Judiciary and Public Safety Budget Oversight Hearing

10:00AM, Thursday, April 10, 2014, Room 500

John A Wilson Building
Council of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004

Re: Department of Corrections
Ofce of Returning Citizen Affairs

Good afternoon Councilmember Wells, Councilmember Bonds and Committee staff.

Thank you for holding this important hearing on the Department of Corrections and the Ofce of
Returning Citizens Affairs.

My name is Martin Moulton and Im a public volunteer on the ANC6E Public Safety Committee in Shaw
in your Ward Mr Wells and a neighbor of Councilmember Bonds. The experience working on the
committee in just the past year following criminal cases in our community has been eye opening.

When low level offenders are given better education in how to commit serious crimes while
incarcerated than how to live productive lives contributing to their families and communities,
we all suffer.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, according to a NY Times article this week, proposed this year that
college degree programs be offered to convicted persons while they are incarcerated. But this initiative
was shot down by a lot of very short sighted people even though there was an enormous estimated cost
savings. In New York State, [Governor Cuomo noted that the cost $5,000 per inmate per year
would be a bargain compared with the $60,000 it costs to incarcerate a prisoner for a year. I imagine
there would be comparable cost savings for the DC jail. In a controlled environment, it shouldn't be difficult
for students to get to class.

When a returning citizen has easier and more abundant opportunities to spend a couple of hours to
make $500-$2000 in the sale of tiny quantities of drugs tax free, despite the risks than s/he would
getting a lawful 9-5 job working 40+ hours per week, its not difcult to understand their rationale for
reoffending or the temptations and nancial pressures they face in our challenging and competitive
employment market.

Given advances in educational technology, classes being offered online and instruction from some of
the Nations top institutions being broadcast for free via YouTube and iTunes, a small investment by
the government to promote educational degree opportunities, in the DC Jail, might greatly reduce
recidivism and better prepare returning citizens to become productive members of society.

When you and Councilmember Grosso consider the War on Drugs, not just the War on Marijuana, you
must factor in the enormous costs wasted failing to control personal choices and behavior and reduce
the prevalence of drugs in the community through the criminal justice system from policing, to DC jail
incarceration, to preparing arrestees and convicted persons to overcome their criminal records and
become productive members of society. Im not the rst person to argue that Legalization, Regulation
and Taxation of all narcotics, like alcohol and tobacco, would be a more effective, humane and cost
saving method to address the War on Drugs which would better serve both the DOC and ORCA and
keep our communities safer.

Thank you for your time and attention to this issue.

Martin Moulton
1510 Fifth Street NW, Washington DC 20001 (202) 422-1161 @ShawingtonTimes

( The following pages include example of what two varieties of drugs sell for in the District and in your Ward. )

1oz of PCP can sell for approximately $1200 on the streets of the District

The non violent offender who was convicted for possession of this vial has been incarcerated #
for more than a year (2013 CF2 004726: District of Columbia v. Derrick J. HInton)
Crack Cocaine sold in 2012 in the Lincoln Westmoreland community of Shaw in
Ward 6 near the Cleveland Elementary and Maya Angelou Schools.

Seven, now convicted drug dealers, have been incarcerated since their arrests in 2012 and 2013 until
their separate sentencing hearings which are scheduled to take place tomorrow and through June this
year. (2012 CF2 016141: DC v Isaiah Green and 2013 CF2 001589: DC v. Antonio Peoples et al)

$20
$700
1/2 oz
~$150
1/8 oz
Crack Cocaine Cash Sales in ANC6E / Shaw
Re: Video Visitation

Department of Corrections does monitor and record telephone inmate calls outside the
facility, Id imagine that any video recording would need to be recorded as well. The
recent four month U Street Murder Trial (DC v Marcellus Jackson, Kier Johnson, et
al), which convicted four murderous drug gang felons, relied on many hours of
recorded inmate telephone call evidence. Inmates do not and should not have the right
to absolute privacy. The recorded evidence in the U Street case revealed that the
incarcerated inmates were indeed passing along criminal instructions and code words
via telephone communications. Unlike popular video social media, any video visitation
should be recorded by the DOC.

Also, in New York, several years ago they instituted a program where inmates could
connect productively with their children by recording themselves reading children books
for their children which enhances parental connections the inmates own literacy skills.
Many incarcerated persons have children and incarceration destroys some very
important nurturing opportunities which technology might help to restore if implemented
properly.