LOCAL JUDGE, LAWYERS DECRY ELIMINATION OF FEDERAL SHOCK INCARCERATION
PROGRAM

The Bush administration plans to eliminate a shock incarceration
program that many considered a progressive way to help first-time
offenders avoid long federal prison terms.

While no formal announcement has been made, Carla Wilson, a U.S.
Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman in Washington, confirmed Friday that the
14-year-old Intensive Confinement Program will be discontinued.

"Yes, we got word that it's being phased out," she said. "I don't have
a lot of information on it at this point."

Wilson said she could not discuss the bureau's reasons for closing
down the program or give a timetable. But court officials in Buffalo
said they have been told not to seek shock incarceration for any more
defendants.

"We've been told by (prison officials) that they felt the program was
not cost-effective and was not successful at preventing people from
becoming repeat offenders," one court official said.

The program was designed for younger, nonviolent, first-time convicts
who faced no more than 30 months in federal prison. Those who
qualified spent six months in an intensive "boot camp" that provided
strict discipline, job training and counseling, followed by time in a
community halfway house and home confinement.

Plans to close down the program drew a negative reaction from a
federal judge in Buffalo and from defense attorneys, who called it a
rare glimmer of hope for young people entering the criminal justice
system.

"I'm shocked," said District Judge William M. Skretny, who has
recommended about 60 defendants for the program since becoming a judge
in 1990. "I'd be very disappointed if this shutdown goes forward. I've
had prisoners write to me after going through the program and tell me
what a positive experience it has been in their lives."

"This is a step backward for the rehabilitation of criminals," said
Timothy W. Hoover, a federal public defender. "This is the crown jewel
of the federal prison system. It helps people to get their lives on
track. They're shutting it down without even consulting with the most
important people - the judges who do the sentencing."

Hoover said he contacted the Bureau of Prisons on Friday and was told
rumors of the program's demise were true.

"I have a client who was supposed to be entering the program next
week, instead of serving a 30-month sentence," Hoover said. "She's a
first-time offender who pleaded guilty to delivering some drugs. She's
very disappointed that this opportunity is being taken away."

The shutdown also upset Mary Price, general counsel to Families
Against Mandatory Minimums, a 35,000-member nationwide group that has
been lobbying for sentencing reforms in the federal and state courts.

"This is the kind of program that President Bush and his
administration should love," she said. "It's a program designed to
give people the tools to improve themselves and get back into the world.

"At a time when federal sentencing and law seem to be moving in the
wrong direction, this program was a beacon. It's all about
rehabilitation."

Price said a 1996 report by the Bureau of Prisons estimated that the
government saved $9,337 for each prisoner who entered the Intensive
Confinement Program rather than serving a 30-month sentence.

The government runs two shock incarceration camps for men, one in
Lewisburg, Pa., and the other in Lompoc, Calif. It also runs a
facility for women in Bryan, Texas. Many state prison systems,
including New York's, run similar programs.

Wilson, the federal prison spokeswoman, said she could not immediately
answer questions about the cost of the program, the number of
prisoners it serves or the reasons for eliminating it.

In Buffalo, about five of the 500 people sentenced each year are put
into the shock program, said Anthony M. San Giacomo, deputy chief of
the federal probation office.

"Generally, the program targets younger, nonviolent first offenders
who need some structure in their lives," San Giacomo said.

Judges make recommendations for the program at sentencing, but the
prisons bureau makes the final decisions. Authorities said most of
those recommended for the program in Buffalo were low-level drug
dealers or couriers with no record of violence.

"This is really sad news," said James P. Harrington, a Buffalo
attorney and past president of the State Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers. "I've had clients go through this program, and it's
had a dramatic effect on their lives. . . . There's a trend in
Congress and in this administration. The punitive aspects of the
criminal justice system are what they favor."