SEC. 12. This Act shall take effect on the first day of the first month which follows its approval by at least ninety days. Passed the Senate May 11 (legislative day, May 10), 1965. FELTON M. JOHNSTON, Secretary. [S. Rept. 178, 89th Cong., 1st sess., May 7 1965] AUTHORIZING A WORK RELEASE PROGRAM FOR PERSONS SENTENCED BY THE COURTS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1319) to authorize a work release program for persons sentenced by the courts of the District of Columbia; to define the powers and duties in relation thereto, and for other purposes, after full consideration, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows: Page 4, lines 24 and 25, strike all of clause (a) through "and boards;" on line 1, page 5. Page 5, redesignate "(b)", "(c)", "(d)", "(e)", and "(f)", as "(a)", "(b)”, "(c)", "(d)", and "(e)", respectively. Page 6, between lines 3 and 4, insert the following new section: SEC. 10. (a) Section 102 of the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962 (76 Stat. 23), as amended, is amended by adding after paragraph (4) thereof the following new paragraph: “(4A) establish a program of factual studies and promote, encourage, or directly engage in programs of information concerning the employment problems of workers participating in employment under the provisions of the District of Columbia Work Release Act; develop solutions to such problems, and publish findings pertaining thereto; and." Page 6, lines 4 and 15, redesignate "SEC. 10" and "SEC. 11" as "(SEC. 11)” and "SEC. 12", respectively. The purpose of this bill, as amended, is to authorize the courts of the District of Columbia to release selected offenders from prison confinement at specified hours of the day to obtain or engage in gainful employment. The purpose of the first amendment is to eliminate clause (a) of section 7 of the bill, which would have provided for a prisoner to pay an amount estimated by the Commissioners as the cost of the prisoner's room and board. The committe was of the opinion that this provision should be removed for the reason that it would place a greater burden on the prisoner who volunteers to work than it would on one who did not seek to work during his period of incarceration. The second amendment would provide for the utilization of the resources of the Manpower Development and Training Office of the Department of Labor in the District of Columbia work release program. The Secretary of Labor would be directed to establish a program of factual studies and to promote, encourage, or directly engage in, programs of information relating to the employment problems of workers participating in the Work Release Act. The Secretary would be further directed to develop solutions to such problems and publish findings pertaining thereto. The objective of the amendment is to develop statistical background and knowledge of the special problems of employment confronting those with criminal records. It is anticipated that this provision might give greater insights into the retraining and reemployment needs of those convicted of criminal offenses. Hopefully, it would be a first step toward a better understanding of the rehabilitation problem of inmates of correctional institutions generally. Under the bill, the persons who would be eligible for work release privileges would be those who have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment in a correction institution as a result of a conviction of the following criminal offenses in the District of Columbia (1) convicted of a misdemeanor, or violation of a municipal regulation, or an act of Congress in the nature of a municipal regulation, and the penal sentence is for a term of 1 year or less; (2) convicted and imprisoned for nonpayment of a fine or contempt of court; (3) sentenced to a prison term following a revocation of probation in offenses involving failure to make support payment to children born out of wedlock (16 D.C.C. 2350). Under the provisions of the bill, the court is authorized to grant a work release privilege when the sentencing judge is satisfied that the ends of justice and best interests of society as well as of the prisoner will be subserved thereby. The sentencing court shall provide in an appropriate order the conditions and terms under which an inmate granted a work release program may be released from actual custody during the time necessary to proceed to his place of employment of other authorized places, perform specified activities, and return to a place of confinement designated by the Director, Department of Corrections. A prisoner at the time of imposition of sentence or subsequently, may originate a work release privilege for himself by filing an appropriate petition with the sentencing court. Also, the Office of the U.S. Attorney, Corporation Counsel the probation officers of the court, and the Department of Corrections for the District, at the imposition of sentence or subsequently, may recommend to the sentencing court that the prisoner be granted work release privileges. Under the terms of the bill no prisoner shall be granted work release privileges without his consent, nor shall any prisoner be granted work release privileges except by order of the court. Other pertinent sections of the bill provide for the following (1) Section 5 authorizes the Commissioners to promulgate rules and reg ulations for operation of the work release program and authorizes them to prepare individual work release plans subject to the terms and conditions prescribed in the order of the sentencing court. (2) Section 6 authorizes the Director of the Department of Corrections to suspend temporarily a work release privilege where there is a breach of discipline of the institution regulations. It also permits the court to revoke a work release privilege on its own motion or upon the recommendation of the Director, Department of Corrections. The section provides a penalty of 90 days maximum imprisonment or $300 fine, or both, where a prisoner who wilfully fails to return at the time and place of confinement designated in his work release plan. (3) Section 7 authorizes the Commissioners to include in individual work release plans provision for the collection of wages and earnings of each gainfully employed prisoner and to disburse the same for specified purposes; i.e., support of the prisoner's dependents, payment of legal debts, court fines of forfeitures, and the like. In connection with section 7, it was the view of the committee that as to the disbursement of a defendant's earnings while on work release, there should be no priorities in the bill, but that the Commissioners should have complete discretion in disbursing the earnings as a part of their responsibility in formulating work release plans. On March 26, 1965, a public hearing was held by the Subcommittee on the Judiciary on S. 1319. Representatives of the District of Columbia Commissioners and the Director of the District of Columbia Department of Corrections appeared and testified in support of the bill. The District Commissioners advised the committee that in their opinion a number of beneficial results may be anticipated from implementing a work release program in the District of Columbia. They pointed out that an important benefit would be the cohesion of the family union through keeping an employed or employable offender engaged in gainful employment, thus assuring continued contributions toward the family's financial support, and reducing the likelihood of relief or welfare costs for his dependents. Also, it was pointed out that a work release plan enables an employed offender to maintain his occupational skills and aids his employer by eliminating the need for recruitment and training of a replace ment. Still another benefit is the avoidance of the full stigma of total imprisonment and its effect on the offender's morale, self-respect, dignity and rehabili tation. In relating these benefits to the committee, the Commissioners made it clear that a prisoner will not go entirely unpunished for his offense against society as he will be necessarily incarcerated during the major portion of his sentence primarily at nights and on weekends. The instant bill is patterned after similar laws in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Maryland. The committee was advised during the hearings that it is difficult to ascertain the number of prison inmates who would be eligible for participation in a work release program as proposed by this bill. However, a study made in February 1962, by the Workhouse Division of the Department of Corrections of the District of Columbia indicates that some 50 or more prisoners a month, or 600 annually, might be eligible to participate in such a program. The committee has been advised that enactment of this legislation will require additional cost to the District of Columbia in the amount of $13,500 per annum, representing salaries for an additional parole officer for the Parole Board and an additional probation officer in the District of Columbia Court of General Sessions. However, this cost in part will be offset by permitting the District to recover, out of an inmate's earnings, the payment of court imposed fines and forfeitures. The committee recognizes that this bill implements procedures for prison custody of prisoners that heretofore have not been utilized in the District of Columbia. For this reason the committee has requested the District Commissioners to submit progress reports on the work release privilege program in order that the committee can be kept fully advised of the program's progress, and also to determine whether the prlposed program is fulfilling its avowed purposes without impairing effective law enforcement in the District of Columbia. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with subsection (4) of rule XXIX of the Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law in the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): (76 STAT. 23) (79 STAT. 75) EVALUATION, INFORMATION, AND RESEARCH SEC. 102. To assist the Nation in accomplishing the objectives of technological progress while avoiding or minimizing individual hardship and widespread unemployment, the Secretary of Labor shall (1) evaluate the impact of, and benefits and problems created by automation, technological progress, and other changes in the structure of production and demand on the use of the Nation's human resources; establish techniques and methods for detecting in advance the potential impact of such developments; develop solutions to these problems, and publish findings pertaining thereto; (2) establish a program of factual studies of practices of employers and unions which tend to impede the mobility of workers or which facilitate mobility, including but not limited to early retirement and vesting provisions and practices under private compensation plans; the extension of health, welfare, and insurance benefits to laid-off workers; the operation of severence pay plans; and the use of extended leave plans for education and training purposes. A report on these studies shall be included as a part of the Secretary's report required under section 104; (3) appraise the adequacy of the Nation's manpower development efforts to meet foreseeable manpower needs and recommend needed adjustments, including for promoting the most effective occupational utilization of and providing useful work experience and training opportunities for untrained and inexperienced youth: (4) promote, encourage, or directly engage in programs of information and communication concerning manpower requirements, development, and utilization, including prevention and amelioration of undesirable manpower effects from automation and other technological developments and improvement of the mobility of workers; [and] (44) establish a program of factual studies and promote, encourage, or directly engage in programs of information concerning the employment problems of workers participating in employment under the provisions of the District of Columbia Work Release Act; develop solutions to such problems, and publish findings pertaining thereto; (5) arrange, through grants or contracts for the conduct of such research and investigations as give promise of furthering the objectives of this Act; [.] and (6) establish a program of experimental, developmental, demonstration, and pilot projects, through grants to or contracts with public or private nonprofit organizations, or through contracts with other private organizations, for the purpose of improving techniques and demonstrating the effectiveness of specialized methods in meeting the manpower, employment, and training problems of worker groups such as the long-term unemployed, disadvantaged youth, displaced older workers, the handicapped, members of 70-697-66 minority groups, and other similar groups. In carrying out this subsection the Secretary of Labor shall, where appropriate, consult with the Secretaries of Health, Education, and Welfare, and Commerce, and the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. Where programs under this paragraph require institutional training, appropriate arrangements for such training shall be agreed to by the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Health Education, and Welfare. He shall also seek the advice of consultant with respect to the standards governing the adequacy and design of proposals, the ability of applicants, and the priority of projects in meeting the objectives of this Act. Mr. DowDY. I promised to hold hearings on this bill some time ago. I am just now finding time to do so on account of other pressing business. We have as witnesses this morning Mr. Thomas R. Sard from the Department of Corrections and Mr. Robert F. Kneipp, Assistant Corporation Counsel. You all will not testify at the same time, but just come around, give your names to the reporter and let us have your statements. STATEMENT OF ROBERT F. KNEIPP, ASSISTANT CORPORATION Mr. KNEIPP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We also have with us this morning Mr. William A. Robinson, Assistant Corporation Counsel for the District, who is theoretically on leave, but since he has been working with this bill for the last four years he has taken the time to come in this morning. I wonder if he might be present with us. Mr. DowDY. Surely. And you also have Mr. Sard from the Department of Corrections, do you? Mr. KNEIPP. Mr. Thomas Sard, yes. Mr. Chairman, S. 1319, providing a work release program for the District of Columbia, is the outgrowth of a study which was begun in January of 1962 by a Committee of the Council on Law Enforcement of the District of Columbia, and established under the D.C. Law Enforcement Act of 1953, Public Law 85 of the Eighty-Third Congress. The bill provides a work release plan for prisoners in D.C. institutions having three interrelated and major purposes. The first, keep an employed or employable offender engaged in work to constribute to the support of his family, thus avoiding welfare costs for them. Next, when an offender is employed at the time of his arrest, and the employer is willing to retain him, to have the employer is willing to retain him, to aid the employer in avoiding the recruitment and training of a new worker to replace the offender. Third, aid the offender in avoiding the full stigma of total imprisonment and its effects upon his morale, self respect, dignity and rehabilitation. Then there are some side advantages to the community. The offender would still receive some degree of punishment. He would be in prison at night and over weekends and then there would also be at least during the daytime, depending on the scope of the program, some release from the crowding of the District's correctional institutions. The plan is in operation in other jurisdictions. The study committee of the Council on law enforcement considered that of Wisconsin, the so-called Huber law, which has been in effect since 1913. It also considered the Minnesota law in effect since 1957 and the North Carolina law since 1957. There is also such a law in Maryland. But perhaps the most recent example of this kind of law is the U.S. Work Furlough Plan authorized by Public Law 89-176 of this Congress, approved September 10, 1965, under which persons convicted. of offenses against the United States can be allowed to work at employment. Now, S. 1319 as far as the District is concerned, would expand the Federal law, and to a certain extent there would be overlapping between the Federal law and the District law. The bill would extend to misdemeanants. The Federal law applies to both felons and misdemeanants, in addition to some others that would be subject to the District bill. So that to a certain extent where the individual has been convicted of a misdemeanor-that is, a violation of an act of Congress he would be subject both to the Federal law and to S. 1319. But S. 1319 has the advantage of making the treatment of all prisoners in D.C. correctional institutions equitable clear across the board-felons, misdemeanants, those who are in correctional institutions for contempt of court, or for having their probation in a paternity case revoked-all would be equally entitled if they are worthy prisoners, to be given the advantages of the work release program that would be established by S. 1319, together with Public Law 89-176. The purposes of the bill and its provisions are discussed at some considerable length in the Commissioners' report of July 29, 1965, which I ask be made a part of the record, Mr. Chairman, which contained with it the transmittal letter of the Commissioners to the Congress dated February 18, 1965. The bill was proposed to the Congress by the Commissioners. It has been, as the committee knows, enacted by the Senate, and the report of the Commissioners dated July 29, 1965, discusses the bill as it passed the Senate. Mr. DowDY. If there is no objection, the reports referred to will be made a part of the record. (The documents follow:) GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, EXECUTIVE OFFICE, Washington, July 29, 1965. Hon. JOHN L. MCMILLAN, Chairman, Committee on the District of Columbia, DEAR MR. MCMILLAN: The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have for report S. 1319, a bill "To authorize a work release program for persons sentenced by the courts of the District of Columbia; to define the powers and duties in relation thereto, and for other purposes." The purpose of the bill is to authorize the courts of the District of Columbia to release selected offenders at specified times to obtain or engage in gainful employment. Section 1 of the bill contains a short title. Section 2 authorizes the establishment in the District of Columbia of a work release program under which persons convicted of misdemeanors or other minor offenses and sentenced to terms of one year or less, or imprisoned for non-payment |