Penal Reform

Next week the State Legislature will get a chance to bring the penal code up to date. The Friends of Framingham Reformatory, formed originally to help Dr. Miriam Van Waters in the smear campaign against her, have introduced a bill to change some of the present archaic statutes and to bring them in line with modern sociological knowledge.

The philosophy of the proposed degislation is that a Reformatory should prepare its inmates for life in the community, rather than punish them. H.2404 would extend the opportunities for work in the community to inmates who are still under sentence and under the supervision of the Reformatory. The old statute, passed in 1879, limited this kind of activity to domestic service, which has proved hardly adequate for rehabilitation. The new law would legalize other forms of "conditional placement", and would permit day work for women living in the Reformatory. Administration of this readjustment program would be placed under a qualified board consisting of the Reformatory superintendent, the deputy superintendent, the physician, the psychologist, and the chief social worker.

Under the compromise bill now before the legislature, the Commissioner of Correction would still have nominal control of day work, and "lifers" would be excluded from the program. Any fears about possible unfair labor practices in the expansion of the conditional placement program have been allayed: The Bill guarantees that Reformatory inmates will not work for less than the prevailing wage, and prevents them from being hired as strike breakers. The A.F.L., C.I.O. and 45,000 petitioners have out in support of the bill.

Passage of H.2404 would contribute to an enlightened, modern approach to the problems of penology. Defeat would mean that the legislature has surrendered to the same narrow-minded group which led the original fight against Dr. Van Waters.