Tag: Montana Department of Corrections

Montana Senate Bill 60 Violates the 6th Amendment of the Bill of Rights

Montana Senate Bill 60 was enacted by the request of the Commission on Sentencing.  The law is designed to create a 30 day limit for the completion of presentence investigations of felony offenders and to create a Presentence Investigation team.

I have previously posted that I believed the people that comprised the Commission on Sentencing had a sincere desire to help offenders and reduce recidivism.  The passage of Senate Bill 60 disposes of my belief that the members were acting in good faith for offenders.  Senate Bill 60 violates the 6th Amendment of the Bill of Rights.  Let's take a look at what this bill really does and the horrendous result of the Commission's actions.

Presentence investigations (PSI) involve interviewing the defendant, reviewing the defendant's criminal history, interviewing victims, making program and treatment referrals and writing the PSI report.  The PSI report is then given to the judge to determine the sentence given the defendant.  Senate Bill 60 allows probation and parole officers to prepare PSI reports PRIOR to a guilty plea or finding so the report will be completed within 30 days.  Senate Bill 60 finds the defendant guilty until proven innocent.

Justice Reinvestment in Montana, January 2017
Report to the Montana
Commission on Sentencing
Further, probation and parole officers will be allowed
to prepare PSI reports in felony cases prior to a guilty
plea, ...or finding.

The 6th Amendment of the Bill of Rights establishes the "innocent until proven guilty" mantra that is present in the United States legal system.  Montana Title 46., Criminal Procedure Chapter 16, Part 2, MCA 46-16-204, guarantees the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.  The presumption of innocence is a legal right of the accused and it is an international human right under the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  

Senate Bill 60 takes away this fundamental right of innocence by allowing probation and parole officers to assume the defendant is guilty, before the finding of fact, and conducting a Presentence Investigation to give to the judge for sentencing.  The Presentence Investigation is designed to influence the judge in determining the sentence of the defendant before the defendant is found guilty.  The defendant is now guilty until proven innocent.

The Montana Budget Subcommittee, February 13, 2017, approved a decision package to fund 6 full time state employees and $720,000.00 to create a Presentence Investigation team, as proposed by Senate Bill 60.  The State of Montana approved nearly three quarter of a million dollars to violate your human rights granted under the 6th Amendment of the Bill of Rights, Montana Code Annotated 46-16-204 and the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In Montana, under Senate Bill 60, all Montanans are guilty until proven innocent.  The members of the Commission on Sentencing have violated the basic tenants of human rights and under no condition should we believe they are acting in good faith.  Justice Reinvestment in Montana? I don't think so.

This is justice at its' worst.  Thank you Commission on Sentencing.  You have just violated the basic human rights of all Montanans.  Senate Bill 60 has demonstrated the ignorance of legislators and corruption of the Montana justice system.

Defense Attorney's, take note - your client was found guilty before pleading or a trial.  This sounds like a good case before the Montana Supreme Court.  Senate Bill 60 is a violation of your client's rights.

Montana Senate Bill 64 & Montana Dept of Corrections – Unicorns Included

Senate Bill 64 is an act, requested by the Commission on Sentencing, revising the Board of Pardons and Parole and revising Probation and Parole to reduce recidivism.

I believe that most of the members on the Commission on Sentencing are very sincere in their wish to create a better outcome for the people entrapped in an antiquated correctional system.  Unfortunately, these very sincere people do not know the real obstacle in the path the majority of parolees take when released on parole.

Parolees have spent many years living in a harsh, hard, violent environment.  They have spent years in a hyper-vigilant state.  Many of these prisoners had at least one mental health issue before being incarcerated and it is fair to say all those incarcerated experience some mental health issue due to the conditions they have endured.

From January through June, 2017, there was 379 paroles granted, excluding those paroled to a federal retainer.  55% percent of the 379 were paroled to a pre-release center before going to probation and parole.  The stay at a pre-release center is usually 6-8 months.

If you read my last post you will know the qualifications to supervise parolees at a pre-release center is a high school diploma or GED.  Parolees, straight from prison, with mental health issues and in hyper-vigilant states are being supervised by someone with a high school diploma.  This GED or high school diploma does not, in anyway, prepare a person to help a parolee make a successful transition.

Montana Department of Corrections

HOW MONTANA’S PROBATION AND PAROLE SYSTEM WORKS

  • About 56 percent of men and 46 percent of women return to a corrections program within the first year.

The first year is a critical time for a parolee for  successful reentry.   55% of parolees, the first year,  are under the supervision of someone totally unprepared to help a hyper-vigilant person, with mental health issues, that has lived and survived a harsh, violent environment.  Then the Department of Corrections gives statistics that 56% of men and 46% of women return to a corrections facility within one year after requiring them to spend the greater portion of that first year under the supervision of someone totally unprepared to supervise them.  This private contract facility is not even required to report to the Montana Department of Corrections the classes, counseling or medication given the parolee when the parolee transitions from pre-release to probation and parole.  55% of parolees are sent to pre-release and 56% of parolees return to prison within one year.

Senate Bill 64 requires a 5 member board for the Board of Pardons and Parole.  With an annual salary of about $90,000.00 per board member, the State of Montana will spend almost a half a million dollars annually to professionalize the board.  Then this professional board sends the majority of parolees to a pre-release center that almost guarantees their failure for reentry.

If you believe this bill will reduce recidivism, then you are waiting for a unicorn to bring you a rainbow ice cream cone.  You cannot expect a successful reentry when a mentally ill parolee is supervised by someone with a high school diploma or GED.  The very sincere people sitting on the board of the Commission on Sentencing cannot be aware of the true obstacle confronting the parolee —      Pre-Release.

A Reader’s Digest version of a better plan:  If we parole 800 people a year and 55% (440 people) go to Pre-Release at $57.00 per day,  we are spending $25,000 a day for the equivalence of high school supervision.  At $25,000.00 a day for 210 days (7 months per person) we are spending $5,250,000.00 per year for the equivalence of high school supervision.  Take the half a million dollars for the new Board of Pardons and Parole that send the parolees to the equivalence of high school supervision, we would have $5,750,000.00 to divide between 800 parolees.  Each parolee would get $7,200.00 for housing, education, job training and medication for a successful reentry.  They could be set up with Medicaid, SNAP, and appropriate and required social services for a successful reentry rather then leaving a pre-release with no funds, training, education, social services or even a place to live.

Rather than spend tax dollars on exorbitant salaries for CEO’s of Pre-Release Centers, $250,000.00 to $330,000.00 per year salaries, and salaries for supervisor’s with a high school education, spend the money directly on the parolee and provide them the necessary tools for a successful reentry.  The funds could be administered by the reentry program within the Department of Corrections.

Let’s stop waiting for the unicorns and actually spend the money directly on the parolee.

 

 

 

 


	


	
	






	
	

		
The Real Legacy of Mike Batista and Montana Corrections
	


	

		
Montana’s prisons are over capacity due to an 11 percent increase in the prison population between FY2008-2015.  Mike Batista was the administrator for the Division of Criminal Investigation for the Montana Department of Justice for 20 years before being appointed as director for the Department of Corrections in 2012.  Now Mike Batista is currently named to the Board of Pardons and Parole.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  Let’s look at Batista’s legacy.


During Mike's tenure with the Division of Criminal Investigations, he employed a computer forensic scientist named Jimmy Weg.  Attached is an email obtained from Jimmy Weg.  

seq-2 (1)
click on link

This email is disturbing in so many ways. The email itself testifies to the fact that the "science" of computer forensics is junk science.  Jimmy was asked to help defend a search warrant.  Jimmy clearly says the defense is correct in their assessment of the search warrant. Jimmy says "TRUE" to defense claims. "WE'VE ALL HEARD OF CASES IN WHICH A SIGNAL WAS IN FACT STOLEN LEADING TO A SEARCH OF THE WRONG COMPUTER."  "..[nothing] IS FAIL SAFE."  Under the leadership of Mike Batista, Jimmy Weg continued to knowingly provide false and incomplete "evidence" to ignorant judges who in turn rubber stamped any search warrant request.  Immediately the innocent victim of the "scientific evidence" is turned into a criminal.

Mike Batista employed an investigator, Arlyn Greydanus.  Arlyn's son was a person of interest in a crime and was interviewed by law enforcement.  Mike Batista then authorized Arlyn to transport the evidence from Helena to the Missoula Crime Lab.  WOW!! Talk about evidence handling.  Obviously the son was cleared of any wrong doing.

During Mike's tenure as Director of Montana Department of Corrections, Mike signed a contract with Crossroads Correctional Facility authorizing Crossroads to add extra bunks in cells overcrowding the prison cells.  After authorizing Crossroads Correctional Facility to overcrowd the prison, Mike then asks the State of Montana for millions of dollars to alleviate the overcrowding he authorized.
  
Mike Batista worked with Ron Alsbury, Chief of Probation and Parole, to exponentially revoke and rescind the probation and parole of hundreds of men and women, particularly of American Indian descent.  After this unprecedented number of revocations, Mike Batista asks Montana citizens for millions of dollars to correct the challenges he created.

Mike Batista knowingly allowed search warrant applications based on "evidence" that was questionable at best and according to his own forensic examiner, known to be false.  Judges were not informed in these applications that probable cause was not, in fact, probable cause at all.

Batista allowed his own investigator a clear and probable opportunity to alter evidence in favor of the investigator's son.

Mike Batista signed a contract to authorize the overcrowding of prisons. He worked with Ron Alsbury to revoke and rescind the probation and parole of hundreds of people.  Mike Batista then pretends to be the savior of overcrowded prisons.

Now Batista is serving on the Board of Pardons and Parole deciding the fate of the people he incarcerated.  Many of these people are victims of the "probable cause" search warrants submitted by his investigators under his supervision.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.







 



	


	
	






	
	

		
Private Corrections In Montana – The Joke Is On Montana
	


	

		
The Montana Department of Corrections contracts with Community Counseling and Correctional Services Inc. (CCCS Inc), also known as the Butte PreRelease Center, to provide correctional services in Montana.  CCCS Inc also operates the Bismarck ND Transitional Center.  CCCS Inc is a private not for profit correctional provider that pays exorbitant salaries to its’ executive officers at taxpayer expense.


CCCS Inc contracts with the Montana Department of Corrections for a per diem  rate of $53.03 for each incarcerated male.  There are 120 male beds at the Butte center.  CCCS Inc contracts for a per diem rate of $62.27 for each incarcerated female.  There are 55 female beds at the Butte center.  Apparently being a female is a pre-existing condition and therefore costs more to treat.


CCCS Inc recently contracted with Bismarck ND Transitional Center to incarcerate and treat offenders at a per diem rate of $48.00 per day.  This per diem rate is $5.03 per day less for each North Dakota incarcerated male than for each Montana incarcerated male.  The cost of living in North Dakota is comparable to the cost of living in Montana.


At $5.03 per day for 120 beds, Montana is paying $603.60 more per day for the same service than North Dakota is paying.  At $5.03 per day for 120 beds, Montana is paying $220,314.00 more per year for the same service to the same not for profit company than North Dakota is paying.  North Dakota sure has better negotiating skills than Kevin Olson, Administrator for Montana Probation and Parole.


Montanans love their North Dakotan jokes.  It seems the joke is on Montana.  We are paying almost a quarter of a million dollars a year more to the same company for the same service.  Eh, just raise Montana taxes, that will cover it.