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Boston Globe
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Advocates, governor clash over proposed $360 million overhaul for Framingham women's prison
'This is more than an investment in a 150-year-old building,' Healey said. 'It represents an investment in people, a commitment to second chances, and a responsibility to build a safer future for communities statewide.' Advertisement Anti-incarceration advocates, who have long opposed the building of a new women's prison in Massachusetts, said the state should instead focus on releasing and funding services for more women, 'We could be investing in those alternatives instead of a massive, massive construction project,' said Mallory Hanora, director of the Roxbury-based advocacy organization Families for Justice as Healing. Healey's plan would reduce MCI-Framingham's footprint from 260,000 to 200,000 square feet decrease bed capacity, though the governor's office did not specify the exact number of planned beds. Inmates would be housed in 'community-oriented living units' in a 'campus-like setting,' and the facility would feature improved facilities for medical care, mental health treatment, and rehabilitative programming, according to the governor's office. Advertisement 'This investment reflects our overarching goal of strategically aligning our infrastructure with our rehabilitative mission,' Public Safety and Security Secretary Terrence Reidy said in a statement. In 2022, a That same year, both chambers of the state legislature passed a bill that would have placed a five-year moratorium on new prison construction, though it was vetoed by Baker. The latest version of the bill, which was the subject of a hearing in May, includes a carve-out for renovations that would improve living conditions, as long as they did not expand bed capacity. Sen. Jo Comerford, a Florence Democrat and one of the moratorium's sponsors, said Healey's plan has its priorities wrong — particularly at a time when President Trump's latest spending bill 'My initial reaction was one of disappointment and concern,' Comerford said in an interview. '$360 million is an enormous sum of money.' The state should focus on funding alternatives to incarceration, community-based services, anti-poverty initiatives and addiction treatment programs, Comerford said, which she described as ways of addressing the 'root causes of incarceration.' Comerford said that incarcerated women who Advertisement 'I don't think there's any disputing the fact that MCI-Framingham is an old building and in need of repair, but when you ask formerly and currently incarcerated people for their opinion, what we hear is invest in alternatives to incarceration, invest in the root causes of incarceration,' Comerford said. The renovation would also, for the first time, allow for a 'temperature-controlled environment' — long a concern for inmates who have complained of inescapable and sometimes dangerous heat levels. Lee Unitt, who served time at MCI-Framingham from 2013 to 2019, alleged in a 2017 federal lawsuit that oppressive heat, combined with the prison's denial of her request for a large fan, contributed to her suffering from mini-strokes while incarcerated. She sued again the next year, alleging that the presence of carcinogenic chemicals in paint and mattresses had harmed her health. In an interview, Unitt said she hopes Healey's renovation would fully address those health concerns, for the sake of other inmates and staff at the facility. 'What she is proposing sounds great on paper,' Unitt said. A federal judge dismissed both of Unitt's suits in 2021, finding that though there may have been high heat and toxins in her cell, Unitt had not provided sufficient expert evidence to back up her claims of medical harm. Her appeal in the PCB lawsuit is still pending. Angelia Jefferson, a former MCI-Framingham inmate who now works for Families for Justice as Healing, said she often saw mold in the prison's showers, and that heat was a perpetual problem, both during the summer and when the facility's heating system was turned on full-blast during the winter. Advertisement 'If you have any type of respiratory issue, it's hard for you to breathe in those little cells,' Jefferson said. And some advocates argued no amount of capital funding can address the traumatic and sometimes abusive conditions of incarceration in Massachusetts. 'It's kind of a perversion of the language that they use around reimagining rehabilitation,' said Connie Tran, an attorney who represents two former inmates currently suing an MCI-Framingham guard for alleged sexual assault. 'This is money to rebuild a prison, essentially. There's nothing that's going to be reimagined here, except maybe they will update their air conditioning.' Jefferson said that if it was up to her, the prison would be closed for good. 'I think it's a shame they're taking that much money to put into that prison,' Jefferson said. 'They should be taking that money to put into our communities.' At its peak in 2007, MCI-Framingham held 844 women. The facility currently holds 218 people, out of a an operational capacity of 598, according to the governor's office. More than 72 percent of that population has been diagnosed with serious mental illness, according to that data. Jefferson, who spent 31 years in MCI-Framingham for killing her ex-boyfriend, said she wants other women like her experience freedom and contribute to society. 'What I did was wrong. But at the same time I am giving back to my community,' she said. 'The women behind the wall? Give them the same chance they gave me.' Dan Glaun can be reached at
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Reidy weighing World Cup safety, federal funding concerns for Massachusetts
BOSTON (SHNS) – As Massachusetts prepares to host FIFA World Cup matches in the summer of 2026 and welcome thousands of international tourists, Secretary of Public Safety and Security Terrence Reidy stressed the state is counting on federal dollars to support all of the events. Healey's fiscal 2026 budget recommendation does not carve out funding dedicated to FIFA public safety efforts, Reidy said Friday. 'The FIFA event will be a tremendous event for Massachusetts if we have the proper funding, and the funding primarily should be coming from the federal government,' Reidy said at a budget hearing in Clinton. 'Boston is the lead city on this, but I have major, major concerns if we don't have the funding…and where are we going to be in a couple years geopolitically?' The secretary added, 'It is a massive undertaking for everybody — not just law enforcement.' Seven matches, including a quarterfinal, will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough during FIFA World Cup 26. Sen. Paul Feeney had asked Reidy what financial resources are needed to support the matches, which the Foxborough Democrat had likened to hosting seven Super Bowls. Reidy outlined a bevy of security concerns, as he referenced the New Orleans terror attack on New Year's Eve that prompted stricter safety measures at the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. The secretary also mentioned planning for World Cup fan events in Boston. 'I believe there's supposed to be a fan event, potentially on the Boston Common or Boston City Hall, going after hours for like 29 days, 29 days or so from like two in the afternoon to early morning hours,' he said. He added, 'There's significant, significant public safety concerns that we're preparing for. There are a lot of teams, a lot of work tracks. We are going to absolutely need federal funding. And those are the representations that the working groups have received from our federal partners. If we don't have that, it's going to be a significant, significant issue that we're going to have to address.' Reidy did not specify the scale of federal funding that's needed in Massachusetts. He also did not mention any specific threats that could jeopardize the flow of federal dollars surrounding the World Cup. Still, the Healey administration is already grappling with federal funding cuts under the Trump administration. Even steeper reductions could be on the horizon, as Gov. Maura Healey has warned 2 million Bay Staters could lose their health insurance should congressional Republicans move forward with massive Medicaid cuts. 'It is a major financial undertaking, that we are going to have significant issues if the federal government doesn't hold true of what they've been representing,' Reidy said of hosting the World Cup. 'But depending on what teams we get, it could also add another level of safety issues. But the communication and the work with the State Police, Boston Police, local police, fire, EMTs, MEMA is involved, federal partners, is extensive.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
