In a dramatic reversal, the Massachusetts Department of Correction announced Wednesday that it would continue enforcing standard disciplinary protocol for staff inside the state's prison system, one day after a DOC memo said ordinary disciplinary procedures would be suspended due to the escalating COVID-19 crisis.
On March 17, deputy DOC commissioner Michael G. Grant sent a memo announcing "a moratorium on all staff discipline until further notice," as well as "a moratorium on any staff serving any suspensions." The memo also said that, moving forward, disciplinary situations "of an egregious nature" and "requir[ing] immediate attention" would be handled "on a case by case basis."
The memo did not explain how these steps would help combat the spread of COVID-19.
Asked about the changes at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Governor Charlie Baker was unable to offer a rationale.
"The DOC has been taking a lot of guidance from the folks at [the Department of] Public Health, with respect to almost all their policies and procedures around managing inmates and managing facilities," Baker said. "On that one in particular, we'll have to get back to you."
After Baker's comments, the Department of Correction provided WGBH News with a memo sent by Commissioner Carol Mici that denounced Grant's memo in scathing terms.
"This notice is to rescind yesterday's unauthorized memo regarding staff discipline and suspensions, which was drafted and distributed without my knowledge or approval," Mici wrote. "In order to eliminate any confusion caused by that unauthorized memo, I would like to convey explicitly to all personnel that the Department of Correction's disciplinary policy has not changed and that standard operating procedure will continue" [emphasis in the original].
The back-and-forth comes amid heightened tensions at the state's maximum-security prison for men, Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley. Early this year, 16 prisoners there were indicted after a violent attack on several prison guards. Other prisoners subsequently filed a lawsuit claiming they were attacked by guards in retaliation.
Before Mici reversed Grant's changes, Elizabeth Matos, the executive director of Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts, told WGBH News that some corrections officers might conclude that the new policies gave them a green light to mistreat prisoners.
"When there's a moratorium on discipline proceedings for officers, and people's suspensions are being lifted, there's a valid concern that it could be perceived by some corrections officers as giving them carte blanche," Matos said.
Afterward, Matos welcomed Mici's statement.
"It's hard to know what really happened there, but it's good that they're retracting [the changes] and making it very clear that the discipline process is still effective," Matos said.
Moving forward, she added, "I think the focus should really be on ensuring that correctional officers, if they're sick, they stay home — and that we're doing everything we can to prevent the virus from getting in there and spreading to the prison population."
