1
Portland Observer
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Thursday. May 11, 1978
Behind the wall
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5
> " r > Baker #35021,
O.S.P. Corres.Kxident
It has been eighteen months since the
Oregon State Parole Board has begun
using the guidelines of the M atrix System
to structure a prisoner's chance for a
possible parole.
A t last the long awaited message has
been delivered by two of Oregon’s fore
most experts in the field of Corrections
and Prisons.
H.C. Cupp, Superintendent of O.S.P.
and Robert Watson, Adm inistrator of
Oregon Division of Corrections have
stepped forward with th eir testimony on
the Parole Board Rules Hearing on April
24. 1978.
Cupp: (In a press release to the W alled
Street Bulletin)
As most of you know, M r. Watson and I
.recently testified before the Hearing
Officer in regards to the Parole Board
M atrix. The- article below is M r. W a t
son's testimony, which I fully support.
My own testimony was along these same
lines, as most of you are aware, as
demonstrated in the articles which re
cently appeared in The Capitol Journal
and Oregon Statesman. Hopefully, the
Parole Board will give our testimony
serious consideration.
I think it is
important to point out at this time that
even though the M atrix does not come as
aMttf us might wish, it certainly is subject
to liwision and review from time to time.
W'A m * (Testimony on Parole Board
Rules Hearing).
I strongly support the Parole Board in
its effort to adopt rules which in effect
open the parole-reUase process to public
review. The involdetnent of the Correc
tions Division has been continuous as the
Parole Board developed these rules and
this is appreciated. However, lor the
record, it is important to suggest the
rules should never he considered the final
product.
Reviews, modification and
updating should be seen as a continual
Frame of Reference of Sentencing
One major flaw I see in sentencing is
that little significance is given to the
basic facts available.
1. Of 150,000 reported felony crimes
each year in Oregon, only 1,300 people go
to prison.
2. Violent crimes in Oregon are less
than eight percent of reported felony
crimes.
Julius D. Snowden #38013,
Poetry Editor
E
lENO W 'S
3. Sentences received are widely dis
parate.
Examples from New Commitments:
•
•
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1. Sentencing should not be considered
the means to control crime. Less than one
percent of all reported crimes ends in a
prison sentence.
2. Sentencing should not be considered
as the means society has to reduce violent
crime since it is a very small part of
felony crime in Oregon (7.7 percent in
1976).
3. Disparity in sentencing when you
consider the crime only is obvious from
the six crimes cited earlier.
Other
criteria to determine length of time in
prison is required, so the m atrix not only
makes sense, but is seemingly required.
I commend the Parole Board for its
actions in opening its process to public
review. 1 caution the Parole Board that it
should not fall into the trap of believing it
can control crime, or that what it does
will reduce violent crime, or that just
because it has ranked crimes and human
behavior that it has achieved the final
word.
SUGGESTION
The long-term offender with a parole
release date set for five years or longer
should be given some means to reduce
that release date. Five years is a long
time from anyone's life and sustained
good conduct or sustained self-improve
ment covering multiple needs over that
extended period of tim e should be worth
the Parole Board's consideration in reduc
ing parole release dates.
“The Parole Board chairman has a
propose rule on date reduction that I
support.”
O.S.P.’» Correspondent Response to
Cupp's and W ataon's "Press Release and
Testimony.'*
I f one would have read in the April 30,
1978 Oregonian (front page) “Portland
FOR
’
BRANDS yo u k n o w
V A R IE T IE S ir o u l i k e
SIZES y o u w o n t
7/7W-6/77: Escape I I, 58. 6 months-5
years; Assault I I, 32, 2 years 10 years;
Rape I, 57, 3 years 20 years; Theft I, 211,
00 days-5 years; Burglary I, 201, 1
year-20 years; and Arson I, 5, 2 years-20
years.
CONCLUSIONS
SHOP
5 4 1 I 5 .1 M i l w a u k i e
5 5 t h A ( o i t B u r n s id e
1 22n d A N -f O hsan
M lo m b a r d ' a t O r e o le y
R a le ig h H ill« P la id
l S 2 h d a t 5 f D iv is io n
<
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1 4 th
3 3 rd
3 9 th
2 3 rd
ta k e
K in g
M S I M o r r is o n
I N I H o o (o < k
A 5 I D i v is i o n
A W e s t B u r n s id e
O tw a g o 9 0 B Ave
C ity
O o h G ro ve
o # U N lT fO ( M O O R S
OSP inmates read notice on the Matrix System, designed to determine parole dates.
Study Cites Racist Practice by Police,”
w ritten by staff w rite r Leslie Zaitz, on
how the Portland Police Department has
made it a practice to go after Black people
and non-whites who have no conviction in
the criminal courts, one can see the
results merely by walking around this
prison.
Close to 93 percent of the Black
inmates are from Portland and out of
1.500 inmates incarcerated at O.S.P. the
astonishing 16.4 percent are Black men.
Now for the "million dollar" question.
How much of that same racism could have
graduated
into
Multnomah
County
Courts?
W ith Black people only making up one
percent of the entire state’s population,
let us now check out those on state
parole and probation.
W ith 2,263 on
probation and parole, the record darkens
and sky-rockets to 23.2 percent of those
people being Black.
Isn't it sad that Oregon's prisons have
the distinguished pleasure to incarcerate
the second largest Black concentrated
population in the state?
I f we really want to play games with
this m atrix system, refer to the A pril 28,
1978, Jack Anderson column. He cited the
Federal Subcommittee's report, headed
by Representative John Conyer, D.-Mich.
“Citing stark statistics, the report
declares bluntly 'If you are Black, poor,
unemployed and get convicted on rob
bery, you have a ninety percent likeli
hood of being imprisoned and the average
length of imprisonment is 74 to 124
months.'
“In contrast ‘w hite collar embezzlers'
who live in the suburbs and steal millions
instead of hundreds or thousands are
only a tw en ty percent likelihood of being
imprisoned and the average sentence is
only tw enty months."
Now let us add one more point. W ith
unemployment in Oregon for Black
youths pushing forty percent does all this
information give food for thought? On
April 19th and 20th, over a dozen Black
inmates testified before the same com
mittee as Cupp and Watson. They ex
pressed racism being the ‘number one*
guideline for the adoption of the m atrix
system.
Isn’t it strange th at “Hollocaust",
"Roots” and the Oregon M atrix System
all surfaced before the public's eyes at the
same time? Punishment is one thing, but
genocide is another.
Benjamin Hooks and the national exe
cutive committee members of the
N A A C P have been asked to come to
O.S.P. on June 30th, just prior to their
national convention in Portland.
The
hopes of receiving N A A C P suggestions
and assistance on how to alleviate some of
these problems has also been brought to
this Correspondent's attention that a few
members belonging to our local ranks of
the N A A C P reject such a proposal and
would find such a visit a disgrace to the
image of Oregon and want these facts
hidden during M r. Hooks' appearance. So
to those individuals may this Correspon
dent say:
“Many of the men locked behind the
walls have parents (i.e. mother, father,
grandparent) who have paid the price
with their nickles, dimes and dollars,
earned in cottonfields, scrubbing floors,
and ironing clothes - given freely for
many years to the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People
so such assistance could be given, don't
their contributions mean anything any
more?
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O ‘n v ’ < i'( a v 'D . i * •
Incurable disease attacks Blacks most
by J .
Page 3
D. McJunkin*
One evening a young Black man in his
mid-twenties who had never had any
serious health problems was driving
home when he suddenly noticed his eyes
were sensitive to light.
Each time he met an oncoming car he
had to blink his eyes to escape a sharp
pain that was being caused by the beam
from the car's headlights.
The man had developed a systematic
disease common among Blacks that has
baffled the medical profession for more
than 100 yearB.
He had a case of
sarcoidosis.
Doctors don’t know the cause of sarcoi
dosis nor how to cure it, yet, they are
quite familiar with its symptoms. I t is
observed in the lungs, eyes, lymph nodes,
salivary glands, muscles, liver, spleen
and connective tissue of the nervous
system.
“Some patients recover
without
treatm ent," said D r. Steven H . Cohen,
M .D .. of Milwaukee who has done exten
sive independent study on the disease.
“Some have been effectively treated with
cortisone or steroid depending on the
nature of the disease. But no cure has
been found.”
The treatm ent sarcoid patients receive
may arrest the disease or quell the
disorder tem porarily but regular check
ups might be necessary.
Sarcoidosis
often disappears spontaneously any
where from one month to three years.
Some people have it for life. But the
danger lies in that it may progress to
involvement of more than one organ. In
most cases it occurs in lymph nodes of the
chest and lungs.
W hat are the symptons? Sarcoidosis
may cause no symptoms or an attack may
begin with the appearance of tender red
nodules on the front of the legs or with
pain in the joints. Small tumor-like lumps
may form in parts of the body. I t can b»
diagnosed from chest X-rays, examina
tion of tissue from one of the lumps or a
skin test called the Kvein Test.
One of the early theories of the disease
was that people contracted it who grew
up in pine pollen bearing areas because of
the high percentage of Southerners who
caught it. But although Ireland, Norway
and Sweden have reported most cases in
proportion to population, in the U.S. most
cases occur in Blacks.
W hat research is being done on sarcoi
dosis?
“The only research that's being done is
private,” said D r. Cohen. “There's no
large fund to support additional research.
Since sarcoidosis is generally not a fatal
disease it doesn't draw the attention of
the public like many of the other diseases.
I t doesn't get much play in the press."
Sarcoidosis is not contagious, D r. Co
hen said. Since its symptoms are not
specific it can often be confused with
other disease like tuberculosis and can
cer. Most victims are between 20 and 40
years old.
The most serious cases of sarcoidosis
are those which involve the pulmonary
functions, according to D r. Cohen. This
may develop into an irreversible lung
disease and can be fatal. However, he
pointed out that only a small percentage
of persons contracting sarcoidosis die as a
result of it if they see a physician.
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Come in at your convenience
Portland
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Dr. Jeffrey BRADY,
Dentist
8.W. 3RD A YAMHILL ST., PORTLAND, OREGON
TAKE ELEVATOR TO 2ND FLOOR 3RD ST, ENTRANCE
* Lifelong Democrat
* 32 Year Resident of N. Portland
* Experienced. Effective Legislator
I