11 January 2007
FedCURE News:The Second Chance Act- Hill Meetings
- Next Work Group on 24 January 2007
The next meeting of the reentry working group will be on Wednesday, January
24th at 10:30 am in the Open Society office. Those outside of the District of
Columbia may participate by calling 1-888-234-4229 and entering 9066#.
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The following Hill meetings are scheduled. Please let Gene know if
you
can participate.
Friday, Jan 12
10:00 am - Office of Rep.
Joe Donnelly (D-IN) with Andrew Lattanner in 1218 Longworth. Scheduled by Kara
Gotsch.
11:00 am` - Office of Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN) with Lori Pepper in
223 Cannon. Scheduled by Kara Gotsch.
Thurs, Jan 18
10:30 am -
Office of Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) with Kara Stencel in 1221 Longworth. Scheduled by
Phyllis Lawrence.
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The reentry working group met on January 11.
Participating were: Phyllis Lawrence, Greg Mitchell, Sara Paterni, Jonathan
Harwitz, Shannon Jones, Eric Schultz, Bill Broydrick, John Broehm, Gene
Guerrero, Gabrielle de la Gueronniere, Jody Kent, Sarah Kahn, Steve Berg, Kara
Gotsch, Erica Dusenberry, Tom Angell, Abeo Anderson, Tom Petersik, Bill Mefford,
Gwen Smith Ingley, Jeremy Rosen, Natasha Williams, Jay Hutchins.
Gene and
others reported on the Jan 10th meeting with Representatives Danny Davis (D-IL)
and Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) - the original Democratic House sponsors of the
Second Chance Act. Key congressional staff attending the meeting included Caleb
Gilchrist (Davis), Jorge Castro (Tubbs Jones), Rachel Dresen (Chris Cannon),
Keenan Keller (John Conyers) from the House and from the Senate Dave Turk
(Biden), Lisa Owings (Specter), and LaRochelle Young (Brownback). Approximately
30 members of the reentry working group attended.
Both Davis and Tubbs
Jones reaffirmed their commitment to the Second Chance Act and stressed the
importance of passage this year. They suggested that working group members reach
out to congressional leaders including Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer
to urge quick action. House Judiciary staffer Keenan Keller said that they
were working for reintroduction of the Second Chance Act around the first week
in February. The bill will move through the House under regular order
(hearings, committee mark-up). They hope for passage by the Memorial Day recess.
Dave Turk, Senator Biden's Judiciary staffer, reported that they also plan to
move the bill promptly through the Senate. There the bill will be considered by
the full Judiciary Committee rather than first going through a
subcommittee. He, Lisa Owings, and LaRochelle Young will be meeting with
Senator Coburn's staff to continue looking for ways to address his concerns.
Outreach to the Senate leadership will also be very helpful to encourage early
action.
Also at the Jan 10th with the Members and congressional staff
there was discussion of holding a series of Hill forums or briefings on criminal
justice reform issues. The congressional people were generally interested.
Keenan Keller suggested an early Hill briefing on the Second Chance Act itself.
At the reentry working group meeting Gene agreed to seek a meeting with
Speaker Pelosi's criminal justice staffer Michael Tecklenberg. Bill Broydrick
volunteered to seek a meeting with Majority Leader Hoyer's office. On the Senate
side Jeremy Rosen volunteered to seek a meeting with the office of Senator
McConnell. Bill Broydrick will reach out to Senator Durbin's office.
Gene
reported on a Jan 10th meeting with the office of Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA). His
legislative director, Amy Smith, indicated that her brother is in prison. She
was very familiar with the work of Prison Fellowship and interested in the
Second Chance Act. Sara reported on the meeting with the office of Rep. John
Campbell (R-CA) with Greer Illingworth who was interested. Both meetings were
scheduled by Greg Mitchell. There was discussion of the importance of scheduling
these
meetings with new Members as soon as possible. John Broehm volunteer to
reach out to newly elected Rep. Steve Kagen (D-WI).
There was discussion
of the proposed Hill forums/briefings. There was consensus that a Hill briefing
on the Second Chance Act should be held soon after reintroduction. Friday, Feb
9th was suggested for the briefing which would be sponsored by various
organizations in the working group. There was agreement that it would be good to
have someone speak who had been helped by reentry - perhaps someone from the
Rebecca Project or another program. And also have someone from corrections or
law enforcement. Then it might be helpful to have a conservative spokesperson
such as Pat Nolan of prison Fellowship and someone from the progressive
community such as Hilary Shelton of the NAACP.
Gene reported that he,
Jane Browning, and Jessica Nickel had previously volunteered to help coordinate
the series of Hill forums. Bill Mefford, Gabrielle de la Gueronniere, Kara
Gotsch and Shannon Jones volunteered to help with that.
There was general
agreement with a proposed series of Hill forums (1)overview of the problem, (2)
housing, (3) mentally ill, (4) education for employment, (5) dealing with the
corrections explosion, (6) faith in action, (7) families and reentry, (8)
preparing prisoners for reentry. There was agreement with Bill Mefford's
suggestion that the series be held in the spring, perhaps beginning in March.
There were differences of opinion regarding what day of the week to hold the
forums and whether they should be more like staff briefing or more like forums
involving more advocates in broader discussions of needed policy reforms. Gene
will organize a conference call of the steering committee to put together a
proposed series to present to key Hill staff.
Gene Guerrero
Open
Society Institute/Open Society Policy Center
1120 19th Street, N.W., 8th
Floor
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-721-5607
fax 202-530-0128
