Table of Contents - American Bar Association

The conference also highlighted that there is ongoing research, evidence‐based practices,
exploratory work on women and security classification instruments, and “gender responsive”
frameworks that should be acknowledged and taken into account by policymakers creating
security classification policies. Issues of particular interest from the conference included:
‐‐A concern that the highest risk women end up in high security prisons. Conference
participants discussed whether there could be alternative ways to approach the most troubled
women in prison, finding ways to address their needs in other manners, including through
improved mental health services in prisons.
‐‐Issues of the special needs of women in prison, including ways to think about how to deal
with women who may have experienced domestic violence or have problems with substance
use.
‐‐Ideas about the special parenting and mothering roles of women, and how risk and security
assessments may play a role in allowing women access to their children.
‐‐The conference also explored how a woman’s parole and release are impacted by security
classification decisions made at the beginning of her sentence, an idea which further reinforces
the importance of the security classification decisions.
The Corrections Committee is continuing to explore these issues, and will report on them in
more detail and propose resolutions for consideration by the Section during the coming months.
Also this year, the Committee worked with the Section and the Reentry Committee in
presenting the Reentry Summit in November, provided comment to the Treatment of Prisoners
Standards task force and drafted comment for the Section to provide to the United States
Department of Justice regarding the proposed rule‐making regarding the Prison Rape
Elimination Act standards. One of the committee’s co –chairs was selected to serve as the ABA
representative to the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections and participated in
Commission hearings in August 2009.
Parole and Probation Committee
Co‐Chairs: Douglas Burris and Jorge Montes
The Parole and Probation Committee was recently formed under the Criminal Justice Section.
This Committee is co‐chaired by Jorge Montes and Doug Burris. Jorge is the Chairman of the
Illinois Prisoner Review Board, a position he has held for over six years. In that capacity, he has
changed the culture of the Board and evolved policies and that have become national models.
Today the Board has an emphasis on avoiding unnecessary incarceration and helping parolees
contribute positively to their communities. Jorge previously was recognized by the ABA where
his work was referenced for how it, “strikingly illustrate(s) how changing concepts of what
constitutes an effective sanction can influence the exercise of discretion on the part of paroling
officials.”
Doug is the Chief U.S. Probation Officer in Eastern Missouri. His District supervises the most
at‐risk caseload of the 94 districts that compose the federal system. In spite of this risk, the
individuals on the Eastern Missouri caseload have maintained an unemployment rate less than
that of the community for over five years. This has resulted in a drastic lowering of the
District’s revocations. Burris has featured the successes of his District in multiple White House
ABA Criminal Justice Section Annual Report 2009-2010 32