Hearing: Special Topics In Preventing and Responding to Prison Rape: Medical and Mental Health Care, Community Corrections Settings, and Oversight
December 5 - 6, 2007

Transcript

For a complete transcript of the Commission’s hearings in New Orleans, click the link below. Transcript segments for each panel can be downloaded by clicking the link next to the panel header. Individual statements submitted by hearing witnesses can be accessed by clicking on the witness name.

[Full Transcript]

December 5 | December 6

8:45 – 9:10 a.m. Opening Remarks [Transcript]

• Charles C. Foti, Jr. , Louisiana Attorney General
• James Carter, Councilmember, New Orleans City Council Chair, Criminal Justice Committee
• Major Marty Dufrene, Corrections Department Head Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office (Thibodeaux, LA)

9:10 – 10:10 a.m. Personal Accounts [Transcript]

• Sandi Matheson, Director of the State Office of Victim/Witness Assistance of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, who was involved in the prosecution of Douglas Tower. Mr. Tower has been charged with assaulting 13 women at the Shea Farms halfway house in Concord, NH. He was convicted at the first of 13 trials in February 2007 and sentenced to 20 to 40 years.
• Gina Womack, Co-Director, Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC). Ms. Womack will testify regarding her experiences as an advocate and organizer, and will also read the statement of Grace Bauer, whose son was sexually assaulted at the age of 15 in the Tallulah Juvenile Prison.
• Norris Henderson, Soros Justice Fellow and Co-Director for Safe Streets Strong Communities. Mr. Henderson spent over 27 years in prison, including 20 years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

10:15 – 11:45 a.m. Response and Treatment: Caring for Sexual Assault Victims in Correctional and Detention Facilities [Transcript]

The provision of medical and mental health services to sexual assault victims is challenging in any situation, and especially so in correctional and detention settings. Panelists will discuss adequate and appropriate care to victims within facilities, and examples of programs and procedures that can help—or hamper – the functioning of systems of care.

• Robert B. Greifinger, M.D., Correctional Health Care Policy and Quality Management Consultant and Professor (Adjunct) of Health and Criminal Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (New York, NY)
• Jim DeGroot, Ph.D., Director of Mental Health, Georgia Department of Corrections
• Jennifer Pierce-Weeks, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P, President-Elect, International Association of Forensic Nurses and Forensic Nurse Examiner, Memorial Hospital (Colorado Springs, CO)
• Lannette Linthicum, M.D., FACP, Medical Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice
• Ben Raimer, M.D., Vice President and CEO, Community Health Services, University of Texas Medical Branch; Professor, Pediatrics, Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine (Galveston, TX)

11:45 - 12:30 p.m. Lunch

12:30 – 2:00 p.m. Confidentiality and Reporting: Medical Ethics, Victim Safety, and Facility Security [Transcript]

Victims of sexual assault need a safe and confidential way to seek medical and mental health services. Are there times when reporting obligations and institutional considerations can – or should – come before an individual victim’s needs? Panelists will discuss the tensions between preserving patient/provider confidentiality and trust, and ensuring the safe and secure functioning of correctional facilities; and ways that the tensions can be addressed.

• Mike Puisis, D.O., Consultant, former Medical Director at the New Mexico Department of Corrections and the Cook County Jail; Editor, Clinical Practice in Correctional Medicine (Chicago, IL)
• Art Beeler, Warden, Federal Correctional Complex (Butner, NC)
• Wendy Still, Associate Director of Female Offender Program & Services, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Sacramento, CA)
• Lynn Sander, M.D., NCCHC Representative and former Medical Director of Denver Sheriff’s Department Medical Program; Immediate Past-President, Society of Correctional Physicians (Denver, CO)
• Carrie Hill, Attorney, Corrections Law and Criminal Justice Consultant; Editor, Corrections Managers’ Report (Maple Grove, MN)

2:15 – 3:30 p.m. Sexual Violence and Community Corrections: The Special Considerations of Community-based Settings [Transcript]

“Community corrections” includes a broad array of program types and levels of security and oversight. Involvement and contact with people and entities outside of the correctional system make preventing and responding to sexual violence particularly complicated. Panelists will discuss the unique concerns faced by community corrections professionals and the offenders in their care as they deal with the detection of and response to sexual violence.

• Carrie Abner, Research Associate, American Probation & Parole Association (Lexington, KY)
• Thomas Beauclair, Deputy Director, National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC)
• Denise Robinson, President, Alvis House and Past-President, International Community Corrections Association (Columbus, OH)
• Barbara Broderick, Director, Adult Probation, Maricopa County Pretrial and Probation (Phoenix, AZ)

3:45 – 5:00 p.m. Best Practices and Emerging Trends: The Community Corrections Field’s Response to the Prison Rape Elimination Act [Transcript]

Since the enactment of the Prison Rape Elimination Act, many community corrections professionals have worked to identify, implement, and evaluate policies and procedures for reducing and responding to sexual violence. Panelists will discuss specific programs and general principles that show promise for preventing and responding to sexual violence in community corrections settings.

• Anadora Moss, President of The Moss Group and NIC PREA/Moss Group Project Director (Washington, DC)
• Antonio Booker, Director, Adult Residential Services, Johnson County Department of Corrections (New Century, KS)
• Jacqueline Kotkin, Field Services Executive, Probation and Parole, Vermont Department of Corrections (Waterbury, VT)
• Eugenie Powers, Director, Probation and Parole, Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Correction (Baton Rouge, LA)

Hearing Location: U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana 500 Poydras Street, Room C-501 New Orleans, Louisiana 70130

For questions or further information, please call Joya Taft-Dick at (202) 233-2246.