BishopAccountability.org
	Windfalls Not Much Luck for Prisoners State Will Send a Bill to Cover Its Expenses By Ann Marie Somma Hartford Courant [Connecticut] April 15, 2007 http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-windfall0415.artapr15,0,7710396.story?coll=hc-headlines-home Bryant Wiseman died in 1999 while being restrained by guards at Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown, and his mother is suing the state, hoping to receive a significant sum to compensate her for her loss. But if a Hartford jury, scheduled to convene next month, awards Elaine Wiseman any money, she'll have to settle a bill with the state: It wants $87,000 from her dead son's estate for the cost of housing and feeding him for two years in the prison. The state Department of Administrative Services has collected incarceration costs from current and former inmates who come into what the state considers a "windfall" - money received through an inheritance, the lottery or a legal judgment - since 2001. The amount collected from inmates is increasing each year, thanks in part to advanced computer software that matches the names of inmates against estates, insurance settlements and lawsuits. Since 2001, the department has collected more than $5 million from inmates. Last year, it collected $1.9 million, up from $145,000 in 2002. All the money came from inmates who had received windfalls. "The state requires that, if an inmate is able, that they reimburse the taxpayers for the cost of their incarceration," said Stacy Smith, a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction. Inmates aren't the only losers. In the last fiscal year, administrative services has recovered nearly $40 million from former and current welfare recipients, most of whom came into windfalls. Advocates say the "windfall" policy is particularly egregious in cases such as Wiseman's, when the money comes as compensation for injury at the hands of state-employed prison guards, or when prison staff violate an inmate's civil rights. "It's crazy. It makes little sense to permit the recovery of costs of incarceration in these types of cases, where the award from which the costs are sought is the direct result of wrongful conduct by the department and staff," said Antonio Ponvert, a New Haven-based attorney representing Wiseman's mother. Ponvert unsuccessfully lobbied lawmakers in 2004 to amend the 1996 state law to exclude civil rights judgments against correction department guards and employees because it sends a counterproductive message to guards: that they can violate the rights of inmates with impunity. Other cases include that of convicted murderer and rapist Kevin King, who paid the state $65,000 out of a $375,000 judgment against two correction officers who beat him up in retaliation for his attacking another prison guard. Convicted murderer Eric Ham coughed up $626,000 from his $1.1 million award against the city of New Haven for falsely arresting him in connection with another killing. State Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, a co-chairman of the legislature's judiciary committee, said the law should be changed because it could deter inmates from pursuing legitimate claims against correction department employees. "We don't want to re-create a disincentive to hold people accountable when they violate your civil rights," Lawlor said. Hartford attorney Timothy Brignole said he believes the state law is unconstitutional and that inmates should be able to keep their money. "A man out of jail without money is going to eventually end up on state assistance, or worse, back in the system," Brignole said. In 2001, Brignole represented former inmate Mark Strickland, who won a $250,000 settlement from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport over a sexual abuse claim against a priest in the 1970s. That shrank to $40,000 after the state seized $120,000 for his time at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville, and after his attorney's fees were paid. The state also collected $12,660 from Strickland that the agency paid for public assistance given to his daughter. Today Strickland, who served time for sexual assault and a string of burglaries, lives on the fringe of society in Florida, battling the pain of his abuse, his attorney said. "If they gave him his money, I could have gotten him to buy a house," Brignole said. Former and current welfare recipients who receive similar windfalls must pay back the state as much as 50 percent of the benefits they received. In the last fiscal year, that totaled nearly $40 million from people who had received benefits through the Department of Social Services. Henry Jovanelly, who heads the collections unit at administrative services, said that when a person applies for aid through any of the state agencies, he or she is liable for the assistance received. "Public assistance money is basically money that's loaned out," Jovanelly said. There is no statute of limitation to collect "windfalls" from current and former welfare recipients. The agency routinely places liens on lawsuits or inheritances as far back as 1968. In 2005, the state recovered more than $300,000 it had paid for Waterbury resident Tyhisia Cobb's medical care in Connecticut after she suffered brain damage while giving birth in a New York hospital. A Bronx judge awarded Cobb a $3.5 million malpractice award; the state put a lien on Cobb's award. Attorney Mark Dorst, who represented Cobb, said she was lucky. Her settlement was so large that she was left with money to care for her needs after the state and attorneys were paid. Cobb lives in a rented apartment in Middlebury with her mother. What was left of her settlement was put in an annuity. An insurance company pays a predetermined sum each month for Cobb's costs of living, medical insurance and vocational training at Easter Seals. "She is no longer receiving public assistance of any kind," Dorst said. Contact Ann Marie Somma at asomma@courant.com.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.