Separate but Equal is Inherently Unequal

Alf Pledges to Return Female Inmates to Berkshire County

On May 17th 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the unanimous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling stating that “in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”.

A correctional facility is an educational facility, if it functions as intended. We believe that women from the Berkshires who require housing in a correctional facility deserve to remain close to their loved ones and attorneys to facilitate visits and retain emotional connections, just as male inmates do.

However, according to the Berkshire Eagle, in 2014, Sheriff Bowler agreed to relocate female inmates to the Western Massachusetts Women’s Regional Correctional Center in Chicopee, MA, built in 2007, when it became available to him. He said that the move was not because there wasn’t room for the women in Berkshire County, but rather because women weren’t getting the programs they needed at his facility.

He also conceded that while it solved logistical problems for him, the arrangement was not ideal for women. He also admitted he would like to bring them back. We appreciate him wanting to bring them back, but women are still waiting.

While the Chicopee jail has run into some issues with mistreatment, women who are sent to the Chicopee jail may appreciate some of the services offered there; however, many are often unable to visit with family who can’t afford to make the drive, and it makes it difficult for attorneys to travel to see their clients, and to schedule hearings with certain judges.

It’s a 2.5 hour round-trip. This puts women at a disadvantage. This is unequal.

Additionally, women in Chicopee are not separated from male employees, as one might believe. In 2014, a Judge ruled that Chicopee’s strip-search videotaping of female inmates by male employees was unconstitutional, and in 2019, a Chicopee male employee was prosecuted for having sex with two female inmates.

Additionally, women often wind up in jail in Chicopee because they can’t make bail, even a $50 bail fee. Once they are in prison, they must pay for expensive phone calls to talk to their loved ones, money the prison collects as profit, often called a “poor tax” by those who say the process is unfair. In many areas of the Country, in fact, charging inmates for phone calls has been banned, or fees significantly curtailed. Berkshire County also charges inmates for calls, and had the highest rate in the State in 2020, a practice Alf will end if elected Sheriff.

Studies show that women who are separated from visitations and connection to their family while in prison suffer in prison, and are more likely to have trouble when they are released. Numerous studies dating back decades have shown that family contact and communication reduces recidivism, making society safer and saving taxpayer money. We also believe women who are incarcerated deserve to be kept safe and be treated equally so they are not emotionally or legally at a disadvantage.

It’s also important that our local community have a direct say in how the women of our community are treated while incarcerated and we cannot do that when female inmates from our area are in Chicopee. We do not elect the Sheriff of Hampden County who oversees that facility, we elect the Sheriff of Berkshire County, and our current Sheriff has chosen to remove local women from our community and send them to Chicopee where voters cannot influence their treatment.

The Franklin County Sheriff initially sent his female inmates to Chicopee, as well, at the urging of State Officials, but in 2019 he brought them back, at the urging of his community. We plan to do the same here. It’s important that the local community have a direct say in how the women of our community are treated while incarcerated and they cannot do that when female inmates are in Chicopee.

The Berkshire County Correctional Facility was built in 2001 to hold men and women, with 36 cells for women, and 288 for men, and it did for over a decade until 2014, and we believe it can still do so today. The creation of the woman’s pod at the Pittsfield facility was the result of collaboration between Sheriff Massimiano and a woman’s task force prior to construction. Sheriff Massimiano had been sending female inmates to Springfield, “because the old jail had no place for them, [but] this made a difficult situation even more painful; it was difficult for their families and children to visit them.”

Fortunately, the construction of the new jail in 2001, with a special woman’s pod, provided for female inmates, and they had services to help them locally upon their release. However, all of that changed again in 2014, when Sheriff Bowler sent them to Chicopee, and now refuses to bring them back.

What will we do if elected?

The current male inmate population is 162, as of July 11, 2022, and the Correctional facility is less than 1/3 full. The facility does hold women overnight while they await arraignments or bail hearings. The facility was built to house woman in a special woman’s pod and did so for over a decade. We feel the facility and budget is there to bring them back. We have first rate treatment providers and clinicians who are in Berkshire County, and we are already working to create needed programs if elected, but we need your support to help bring them back.

Please vote for Alf Barbalunga on September 6th.