Maine Department of Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte deserves credit for following through on his promise to establish clear guidelines for when a prisoner can be moved out of state and criteria on which they can return.
According to the Bangor Daily News:
"The new policy states that prisoners can be transferred out of state against their will only in certain situations: they need medical or psychological attention Maine’s facilities can’t provide, they can’t be safely managed in Maine or they are a safety hazard to prison staff or other prisoners.
If an inmate is transferred out of state against his will, he can appeal the decision to a newly-formed committee of prison staffers that will write recommendations to the commissioner about where the inmate should be housed.
And instead of being told “no, you can not return” without a reason, the Maine Department of Corrections now must “clearly identify the requirements [to return], include specific time frames, [have a plan] for the prisoner to participate in recommended treatment … [and] set out the period of time the prisoner must be free of major discipline in order to be considered for return to Maine,” the policy states."
The new policy is especially encouraging because it actually takes a step away from a key element of the private corrections model.
For the better part of a year, the ACLU of Maine was speaking out against L.D. 1095: “An Act To Facilitate the Construction and Operation of Private Prisons by Authorizing the Transport of Prisoners out of State" (the bill was finally defeated last month).
Maine certainly did not need a new prison, much less a private one. But the requirement that Maine prisoners could be shipped out of Maine to another private facility was especially disturbing. Quite simply, a family support system is a key to rehabilitation and private prisons are notorious for rampant violence, substandard medical treatment, and overcrowding.
