The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Executive Department
State House Boston, MA 02133
(617) 725-4000
MITT ROMNEY
GOVERNOR
KERRY HEALEY
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 17, 2003 CONTACT:
Shawn Feddeman
(617) 725-4025
Christine Cole (EOPS)
(617) 727-7775
HARSHBARGER TO LEAD BLUE RIBBON PANEL ON CORRECTIONS
Romney Asks Commission to Conduct Comprehensive Review of Corrections Department
Governor Mitt Romney today established a “blue ribbon” commission headed by former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger to conduct a comprehensive review of current operations at the state Department of Correction.
The “Governor’s Commission on Corrections Reform” is comprised of current and former corrections officials, community leaders and criminal justice experts as well as two legislators to be appointed by the Senate President and Speaker of the House.
The action comes on the recommendation of Public Safety Secretary Edward Flynn, who said preliminary findings from the investigation led by State Police Major Mark Delaney into the murder of inmate John Geoghan had identified issues outside the scope of his review that merit further study.
“Although the Geoghan investigation continues, the initial review indicates there are issues in our corrections system that could benefit from improved standards, training and new guidelines,” said Romney. “For that reason, we are forming this commission to recommend changes.”
The Governor and Secretary Flynn said they are interested in a broad review of the Department of Correction.
Geoghan was killed on August 23rd at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Facility in Shirley. Another inmate, Joseph Druce, has been charged with the slaying.
The separate, more narrow review of the Geoghan murder is ongoing and will continue to focus on the historical paths of Geoghan and Druce through the Department of Correction, the decision-making that led to their common incarceration in a special housing unit and the means by which Druce is alleged to have breached security without detection.
“When I asked my investigative team to examine the circumstances that led to the Geoghan slaying, I also charged them with identifying larger systemic issues that might require a broader inquiry,” Flynn said. “My confidence in the integrity of their investigation is justified by their preliminary identification of these issues of concern and are the basis upon which I have asked the Governor to appoint a commission to review operations at the DOC.”
Harshbarger, the former two-term Attorney General, was the 1998 Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts and former president of the citizen watchdog group Common Cause in Washington, D.C. He now heads the Harshbarger Governance Practice at the Quincy/Boston law firm of Murphy, Hesse, Toomey and Lehane.
“I am very honored to have been asked by Governor Romney to head the Commission on the Department of Correction,” said Harshbarger. “I have spent a considerable portion of my career working in the law enforcement and criminal justice systems and welcome the opportunity to draw upon that experience in conducting the governance review of DOC I have been charged to undertake by the Governor.”
The individuals serving on the Commission have agreed to provide their services pro bono.
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