economic figures.
Miller told a subcommittee of the
House Appropriations Committee op-
timism that may have been generated
by a slight upturn in May and April.
"was not borne out by activity in June."
"AUTO SALES," he said, "were ,a
- disaster. If you can find a better word,
use it," adding one would have to go
back 24 years to find things as bad.
Although he said the latest figures on
tax collections have not been computed,
"the early indications are that the
figure is not good."
He also said retail sales are down and
what he called the "confidence index"
is also down.
"THAT RECOVERY people were~ex-
pecting-we are still waiting for that to
occur," Miller told the subcommittee,
which is reviewing Gov. William
Milliken's recommendations for fun-
ding local schools.
"There is not any good news out'
there," he added.
Previously, Milliken administration
spokesmen had expressed optimism
that third-quarter figures, beginning in
June, would start to show Michigan's
economy improving.
Later, speaking to reporters, Miller
refused to rule out any further cuts in
the state's already battered 1981-82
budget. "That has always been a
possibility," Miller said.
Despite the gloomy economic in-
dicators, Miller remained optimistic
that Michigan's credit rating-lowered
earlier in the year to among the
nation's lowest-will be improved
before the state must sell $500 million
worth of short-term notes this fall.
He said the decision to improve the
rating will be based on whether the
economy will improve next year and
he said that will probably occur.
U.S. detention
of Aliens ends
WASHINGTON (AP)- The federal government will not
ask the Supreme Court to bar the release of about 1,800
Haitians now held in detention, the Justice Department said
yesterday.
The announcement indicated the Haitians could begin
leaving detention facilities in six states and Puerto Rico by
the end of the month.
On Tuesday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Atlanta refused to blocka release order issued last month by
U.S. District Judge Eugene.Spellman in Miami.
THE JUSTICE Department said that while it will not seek
emergency help from the Supreme Court, "the department
a will continue its policy of firmly enforcing the law by ap-
prehending and detaining any aliens who try to enter the
- United States illegally."
The government also emphasized that it will go ahead with
a formal appeal of the legal issues involved in detaining un-
documented aliens who arrive in the United States. The
government previously had announced its own plan for the
release of the detained Haitians but had objected to
Spellman's imposing his own plan.
It is not possible to accurately estimate when the Haitians
now in detention might be released. Voluntary agencies
representing the Haitians have a significant amount of
procedural work to do under the District Court order. They
earlier had indicated the first releases might come before the
end of July," the Justice Department's announcement said.
HAITIAN REFUGEE Joseph Estaban awaits release Lawyers for the Haitians, however, say that some of the
from Detention in Florida after yesterday's decision, detainees could be freed before the end of the week.
Government cites Title IX violations
(Continuedfrom Page1)
must allocate scholarships in propor-
tion to each sexes' representation in the
department. The rules do not say that
the total number of dollars or scholar-
ships must be equivalent.
The athletic department will rectify
that discrepency through a two-year
program of reallocating scholarship
dollars,' if the Office of Civil Rights ac-
cepts the plan.
Athletic department officials
disagreed with the government's
charge concerning women's ^coaches.
"The opportunity (to receive coaching)
is equal," said DeCarolis, who' called
the charge "pretty vague."
DECAROLIS said that a difference in
the way the federal office and the
University determine coaching oppor-
tunities accounts for the charge. He
said that there are equal numbers of
men's and women's coaches in all var-
sity sports, except for swimming-
which has one more female assistant-
and football-where there is 'no
women's counterpart.
Don Canham, University athletic
director, also said that the discrepancy
exists because the football team em-
ploys nine full-time coaches, and there
is no equivalent women's sport.
Discrepancies in travel and
recruiting budgets were due to dif-
ferences in the rules of the former
women's athletic conference, the AIAW
and the men's conference, the NCAA,
said Phyllis Ocker, the athletic depar-
tment's associate director for women.
BECAUSE THE women are shifting
to the NCAA, that problem will be
resolved soon, she said.
The government and the University
cannot agree on whether or'not the
athletic department should fall under
federal jurisidction.
"The AIAW stresses that (recruits)
pay their own way to campus. NCAA
rules say that I can fly a kid in from
Florida and put him up in a hotel," he
said.
In the past, the athletic department
wasn't allowed to spend as much money
on recruiting and travel budgets
because of AIAW restrictions,
De Carolis said.
"We are going to comply, but only
because we want to," Canham said.
"The government doesn't have
jurisdiction over programs that don't
use federal funds - that's obvious."
THE UNIVERSITY'S position has
been supported by some U.S. court
decisions, including a ruling on the Ann
Arbor public schools. But Mary Fran-'
cis O'Shea, an Office of Civil Rights of-
ficial, said that "other courts have
ruled differently.
"Our opinion'is that the department
,has jurisdiction to investigate under
:Title IX," she said.
Both O'Shea and Affirmative Action
Director Nordby - who has been
working with the investigators -
refused comment on the specifics of the
violations until the government
releases its findings in the next -few
weeks.