Congress Overview -- The Changing Face of Corrections
During the American Correctional Association's 133rd Congress of Correction, thousands of national and international corrections professionals convened at Gaylord Opryland in Nasvhille, Tenn., to discuss "The Changing Face of Corrections" Aug. 9-14. About 95 different workshops examined current trends and successful programs from across the country. Topics included staff development and leadership, recruiting staff, combating turnover, managing aging, deaf and hard of hearing offenders, gender-specific re-entry strategies and implementing successful correctional programs.
Unlike in the past, the Congress started off with the Ice Breaker Reception Sunday evening, which allowed attendees to network and catch up with colleagues in an informal setting. The Opening Session was moved to Monday morning, during which Bob Woodward, the Washington Post reporter famous for his investigation of the Watergate scandal, delivered the keynote address. Woodward spoke about his most recent projects, which include Bush at War, the book he recently completed about President Bush's response to Sept.11, 2001, and a book he is currently working on about the war in Iraq.
Afterward, the Exemplary Offender Program Award was presented to the Pender Correctional Institution in Burgaw, N.C., for its Pender Day Training Program. The goal of the program is to teach developmentally delayed inmates basic work ethics, standards of conduct, and interpersonal and practical skills that are necessary for productive employment and independent living. Since its establishment in 1993, the program has always met its stated objectives, most recently achieving 100 percent compliance with no deficiencies on all quality assurance standards in a formal audit by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services last year.
In addition, Reginald A. Wilkinson, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, was awarded the Walter Dunbar Accreditation Achievement Award, which recognizes instrumental and expanded participation in the accreditation program and outstanding contribution to the accreditation process. Lastly, the Missouri Corrections Association earned the Blanche La Du Chapter Achievement Award, which recognizes the ACA chapter with the greatest percentage of member increase during the past year.
Immediately following the Opening Session, the Exhibit Hall officially opened, allowing Congress attendees to visit the nearly 500 exhibitors displaying an array of products and services available to the corrections field, including access control, architecture/engineering services, lighting systems, food service equipment, locking systems, medical and mental health services and equipment, and substance abuse treatment, among many others.
Throughout the week, Congress attendees bid on numerous items during ACA's sixth silent auction, which benefits Habitat for Humanity. More than $3,800 was raised, more than doubling what was raised during ACA's fifth silent auction. Participants bid on items donated by correctional agencies and associations, as well as inmate-made goods, including a sofa table, porch swing, glider chairs, coffee tables, jewelry boxes, slat chairs, cookbooks and bird houses.
On the final evening of the Congress, ACA honored two corrections professionals with its highest honor. During the E.R. Cass Awards Banquet, J. Michael Quinlan, senior vice president of Corrections Corporation of America, and Sister Margaret Graziano, chaplain at Lane County Adult Correctional Facility in Eugene, Ore., were recognized for their devoted service to the corrections field. The entertainment for the event was Paul Revere & the Raiders.
The conference week concluded with the Closing Plenary, which provided a lively discussion about the death penalty. Speakers Richard C. Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, and John C. McAdams, an associate professor of political science at Marquette University in Milwaukee, debated both sides of the controversial issue.
Bob Woodward Addresses Congress Attendees at Opening Session
Award-winning journalist and best?selling author Bob Woodward, best known for his coverage of the Watergate scandal, discussed his most recent book about President Bush and the one he is currently working on about the war in Iraq during the Opening Session of the 133rd Congress of Correction Monday morning.
Bush at War details the president's response to the Sept.11, 2001, terrorist attacks, while Woodward's current project is about a "much more complicated, much more difficult subject" - the war in Iraq. "There are all kinds of military and diplomatic questions about the war," said Woodward, assistant managing editor of The Washington Post. "There also is what I think is the most interesting question about the war, not just in Iraq but in Afghanistan and the response to 9/11, that is, who is President Bush? Who is this man who is our leader, whether people voted for him or not because, simply, this age in a nation where we are fighting the war on terrorism, who the commander in chief is truly matters and in many ways, defines who we are as a nation not only to ourselves but to the world."
In many ways, the terrorist attacks and Bush's response legitimized his presidency, maintained Woodward. However, what most people do not fully understand is how Bush's frame of mind immediately following the attacks shaped his subsequent policy of pre?emption, which ultimately led to the intensely debated war in Iraq.
A week before Bush was inaugurated, the CIA briefed him about the three greatest threats to national security: Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network, the global proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the rise of China, according to Woodward. Ideally, he continued, Bush would have followed up that meeting by working with advisers to determine what the nature of these threats are, what the past policy had been and what this administration's policy would be. However, Bush essentially did nothing. Instead, he focused on the tax cut and domestic issues during the first half of his first year in office.
Following the attacks on the twin towers and the Pentagon, CIA Director George Tenet informed Bush that al Qaeda was responsible. "Imagine the lump in the throat and the stomach: You're the president of the United States, it's the biggest attack on the homeland - ever - and you realize that you've been warned. It was a vague warning, but it was intense and it was very specific," said Woodward. As a result, much of Bush's response was fueled by the fact that he had made the mistake of overlooking the warning. Woodward said, the interesting question, which will be addressed in his next book, is how did the country get from the war on terrorism to the war in Iraq.
After the war in Afghanistan, Bush and his "war captain" met to discuss the lessons learned from the experience, said Woodward. "Essentially Bush's answer was, the lesson of 9/11 is take care of threats early because they had not taken care of the bin Laden threat early or adequately." With the Sept. 11 attacks, the sense of what a president had to do to protect the country changed, explained Woodward. Traditionally, the rules of evidence required absolute knowledge before launching an attack. During the following months, the Bush administration was criticized for not connecting the dots about the bin Laden threat. In the case of Saddam Hussein, "there were more dots and they were closer together," and Bush determined he would have to act. The administration singled out Hussein for a number of reasons, some of which are currently being debated and will be debated for months and years to come, including what was the extent of the threat, how imminent it was and if there really were weapons of mass destruction.
While writing his book Bush at War, Woodward was permitted unprecedented access to do an "excavation" of the notoriously closed?lipped administration's decision?making during and after the terrorist attacks. Last summer, he sent the president a 20?page memo detailing what information he had about Sept. 11, and subsequently was granted a two and a half hour interview - the longest nonstop interview a sitting president has ever given. Woodward asked 300 questions and found the president to be candid, even sharing his inner thoughts about what he was experiencing. "His response was, "Let's go for it,' and he provided an incredible, full accounting of why he did things - sometimes it's not pretty, sometimes it is," said Woodward.
In addition, Bush outlined his broad theory of what he views as his responsibilities as president, summarizing it in one sentence, "I will seize the opportunity to achieve big goals," recalled Woodward. He also recalled Bush becoming "fiery" when talk turned to Hussein's abuse of his citizens and when he asserted, "I loathe Kim Jong Il" for the mass organized starvation of North Koreans. At that point, he made it clear that, although his advisers say there is nothing this country can do because of the size of North Korea's army, in the long run, something will be done.
In researching and writing about the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq, Woodward said he has found that the war on Iraq is one hundred times more complex than the war on terrorism because the war in Iraq is a "discretionary war." "We were not attacked; it was a threat," he said. "The arguments they made, as I said, was, 'Look, we have to take care of these threats, we are not waiting anymore, we are going on the offense."
Before Woodward spoke, Andrea Conte, the First Lady of Tennessee, welcomed the audience and shared how her collaboration with the state's department of correction successfully contributed to a project she was working on for her nonprofit organization. You Have the Power works to raise the awareness of violent crime through creating documentaries and resource materials. Conte's collaboration with the Tennessee DOC brought convicted child sex offenders before the camera to share their perspective about the crimes they committed for one of the documentaries.
Because of the candidness of the inmates, what resulted were two videos that, to this day, "make a huge impact on our audiences," she said. The lesson she sought to impart on the audience was the significance of such collaboration. "As you go about your work ... keep in mind that there may be community agencies in your area who may be able to help you and you may be able to help them, and it just opens the door to better coordination," she said.
Edward R. Cass Correctional Achievement Awards
Editor's Note: The American Correctional Association's highest honor was bestowed upon Sister Margaret Graziano and J. Michael Quinlan, Aug. 13 in Nashville. The following citations are printed as they were read during the event.
Sister Margaret Graziano
Sister Margaret Graziano has dedicated the majority of her life to serving others who have been less fortunate than her. For the past 25 years, she has spent her time committed to the offenders at Lane County Adult Correctional Facility in Eugene, Ore., where she is currently chaplain, attaining her personal mission of helping inmates learn life skills, and upon request, the power of prayer.
As a Sister of the Holy Names for more than 60 years, Sister Margaret has volunteered in many capacities at Lane County, holding titles such as assistant volunteer coordinator, mental health specialist and art therapist. Devoting her life to furthering the interest of corrections and rehabilitation through the application of correctional art programs, Sister Margaret has initiated a wide variety of arts and crafts programs, and musical and cultural activities at the jail. In addition, she has been the driving force behind and founder of Leisure Wellness and Art Therapy within the facility, which focuses on changing inmate behavior through self-expression through the arts, and has advocated for the creation or expansion of correctional arts programs.
Sister Margaret feels strongly that every inmate deserves a chance to become a better person and she uses the arts medium as her method of helping inmates gain confidence and go on to a better life. This has caused many offenders to re-evaluate their lives and discover hidden or unrealized talents.
For more than 20 years, Sister Margaret has been an American Correctional Association member, attending each and every Congress of Correction and Winter Conference since joining. In recent years, she has transported more than 200 pieces of artwork to exhibit during our conferences -- a result of her commitment to the ACA affiliate I-CAN, the International Correctional Arts Network, which, in part, raises money for the offenders who create the art.
In addition, Sister Margaret has served as president of the Corrections Ministry Commission of the Portland, Ore., Archdiocese, which promotes the work of volunteers in jails and prisons across western Oregon; joined the "People to People" tour, traveling to South Africa to visit jails and prisons, and interacted with corrections professionals of different cultures and legal systems; has been accredited as a correctional chaplain by the American Catholic Correctional Chaplains Association; is a member of ACA's Delegate Assembly; is president of I-CAN; and serves on the American Correctional Chaplains Association's Certification Committee, among other commitments.
For her devoted service to the field of corrections, ACA is proud to present its highest honor, the E.R. Cass Correctional Achievement Award, to Sister Margaret Graziano.
J. Michael Quinlan
J. Michael Quinlan began his 31-year career in corrections as an attorney and has since worked in increasingly responsible positions, including five years as director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He currently serves as senior vice president of Corrections Corporation of America, where he has worked for the past 10 years.
Throughout his career, Quinlan has emphasized five primary principles that reflect his values: public safety, community involvement, employee opportunity, cost-effective and humane corrections, and inmate rehabilitation. In addition, he stresses the importance of rehabilitative, vocational and educational programs in facilities to foster the development of viable skills and mainstream values in inmates. At CCA, he has initiated new programs and more sophisticated monitoring systems, including the first systemwide, satellite-based learning network through a partnership with a national education network, which has allowed him to track the success of the inmate students and determine future program improvements.
While at the Bureau of Prisons, Quinlan mandated that inmate literacy be increased to the 12th grade level for all inmates and expanded facility drug abuse treatment programs. He also implemented changes to accommodate inmate growth, developed a state-of-the-art design for the maximum-security facility in Florence, Colo., and created a state-of-the-art management information system.
As a proponent of American Correctional Association standards, and as an advocate for strict adherence to regulations and policies in general, Quinlan has always been supportive of the ACA accreditation process during his tenures at the Bureau of Prisons and CCA. His insistence that the Bureau of Prisons and CCA pursue ACA accreditation wherever possible set a tone for others in the industry to follow, creating greater exposure for membership and participation in ACA. Quinlan also devoted eight years to ACA's Standards Committee, working to add and improve standards and strengthen the standards process.
In addition, Quinlan is an active member of the American Bar Association where for the past 18 years, he has served on its Committee on Sentencing and Corrections, promoting numerous issues, notably mandatory literacy, expansion of legislative support for prison industries, compassionate release of the elderly and terminally-ill inmates, cost-effective alternatives to incarceration and other issues consistent with ACA's policies and philosophy.
For his committed and compassionate service to the field of corrections, ACA is proud to bestow its highest honor, the E.R. Cass Correctional Achievement Award, upon J. Michael Quinlan.
Awards
Each year during the Congress of Correction, several individuals and organizations are recognized for their exceptional contributions to the corrections field. The American Correctional Association would like to congratulate the following award recipients, as well as any others who were honored in Nashville, Tenn., this past August.
American Correctional Association
Blanche L. La Du Award: Missouri Corrections Association
Exemplary Offender Program Award: Pender Day Training Program, Pender Correctional Institution, Burgaw, N.C.
American Correctional Chaplains Association
Chaplaincy Offender Program Award: Horizon Interfaith, Marion Correctional Institution, Marion, Ohio.
Commission on Accreditation for Corrections
Walter Dunbar Accreditation Achievement Award: Reginald A. Wilkinson, director, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Salvation Army
Chaplain of the Year Award: Father James E. Jacobson, chaplain, Oregon State Penitentiary
Volunteers of America
Maud Booth Correctional Services Award: Marilyn Van Dieten, clinical psychologist
Certification
In addition, certification examinations were administered during the Congress Aug. 9. The following individuals received Certified Corrections Professional status in the categories of Corrections Officer (CCO), Corrections Manager (CCM) and Corrections Executive (CCE):
Thomas Bay, CCE, captain, Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, Centennial, Colo.; James K. Bueche Jr., CCE, director, Louisiana Division of Youth Services, Baton Rouge, La.; Kirk Mc Cleave, CCO, field training officer, Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, Charlotte, N.C.; Paul A. Moore, CCM, captain/classification section, Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, Charlotte, N.C.; John Moore Jr., CCO, detention officer, Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, Charlotte, N.C.; June Patterson, CJM, CCE, facility administrator, JoAnn Bridges Academy, Greenville, Fla.; Marsha P. Travis, CJM, CCM, programs manager, Davidson County Sheriff's Office, Nashville, Tenn.; and Deborah A. Williams, CCM, inmate jobs coordinator, Brushy Mt. Correctional Complex, Petros, Tenn.
