Contact:
Tripp Laino, 202-999-4273
tlaino@famm.org

 

FAMM Submits Testimony on Massachusetts Medical Parole Implementation Process

BOSTON – FAMM General Counsel Mary Price submitted testimony yesterday to the Massachusetts agency tasked with collecting public comments on the state’s new medical parole rules. The testimony is part of FAMM’s ongoing effort to improve access to compassionate release in the United States.

The agency, Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, held a public hearing on July 8 to review regulations related to implementing the new Medical Parole law enacted last year.

“While it does not go as far as we would hope, Massachusetts’s Medical Parole law is definitely a big step in the right direction,” said Price. “We urge Massachusetts to support this law with clear and comprehensive regulations that avoid barriers, embrace best practices, and help ensure the medical parole program is implemented as intended.”

Over the past 17 years, FAMM has been at the forefront of compassionate release reform efforts in the states. Last year, FAMM released a comprehensive, state-by-state report (“Everywhere and Nowhere: Compassionate Release in the States,”) revealing that nationwide, compassionate release programs are rarely used, despite the increased expense to taxpayers of housing elderly and ill prisoners. The report shines a light on the inhumanity of keeping sick, dying, and elderly prisoners behind bars and makes a series of recommendations for reform. It is available at here.

For nearly three decades, FAMM has united the voices of affected families, the formerly incarcerated, and a range of stakeholders and advocates to fight for a more fair and effective justice system. FAMM’s focus on ending a one-size-fits-all punishment structure has led to reforms to sentencing and prison policies in 6 states and is paving the way to programs that support rehabilitation for the 94% of all prisoners who will return to our neighborhoods one day.

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FAMM is a national nonpartisan advocacy organization that promotes fair and effective criminal justice policies that safeguard taxpayer dollars and keep our communities safe. Founded in 1991, FAMM is helping transform America’s criminal justice system by uniting the voices of impacted families and individuals and elevating the issues all across the country.

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