Tanzi Bill Passed to Study "Good Time" Standards

The state will spend the next six months studying potential reforms to the law that allows prisoners time off their sentences for good behavior under a resolution sponsored by Rep. Teresa Tanzi and passed by the House of Representatives last week.

The bill (2011-H 6265A) asks the Criminal Justice Oversight Commission to evaluate the existing law and make recommendations for any improvements by the start of the next General Assembly session in January.

The legislation is a compromise measure that arose out of a bill Tanzi submitted earlier this year at the request of Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin. That bill would have prohibited those serving jail time for certain serious, violent offenses from earning time off their sentences for good behavior or for participating in work, rehabilitation or education programs.

The original bill was introduced in March in response to news that Michael Woodmansee, who pleaded guilty to the grisly murder of 5-year-old Jason Douglas Foreman in Wakefield in 1975, was to be released in August after serving just 28 years of a 50-year prison sentence.

He was initially given just 40 years of the sentence to serve, but shaved off an additional 12 years for “good behavior” and working a prison job. Since then, however, Woodmansee has indicated that he will voluntarily remain in state custody after his release from prison.

After numerous concerns were raised during the initial hearing, lawmakers favored taking a more comprehensive look at the issue before instituting broad changes.

“At some point, the prisoners who are earning time off will be released from prison into our communities,” Tanzi said. “We need to find the appropriate balance between justice being served and the safety of our community. We need to explore who is eligible for education credits and who is eligible for good behavior, again, acknowledging that these individuals are the ones who eventually will be living among us.”

The Criminal Justice Oversight Commission is an existing panel charged with coordinating, monitoring and evaluating improvements to the criminal justice system including matters related to the inmate population and the state’s prisons.

Its members include the attorney general, the superintendent of the State Police, the director of the Department of Corrections, the chairperson of the Parole Board, the public defender, members of the judiciary, a representative of a victims’ rights group and others with knowledge of the criminal justice system in Rhode Island.

Tanzi’s resolution, which does not require Senate approval, asks the commission to consider a multi-tiered approach to the awarding of good time credits in order to ensure that prisoners who have committed violent or egregious crimes and those who could pose a threat to society do not receive credits that would result in an early release back into society.

The representative said there is value to the state in granting prisoners time off to encourage cooperative behavior and self-improvement activities that will make them more productive members of society upon their release. Any changes must balance those benefits with the risks posed by releasing into the community those who’ve committed violent crimes and those who haven’t been rehabilitated.

“How do we encourage the betterment of these individuals?” Tanzi said. “How do we decrease recidivism and encourage skill development? Prisoners who are released without these skills are going to have a very hard time making their way in our society, and may ultimately go on to cost our communities more pain. Perhaps not all inmates should earn time off for good behavior, but we need to see the data and whether it supports making changes. We must make informed decisions so that we are not back here in five or 10 years wishing we had done our due diligence on the issue.”

She added, “I look forward to receiving this report and to helping to enact the commission’s recommendations next year.”

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