Born: August 19, 1935
Died: January 24, 2016
Our beloved Joe Dever’s wake will be Thursday, January 28th, at the Murphy Funeral Home in Salem, Massachusetts, from 4:00-8:00 p.m. Directions are here. His obituary is here. The Marblehead paper has an article about Judge D’s life. Also, here is one from the Lynn Item.
The Funeral Mass will be at 11:00 a.m. at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church at 80 Atlantic Ave, in Marblehead, MA and directions are here.
From the Criminal Justice Policy Coalition:
On September 24, 2015, the Massachusetts Senate voted unanimously to pass S1812, An Act Relative to Motor Vehicle Suspension. Now the Massachusetts House must act to pass it’s sister, H3039. The House might vote on it as soon as TOMORROW!
Why do we need to pass H3039?
It asks to REPEAL the RMV’s automatic revocation of driver’s licenses for persons convicted of drug crimes, which requires payment of a reinstatement fee up to $500 after a period up to 5 years.
Each year, over 7,000 people in Massachusetts lose their driving privileges due to what’s currently on the books. That is 7,000 people who have entered the criminal justice system and/or who are returning from incarceration, who are trying to rebuild their lives but cannot:
– Drive their kids to school or daycare
– Drive themselves to work
– Attend reentry and treatment programs
Does your legislator support H3039?
Rep. Malia, Elizabeth (D)
Rep. Ashe, Brian (D)
Rep. Atkins, Cory (D)
Rep. Balser, Ruth (D)
Rep. Benson, Jennifer (D)
Rep. Brodeur, Paul (D)
Rep. Carvalho, Evandro (D)
Rep. Cronin, Claire (D)
Rep. Cullinane, Daniel (D)
Rep. Day, Michael (D)
Rep. Decker, Marjorie (D)
Rep. Devers, Marcos (D)
Rep. Donahue, Daniel (D)
Rep. Farley-Bouvier, Tricia (D)
Rep. Gentile, Carmine (D)
Rep. Gonzalez, Carlos (D)
Rep. Gregoire, Danielle (D)
Rep. Hecht, Jonathan (D)
Rep. Heroux, Paul (D)
Rep. Kaufman, Jay (D)
Rep. Keefe, Mary (D)
Rep. Khan, Kay (D)
Rep. Kocot, Peter (D)
Rep. Lawn, John (D)
Rep. Linsky, David (D)
Rep. Livingstone, Jay (D)
Rep. Mahoney, John (D)
Rep. Markey, Christopher (D)
Rep. McGonagle, Joseph (D)
Rep. Mirra, Leonard (R)
Rep. O’Day, James (D)
Rep. Peisch, Alice (D)
Rep. Provost, Denise (D)
Rep. Rogers, David (D)
Rep. Rushing, Byron (D)
Rep. Sannicandro, Tom (D)
Rep. Scaccia, Angelo (D)
Rep. Scibak, John (D)
Rep. Smizik, Frank (D)
Rep. Story, Ellen (D)
Rep. Swan, Benjamin (D)
Rep. Vega, Aaron (D)
Rep. Walsh, Chris (D)
… all support this bill!
Call them and thank them!
Don’t see your representative’s name on the list? SEE BELOW
https://malegislature.gov/People/Search
and here are talking points
_________________________________________
This is a letter from Josh Beardsley of Jobs Not Jails Urging Massachusetts folks to call their legislators or write to them by Wednesday, January 6th early morning.
The House has scheduled a floor vote this Wednesday (Jan. 6) on the bill to repeal the RMV’s automatic revocation of driver’s licenses for persons convicted of drug crimes, which requires payment of a reinstatement fee up to $500 after a period up to 5 years. This is a critical piece of legislation to support the employment of ex-prisoners and their successful re-entry into their communities. The bill was unanimously approved in the Senate on September 24, 2015, after a favorable report by the Joint Committee on Transportation. It is now known as Senate 2021 (formerly S. 2014 and S. 1812 (filed by Sen. Harriette Chandler)). The parallel House bill is H. 3039 filed by Rep. Elizabeth A. Malia (Jamaica Plain) with 52 co-sponsors. The provision repealing G.L. c. 90, sec. 22 (f) is also part of the Justice Reinvestment Act supported by the Jobs Not Jails Coalition that was filed by Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz (Boston) and Rep. Mary S. Keefe (Worcester), which is still pending before the Judiciary Committee (S. 64 and H. 1429). Boston Globe and Boston Herald editorials support repeal, as do District Attorneys. The Massachusetts Bar Association also supports repeal.
Josh Beardsley
Volunteer, EPOCA
Research Coordinator, Jobs NOT Jails Coalition
781_646_4622
I’ve been thinking about all the 2.2 million people in this country who will spend this Thanksgiving behind bars. Yes, some of them have done pretty horrible things. And some of them have been away from their family for years for very good reasons. But many prisoners, the people we sentence to our darkest places — in fact, over one quarter of them according to The National Review online — are incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses. And many of them will be saying their thanks for what they are grateful for; most of it has to do with love.
I have written much and often about how prisoners are not merely their crimes, and that their humanity is what often allows them to transform themselves behind bars whether it be through reading, programs, art, deep epiphanies about themselves and/or remorse. While on the day of Thanksgiving, no prisoner gets the benefit of home, even the dysfunctional home, many prisons provide a turkey dinner with the usual trimmings. Maybe not mom’s home-made pumpkin pie, but nonetheless, pie.
Thanksgiving is rough on the families who are visiting their loved ones behind bars. Mary Gautier, Louisiana born and Nashville now, kicking around with over five albums, has a song that really hits me when I think of how hard it is for everyone in this constellation, the families and the prisoners. It’s called “Thanksgiving.” You can listen to it here.
“We stood in a long line waiting for the doors to be unlocked
Out in the cold wind, ‘round the razor wire fenced in cellblock
Young mamas with babies, sisters and other kinds of kin
At Tallulah State Prison on Thanksgiving Day, we’re waiting to get in
You gotta get here early, it don’t matter how many miles you drove
They make you wait for hours, jailers always move slow
They run names, check numbers, gravel faced guards they don’t smile
Grammy and me in line, silently waiting single file
Thanksgiving at the prison, surrounded by families
Road weary pilgrims who show up faithfully
Sometimes love ain’t easy, sometimes love ain’t free
My grammy looks so old now, her hair is soft and white like the snow
Her hands tremble when they frisk her from head to her toes
They make her take her winter coat off then they frisk her again
When they’re done she wipes their touch off her dress, stands tall and heads in
Thanksgiving at the prison, surrounded by families
Road weary pilgrims who show up faithfully
Even though it ain’t easy, even though it ain’t free
Sometimes love ain’t easy, I guess love ain’t free”
Mary isn’t alone in thinking about prisoners on Thanksgiving. A lot of us who have worked behind bars turn our thoughts to those who can’t go home. Jack Cashill, an Emmy-award winning filmmaker and producer, shared a letter online from a prisoner. It doesn’t surprise me one bit — the gratefulness expressed. But I’d say it’s a lesson for many of us who complain about the minutia of life (me), and even those of us (me) who are sad on Thanksgiving without our parents to share our joy and sorrow. Most of us need to stop and see how much being in the moment and appreciating what we have is a way to heal our hurts. Of course, prisoners learn this too. Here’s a snippet of the part of the letter that I like best. So thanks to Steven Nary who wrote it in Avenal State Prison in California:
“For everyone who has ever come into my life, no matter how long our interaction was or whether it was inside or outside of prison, I am grateful for each moment, which is a gift in itself and a blessing…”
On a day where we think both about what we’ve lost and what we’ve found, let’s remember those behind bars.
I have a new post on Truthout. My new article is “Keep Kids Out of Handcuffs” It begins like this:
“The handcuffs just slipped off her wrists; in fact, Desre’e Watson was so small that they had to handcuff her by her biceps to haul her down to the station, the Florida police chief told The New York Times in 2007. No one could calm her tantrum, so the cops charged her with battery on a school official, disruption of a school function, and resisting a law officer. She was fingerprinted, had a mug shot taken and was kept briefly in a jail cell. She was 6 years old.”
Found this you-tube video from when I spoke at Marblehead’s Abbott Library and thought I’d post it! At the end (last 3 minutes or so) there’s a wonderful clip of a scene from the production of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice I directed at Framingham Women’s Prison in Massachusetts.