BOSTON (MA)
TheBostonChannel.com
POSTED: 6:54 am EDT June 17, 2005
UPDATED: 7:30 am EDT June 17, 2005
BOSTON -- The state prisons department has made significant progress on reform since former priest John Geoghan was killed while behind bars, but still needs to make key changes in how it assigns inmates to prison units, according to a report obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
The 40-page report from the Department of Correction Advisory Council is the first update delivered to the administration since the Governor's Commission on Corrections Reform began a top-to-bottom review of the prison system and recommended 18 areas for improvement after Geoghan, a convicted pedophile, was slain in his high-security prison cell by a fellow inmate almost two years ago.
The system of assigning inmates to low-, medium- or high-security prisons, which resulted in the frail and elderly Geoghan's transfer to the maximum security unit where he was killed, was one of 18 areas that the governor's commission had singled out for reform.
The advisory council praised Commissioner Kathleen M. Dennehy and said other reforms that have been accomplished, such as changing the department's internal investigations process and improving oversight of accidents in the prison, have been "impressive."
Posted by kshaw at June 17, 2005 06:59 AM