l
Director, Mike Ferriter, Montana Department Of Corrections
Ferriter oversees an agency with 1,300 employees, an annual budget of about $170 million
It has been brought to our attention by many that are upset with Montana State Prison. Montana Department Of Corrections has implemented new rules for a certain segment of the population. Only a certain segment, not the whole population. They have picked out a certain portion of inmates and keep them more isolated. Anyone that is under sex offender or violent offender is not allowed to have visits except for two days a week now. Only on Wednesdays and Fridays. Hours are shorter also. So, families that work and families where their own children are in school will never be allowed to see their parent, or loved one again. The phone calls are so expensive that it is hard to afford to talk to them on the phone. No weekend visits allowed. Father’s Day was just celebrated and families were not allowed to see their fathers. Wives cannot see their husbands. Who implemented this new rule, without warning? One week warning is not enough. Inmates did not know about it. DOC posted it on a board in the units about a week before it took effect. They could not warn their families and some showed up and were turned away. Visitors, just several days before it took effect, could get a handout sitting on the check in desk.
Revisions to the visiting procedures at Montana State Prison took effect Wednesday, June 6.
Inmates were notified of the changes earlier. The revised procedures can be found on the
Department of Corrections website at
http://www.cor.mt.gov/Facts/visitingInformation/msp.mcpx. Also available on the website are
downloadable copies of the visitor questionnaire and the dress code for visitors.
The changes involve:
posting of visiting rules and regulation
availability of visitor questionnaires
visiting by current and former Department of Corrections employees
notification of visitor applicants
applicants ability to appeal a decision
attorneys listed on as an inmate’s regular visitor
accommodation of visitors with medical issues
visiting hours for adults and children
items visitors are allowed to have with them
the process for terminating, suspending and revoking visiting privileges
The National
Bill of Rights for
Children of the Incarcerated*
Every child with a parent in prison (or alternatives to
prison) has the following rights:
1. To be kept safe and informed at the time of my
parent’s arrest;
2. To be heard when decisions are made about me;
3. To be considered when decisions are made about
my parent;
4. To be well-cared for in my parent’s absence;
5. To speak with, see, and touch my parent;
6. To support as I face my parent’s incarceration;
7. To not be judged, blamed or labeled because my
parent is incarcerated;
8. To have a lifelong relationship with my parent.
MAFTI Guide for Caregivers Page 3
4. When can I see my family member?
In most cases, family members can visit in jail, prison or other correctional facilities. The Montana Department of Corrections (DOC) supports the connection between children andtheir parents if contact is safe and appropriate for the child.
The best answer is one that gives the child a specific time to
look forward to, but only if you are sure.
Page 10 MAFTI Guide for Caregivers
Source: http://www.cor.mt.gov/content/Victims/FamilyMembersBehindBars.pdf
Montana State Prison Inmate Visiting
June 2012
Definitions
Immediate family member – An inmate’s legal spouse, natural or adoptive parents and children, siblings, grandchildren, grandparents, corresponding in-law, person verified as being primarily responsible for raising the inmate in the absence of a parent and any other member of the inmate’s household.
General Requirements
- Visiting is a privilege and not a right for both inmates and members of the general public.
Hours of visitation:
- Visiting is allowed Wednesday through Sunday. Visitors arriving on any other day will be turned away.
- Visitors may not arrive on prison property prior to 2:15 p.m. or after 4:50 p.m. Visitors arriving prior to 2:15 p.m. or after 4:50 p.m. will be turned away.
- All visiting may be cancelled or terminated at any time due to security concerns.
- General population inmates housed in units A, B, C, D, HSU-I, HSU-II and the Work and Re-entry Center are allowed five visiting periods per week, Wednesday through Sunday.
- Visiting on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays ends at 7:30 pm. Visiting on Thursdays, ends at 5:00 pm.
- Visiting on Wednesdays and Fridays are for adults (age 18 and over) only.
- Visiting on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays is open to adults and minors.
- On a case-by-case basis, visiting may be restricted for inmates who have restrictions in their sentencing orders related to contact between the inmate and others. This restriction may be imposed if it is in the interest of visitor safety, the security of the institution or the inmate’s rehabilitation.
- Inmates meeting the above criteria are allowed visits only on Wednesdays and Fridays, when only adults (age 18 and over) are allowed to visit, and will receive written notice of the restriction to enable them to notify the people who are visiting them of the restrictions.
- If an inmate is identified as meeting the requirements for the restriction, he may appeal it by submitting court papers to the security major that indicate the court orders have been changed or the restriction is in error.
3. Inmates can send or receive an unlimited amount of correspondence without restriction to
source, destination, or content if the inmate can afford postage and complies with this
procedure, unless reasonable belief exists that limitation is required to protect public
safety or the secure and orderly operation of the facility.
Source: http://www.cor.mt.gov/content/MSP/MSPCorrespondencePolicy.pdf
The cost per day at the prisons varies due to the disparity in the services and programming provided and the custody levels of the inmates housed there. The cost per day at Crossroads is $63.98 for each inmate. The cost per day at Montana State Prison is $94.19. The higher rate is because MSP functions, to a great extent, as a special-needs facility in the Montana prison network.
MSP has specialized programs and services that are not available elsewhere. It has:
A full infirmary that is capable of providing inmates with extensive and chronic medical and dental
needs
Intensive treatment units for chemical dependent and methamphetamine-addicted inmates
Sex offender treatment
Source: http://www.cor.mt.gov/content/Issues/PrisonSystem.pdf
- This is all from Montana Department Of Corrections Website. They did not even give a 30 day notice to inmates. They did not give a 30 day notice at all to families so children could see their parent one last time. Then to top it all off….they only handed out the new rules to this segment of the population this past Saturday evening June 16th,2012, (took effect 6-06-2012) while the rest of the population was in lock-down. They called each inmate down one by one to the cages and gave them rules. Allowing all other inmates in the population to know what this segment had been incarcerated for. That is ENDANGERMENT! They put these other inmates in a very volatile situation with inmates making jeers about “now they know why they are in prison for.” Who is running these prisons? What would possess someone to announce this new change that way? Why not put the new rules for this segment under the doors at night just like they do for mail? That would be the business way and smartest way to do this. No, they intentionally did it that way to cause either a riot, cause a problem for those getting ready for parole, cause someone to get killed or someone to commit suicide. These are the type of people running these facilities? And you wonder why there is such a problem with suicides? Not even giving the fact that some of these inmates are in there wrongly convicted or convicted of a different crime.
- Other major issue. They are going against their own policies as far as families are concerned. Not all offenders are in there for pedophilia. As you have already seen all throughout this website they throw many under the label without there being reason too. But….still…let’s go one more step….there is NO threat in the visiting area. There is more staff at MSP then you ever see at any other facility. We have never seen so many officers at a prison. Other officers from other states agree when they hear this. They say they are understaffed….but that is a joke. They are hiring all the time, more females, which is what they have had a major felony scandal that was committed by female officers there at MSP. Female officers having sex with inmates, but they want to ignore that. Young girls out of school should not be working at places such as this. Female officers hanging around with a group of inmates discussing other inmates cases. Officers wanting to be noticed. There are officers loitering around everywhere. Is this just a place to house jobs but you don’t want to call it warehousing inmates? Well, if that is the case they have way over enough officers to do their jobs during visiting hours. What are they getting paid for? What is all this money in the budget going too? They are cutting everything out. Visits, phone calls (too expensive), mail (if they have money for postage), not allowed to have bibles donated to them. What kind of barbaric practices are being used at this facility? Montanans want to know. Us taxpayers want to know. That is a lot of money for no one wanting to do their job or offer any humane services.
I believe in my mind this is retaliation for all bad publicity our webmaster is creating for the DOC: Nothing more. They can’t possible defend this action as a safety issue.
That is a shame if so, that they would stoop that low. To completely break families apart. There is absolutely zero safety issue concerns. They have enough officers there to handle two prisons. This is just MDOC wanting to show the rest of the state departments and the legislators who is boss. They answer to no one.
When it comes to nepotism: I haven’t heard a name but an inmate told me Mr.Ferriter’s niece was working at MSP, but was let go. Anyone know any more about that ?
Would you want people knowing why you were fired from your job? It’s none of your business. What does that have to do with the mistreatment of the inmates?
I agree with Denise, what someone would get fired about,I could care less. What I would want more answers on, rather than about Mr.Ferriter’s niece getting fired, is why the female officers and staff that had sexual relationships with an inmate at MSP were not charged when they clearly charge any other Montanan that is based just on “hearsay” why weren’t these women charged and convicted? They had two major investigations going on in the same time frame at two major state facilities. They pick one scapegoat The Incarcerated Montana Fireman and basically charged him with something that these ladies had admitted to doing way above and beyond what his “alleged” crime was. Both at state facilities. Not just once but over 30 times in some cases, they admitted and one even being a therapist. What about the other people that were also being investigated at MDC, even by private investigators? There were investigations going on all over the place. But the DOJ chose to say only one person they could charge something with. When there was not even any evidence, and the MDOJ still lied about the plea bargain. They choose one person with PTSD and forced him into a plea bargain based on a false confession from another co-worker that was proved untrue. None of these other names were mentioned in the newspaper like they plastered his name which indeed would make what the Public Defender stated to be true. How would he get a fair trial after MDOJ made a point to make a case that was not so in the newspapers? Who would try to go to trial after MDOJ plastered their “opinions” thus ensuring that he would not get a fair trial. The county attorney already used unethical actions just for the plea bargain and sentencing. After seeing the incarceration rates that Senator Hinkle shared in his article, it shows a strong trend of MDOJ using these bullying methods to gain a conviction. What the rest of us would like to know is when something is going to be done about these other “alleged” crimes then? They promised these ladies they would not do anything to them….why? Is this why they made such a big spectacle of Allen Whetstone to get a message across to the community’s as Matt Johnson stated in his closing statement? Was this to make sure to tell all the others to get it together? Yet, they allow this man to live clear across country for half a year while on bond. They knew he was a trustworthy man.
My husband went through the supposed chemical dependency treatment program at MSP. The person conducting these required groups showed up once a week and sometimes not even that. This “counselor” told my husband he was worthless and should just divorce me and serve out his entire sentence instead of trying his best for rehabilitation and get back to his family as quickly as possible. Almost every group consisted of negativity, but yet she signed off that he completed the group. How can a treatment program be effective meeting just one hour a week with very little assigned homework? When did people stop taking pride in their work? When did good, solid work ethics get tossed out the window and disrespect and cruelty become tolerated? How can a God loving person feel good about themselves after spending a shift judging and degrading others?
Each inmate has their own case and sententence they are serving yet, once they are classified that’s it. Nobody looks at them again. They are just a blur defined by what they did no matter how long ago. Nobody sees them unless they are causing trouble. The ones that are trying to stay straight are being overlooked. The DOC is making a fortune on returning inmates. It won’t hurt them to actually rehab some and let them get back to their lives. There are plenty more to fill those empty cots.
Being the wife of an inmate I get to hear about this in letters and over the phone. My husband is being mistreated and I can’t do anything about it. My thousands of fallen tears won’t help anything. So many of these inmates are just being set up to fail and where does that leave their family? When an inmate has positive family support it should be encouraged not spat upon.
I am so sorry to hear that he was told to leave you. And I am sorry that you both are continuing to go through this. You are not alone, there are so, so, many that have been going through the same thing and still are. It’s not even just a pride in work ethic anymore, these people are abusive, some breaking the law, not the type of people that should be working in a system like this….especially counselors or therapists that tell a patient/client that they are worthless. They should be charged and they should have their license taken away. I don’t know who trained these people, and I don’t know what kind of management would allow that to continue on. But it really is despicable. It will take all of us to continue to expose this corruption. They can only keep doing what the people allow them to do. We can re-elect, and we can fire those that work in the field. The public has to be educated to what is happening and how much taxes they are having to fork out.
Thank you mejustice. It is hard to properly educate the part of the public that hasn’t experienced a loved one being incarcerated. I know of a current inmate that is writing a book about his experiences with the MDOC. Maybe something like that can help. And yes, you are right about all of us continuing to expose the corruption. My poor husband today asked for an application to the work dorm at MSP. The lady yelled profanities at him and kicked him out of her office without the application. She said too bad you will just have to deal with it. I admire his restraint, because I would have gone to the hole over somebody treating me like that. There needs to be a total overhaul from top to bottom. I hate to see people lose their jobs, but they aren’t even doing their jobs and living fat off of it.
Mejustice, thank you for posting your comments. They are very informative and well articulated. Please continue with it! ;o)
Denise, there are many that are showing up at the Law and Justice Committee Meetings. Letting other politicians know what is really going on. This website is only 5 months old and it already has had over 18,000 views. Dateline did a story/interview on Barry Beach. I believe we are making it known and we are not going to stop until it is all known. This website goes worldwide. There are many Montana organizations that are starting to join together so that getting the message and a change is going to be a force to be reckoned with. It’s too bad they have to belittle your husband like that. If employees cannot act professional then they need to be fired. They don’t deserve to have a job in that field. That is pure and plain arrogance on their part when they feel they must need to put people down to make themselves feel better.There are many waiting to take classes and they just have them sit there not communicating with them. Just telling them when they get to the top of the list. We will make a difference!
I think these are great rules. People are in prison because they have done things that no longer makes them safe to be around others. I knew about this change. A man is behind bars at Montana State Prison that raped my little brother. His family was bringing all their little kids to see him. His release stipulation when the time comes is to not be around children under 16, yet he was having them come visit??? I am glad those children are now safe. They should have time all together so everyone that is not violent and not a sex offender do not have to have their families around these men and woman. It was a waiting room issues that caused the change. Montana State Prison. Victim services has been beyond wonderful at protecting and notifying my family. I am deeply thankful for the protection I feel that he is behind bars. I know it’s hard for those that love and care for those offenders. I have a sibling that has served time and I know the worry and the restrictions. However, there are reasons people end up in prison and I truely believe Montana State Prison wants to help the victims and the inmates.
I understand what you are saying and children do need to be kept safe. At the same time there are officers all over the place. There are rules with stipulations when visitors come to visit, even with children. Some of these inmates will be getting out of prison one day. If we cannot watch them in a setting like this what in the world do you think it is going to be when they are out on the street? This is the best place to monitor the interaction with their own family and friends. I am truly sorry that your brother and your family went through that. It is a very terrible thing to go through. Looking from another perspective though, if the family of an offender wants to visit them they are allowed to see their family. When it states that they cannot be around children under 16, that means “not alone”, there has to be other people there at the same time. That is the way it is in every state. Otherwise how do you think these people buy groceries, gas. etc. But as the Montana Law and Justice state in a hearing…there is over 30 percent…if they are going to segregate inmates then they should rotate weekends. It is not right for them to give all the weekends to one part of the population making sure that these others cannot receive any visits. I have not heard of other states doing this in their penal system. And remember not all of these inmates that are put in the same category as that man that your brother had to deal with are in there for the same thing. There is a whole segment that are in there that is not a violent sexual crime at all.
What does the change have to do with the waiting room? There are no inmates in the waiting room.