Sheriff releases inmates; Decree calls for relief of crowding.

Byline: Shaun Sutner

WEST BOYLSTON - Sheriff Guy W. Glodis has started releasing prisoners and inmates awaiting trial in order to comply with a new federal court order to reduce overcrowding at the Worcester County Jail and House of Correction.

Jail officials said that with the number of inmates at its highest level ever, 1,523 as of yesterday, the jail will keep releasing and transferring to other jails 100 inmates a month until the population is reduced to 1,251 by Dec. 1. The releases are to comply with an order issued in August by U.S. District Court Judge Rya S. Zobel to reduce the jail population.

Most of the 126 inmates let go last week were pretrial detainees, jail officials said. Others were nonviolent offenders such as those convicted of drug possession, theft and passing bad checks. No one who committed a violent crime was released, they said.

Nearly half were released with a promise to appear in court. Nine were fitted with electronic monitoring devices; such devices are often used with people convicted of low-level drug possession charges, although they can also be used with more serious offenses, including assault and rape.

The majority of the released convicts had served at least 70 percent of their sentences, though 11 had served only half or less of their terms.

"The sheriff is opposed to the release of people, and that is why he's warning that immediate prison expansion is needed to protect people in Worcester County," said Jeffrey R. Turco, deputy superintendent of the jail.

Sheriff Glodis, who has been campaigning without success for a bigger jail, had sued to end a federal court consent decree, first issued in 1989, arguing that it was impossible to meet the federally set limit of 800 inmates. The jail complex was built in 1973 to hold 490. Three hundred beds were added in 1991.

Now, with inmates housed in makeshift cells in the infirmary and gymnasium and double-bunking in cells built for one, "it only stands to reason that a federal court would step in," Mr. Turco said.

While jail officials say they intend to release more prisoners, Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said he is trying to block the federal order.

Mr. Early said he is seeking standing in the case by becoming a party to the sheriff's original lawsuit and by invoking the 1996 federal Prison Reform Act, which he argued gives him the authority to challenge the judge's decision.

"We are seeking judicial intervention to ensure no more prisoners are released," Mr. Early said. "We fought this, but we never had the opportunity to challenge it in court."

Meanwhile, Mr. Early has been involved with decisions about who to release.

Last week, the district attorney took part in meetings with Worcester Superior Court Judge Francis R. Fecteau, who, under the terms of the decree, reviewed names of inmates submitted by the sheriff's office to determine whether they posed a threat to public safety. Probation officials also participated in the meetings.

"We've been opposed to anyone being let out, but we've attended meetings to make sure any violent people aren't released," Mr. Early said.

Prisoner advocates welcomed the sheriff's move, saying that it vindicated their longstanding call for sentencing that does not involve jail time and that it would create more humane living conditions for inmates at a jail that is considered one of the most crowded in the state.

The unusual coalition is pressing lawmakers and the administration of Gov. Deval L. Patrick, which has put a moratorium on jail expansion until a $500,000 study of corrections operations in the state is complete, to move more quickly on new jail space.

"The jail is finally coming around to our position. Unfortunately, it took a federal court decree to do it," said Russell S. Chernin, a Worcester lawyer and board member of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Jail officials have said over and over again that they are sitting on a tinderbox.

"The real issue is if you want to put more people in jail, you're going to have to give them more space," he continued. "The Legislature hasn't done that, and unless we come around to alternative sentencing, I guess that's the way it's going to be."

Central Massachusetts legislators said they plan to testify for the jail's need for more space at upcoming Statehouse hearings on bond authorizations for

building projects.

State Sen. Edward M. Augustus Jr., D-Worcester, noted, however, that while only the administration has the power to authorize spending on building projects financed by borrowing money, he is confident that lawmakers will include in a capital bond bill money for expanding the Worcester County jail complex.

The sheriff, who originally promoted a $100 million, 500-bed expansion after he was elected in 2004, has scaled down his proposal to $50 million, which would finance the construction of a new jail unit with 250 more beds.

"I've always been positive about the idea that we would include funds for a new jail in our bonding, but the administration wants to do a $500,000 study," Mr. Augustus said. "Quite frankly, I don't think we can wait for that. Some of these federal orders are a way to get off the dime and do what we ought to do."

Contact Shaun Sutner by e-mail at [e-mail].

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CUTLINE: (PHOTO) Sheriff Glodis (CHART) Who's getting out?

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