Former Inmates Push For Bargaining Hand

Two former inmates stressed the need for "collective bargaining" for prisoners during a seminar on "Law and Correction" at the Law School last night.

John Erwin, who is now a professor of Sociology at San Francisco State University, outlined the goals of the newly-formed California Union of Inmates, while John Anthony, a former inmate who is currently a spokesman for prisoners on Governor Sargent's Concern for Convicts Commission, expressed the hope that a national union could be founded.

Anthony said a national union was possible because "the criminal has been able to make commitments to his own people that he believes in and keeps." "We're going to capitalize on it," he said.

Erwin traced a 20-year evolution in the thinking of inmates that has culminated, he said, in a "critical perception toward society." The fact that prisoners no longer feel "worthless" has enabled them to join together and demand to be treated fairly, he said.

State House

Earlier yesterday, a hearing was held at the State House on a prison reform bill introduced last week by Governor Sargent.

Sargent made a rare appearance before the Social Welfare Committee to plug State Bill S-1601, which would lower the percentage of sentence a prisoner must serve before he becomes eligible for parole to one-third of his minimum sentence. Exceptions would be made in cases of murder or habitual violation.

The bill would repeal the "two-thirds law," which provides that a person convicted of a violent crime must serve two-thirds of his sentence before he is eligible for a parole hearing.

"We now have an anti-parole law which removes the incentive for rehabilitation," Sargent said, "a law which destroys a man's hope and preconditions him to continue his criminal career on release."

Carlo Geromini, principal of the Institution School at Norfolk Prison, agreed yesterday that the central grievance of most inmates in Massachusetts is the "two-thirds law".

But despite Sargent's optimism that his bill will pass, local groups for prison reform are skeptical of the results of yesterday's open hearing. William Craig of the Massachusetts Correction Association said the main benefit of the hearing was that it created an opportunity to educate the public.

"But the legislators have probably already made up their minds," he said.