Good morning. This hearing will come to order. Let me just say im really looking forward to this one. I was telling the witnesses, i have read all the testimony. And i generally do that as best of my ability. Sometimes the testimony before this committee can be a little dry. And as im reading late at night it will put me to sleep. Not so in this case whatsoever. I think the testimony was fascinating partly because i am somewhat new to this issue. Im going to keep my Opening Statements somewhat brief because i know senator booker would like to make a statement. Im pretty data driven. The data, statistics on this particular problem, the bureau of prisons and our high levels of incarceration rates are pretty stark. In 1980, for example, there were 25,000 people in the federal prison system. Today there is 209,000. Thats 736 increase. Our population only increased 40 . In total, back in 1980, about 500,000 people in prison. Today theres 2. 3 million. We in america have the highest level of incarceration in the world. 716 people per 100,000 population. The next closest was rwanda with 492. I guess my primary comment is when you look at those stark statistics and you see by the way, i appreciate jerome dealer is here from madison, wisconsin. Met with him earlier as part of a group called the nehemiah project. A group of individuals, some of them exoffenders trying to help other people reenter society. I remember during that meeting how many times did i wince. I was told how unbelievable we make former offenders to make reenter societiment the purpose of the hearing is to lay out these realities. Understand what the prison is dealing with is an incredible difficult and complex problem. By the way, the testimony by Charles Samuels, the current director is also a problem. Let me just read from his testimony. The deul fold mission is to protect society by confining offenders in Community Based facilities that are cost efficient and appropriately secure. And to ensure offenders are actively participating in programs that will assist them in becoming law abiding citizens when they return to our communities. Thats a tough task. I was looking at the statistics and saying, boy, were really nailing that one. We really have this problem solved. Were a long way from it. The testimony would be in the federal system we have only a 41 recidivism rate. State and local its over 60 . I guess we can look at that and maybe were doing Something Better on the federal level than state and local. Boy, thats a long way from a successful result. Im sure youll agree with me on that. And im not going to steal ms. Kermins thunder. In the end, i want everyone paying close attention to the quote she will make from thomas mottosbourne because i think it lays out whats at issue and exactly the question we should be asking as a civilized society. With that, i will turn it over to senator tom harper. Thanks, mr. Chairman. Thank you for encouraging us to hold this important hearing. We want to thank all of you for coming as witnesses. My day job before i came here was i was privileged to be governor of delaware for eight years. In delaware we dont have sheriff jails, county jails or city jails. We have a state correctional system. We have one for adults and we have one for juveniles. My second term as governor, mcavi came to delaware. He was at the time the nations drug czar. Because we were doing pretty good job in terms of reducing recidivism by half, about 75 to maybe 40 . He wanted to find out how we were doing it. He brought with him an abc camera crew with him as well. Ill never forget before he actually went into the prison and looked at the program to see how it worked, we met with about 50 inmates. And we got in a room much smaller than this room. And they all had their white garb, the general and myself. I had been to middle schools, churches, ball games. I had an idea of who some of them were. They knew who i was. I said to the guys before we got started on the program part of the tour. I said to these 50. Most of them, i dont know, 19, 20, 21, 22 years old. I said, how did you end up getting here . What happened in your lives or didnt happen in your lives that got you here. About five or six stood up and they all told stories that were very similar. Very similar. I was born before i was born when my mom was young. I never knew my dad. I ended up in kindergarten. Other kids could read. They knew their letters. They knew their numbers. I couldnt. I got into first grade. And i started falling behind. In the second grade, third grade, fourth grade falling further behind. About the fourth grade i said i realize if i just acted up in class and be a real nuisance the teacher would stop calling on me. And so he put his head down, stayed out of trouble. And he said eventually, though, i would be put out in the hall. By the fifth or sixth grade. Finally, when i was in the seventh or eighth grade i was suspended from school. For a while he said i liked that because i was no longer embarrassed by how little i knew. And he said when i was in ninth grade i got expelled. I found myself on the outside. Everybody wants to be popular. If youre a good athlete, you can be popular in school f. Youre smart you can be popular in school. If youre good with girls, you can be popular in school. He said i was none of those. He said the only way i could feel good about myself was to take drugs or to consume alcohol. When i did that, i felt good about myself. He said i didnt have any ability to pay for those things. I ended up in the life of crime. And i ended up in this place. Everyone told the same story. Same story. And the commissioner of corrections for me at the time, dante lore, wonderful guy. Wonderful guy. He used to say to me, we can 95 , 98 of the people that are incarcerated in our state will be released back into our society. And we can send them back out into society as better people, better parents, or better criminals. And he said its our choice. Its our choice. Its a choice for the inmate themselves. Were big on new causes in this community. Im big on new causes in this community. If we take young men, young women, not so young men and women and actually do something about their addictions while theyre incarcerated, thats helpful. If we do something about the lack of education, thats helpful. The work skills, to get up in the morning and have a job to go to, thats helpful. All the above. All the above. We can learn a lot from the state. We can learn a lot from one another. Today were going to learn from you. And we look forward to this very much. I want to thank you for suggesting that we be here. Lets have a good hearing. Thank you. Thanks, senator carper. Under my written Opening Statement of the record w. That, senator booker. I want to start by expressing my gratitude to the Ranking Member and the chairman for having this hearing. It has been probably the best experience ive had in the United States senate since i began about 18, 19 months ago to find such bipartisan willingness to deal with issues of justice in our country. Its extraordinary from my hour meeting with chairman grassly yesterday to be able to sit with you today, chairmen, to see this bipartisan willingness to confront the wrongs in our country that surround criminal justice and determination to do something about it. Let me just interject before you go on. We talked about this earlier. I was going to do a field hearing on high levels of incarceration. We didnt do it on that subject because this is so complex. And it was difficult to design the hearing so it wouldnt be inflammatory. Yes. So, again, i appreciate you working with me so we hold this first one here. Again, this will be the first in a series. Yes. We held a hearing on school choice, which starts really at the beginning part of this time spectrum in terms of not providing a proper education. And it ends up leading to this result in terms of prison. But, again, i appreciate your willingness to work with me on this. Im hoping at some point in time we can move this discussion into different areas. This is pretty relevant. One of them certainly would be in milwaukee. Im grateful to you. We had countless conversations now about criminal Justice Reform. And your eagerness, willingness, sincere desire to do something about it has been really encouraging to me in my early months in the senate. Im thankful for that and this opportunity to be here today. It is a movement now in our country to do something about it. We have the president of the United States willing to visit a prison, being the first person to do so. We see that is a part of our culture. As a christian, it says in the bible matthew 25, when i was hungry you gave me something to eat. When i was thirsty you gave me something to drink. When i was in prison, you came to visit me. The understanding that our criminal Justice System is not about fear and retribution guided by principles of justice, fairness and ultimately redemption. To me that is the american way. But unfortunately we have gone in the way that is so far cuts against our common values and our ideals. This age of mass incarceration on a whole is violating our Core Principles in so many areas. To have us as we proclaim to be the land of freedom and liberty. But to have one every four imprisoned people here in the United States of america even though we have 4 to 5 of our population runs contrary to our core ideals. To do this at such a massive expense to the tax payer in necessarily egregious expenditures where we spend a quarter trillion dollars a year incarcerating human beings, many of whom do not need to be incarcerated at the lengths they are runs against our values. When we see our infrastructure crumbling in this country, yet we have the resources between 1990 and 2005 to build a new prison in the United States every 10 days. It runs against our fiscal prudence and our values as a nation. When we see poor people being ground up into a system but for the fact that they dont have the resources for the liberation that we have a modern day debtors prison in our country that runs contrary to our common values. We now are at a point in our country where we have literally almost one out of three americans between 75 and 100 million americans have an arrest record. If we were to go back to revolutionary times and tell them there would be a government in this land seizing the liberty of almost one in three people, we would have definitely sparked that revolutionary spirit. Now is the time we need a revolution when it comes to issues of crime and punishment. Now, the chairman was very clear, and i think its important to restate, this is a narrow hearing about one specific aspect to begin a process of looking for reforms. Please know if you look at just our bureau of prisons, our federal prison population has expanded 800 since 1980. The bureau of prisons now has 200,000 inmates and it is 35 to 40 over in capacity. Employs nearly 40 how people. And last year in fiscal 2014 the bureau of prisons enacted budget totaled an astonishing 6. 9 billion. Just working on transportation and Commuter Rail seeing the fraction of that were debating over when were spending this much. This bureau of prisons is now 25 of the department of justice discretionary budget. In my very first meeting with attorney general holder he actually talked about the urgent crisis he faces, taking money away from things we should be invest anything for Homeland Security for our protection overall as a citizen because of this massive explosion. The bureau of prisons is so large it is absolutely critical that we in congress, this committee, exercise our oversight to ensure tax payer dollars are spent wisely especially in light of what many states are showing, that you can reduce your prison populations dramatically, saving taxpayer dollars and lowering crime at the same time. So make no mistake. I as a mayor learn you have to make sure when a crime is committed there is a punishment. And people get a proportional punishment. They just do not make in any way economic sense as well. So im grateful for this hearing. There are some areas i think we really need to drill down that are in the small areas we can make improvements in that can make a big difference. One is solitary confinement. Segmented Housing Units is a practice that many people, medical professionals, human rights activists, civil rights activists consider torture pause of its impact. To use it on an inmate results in serious psychological harm. The constitution ality was questioned saying it will bring you to the edge of madness, perhaps madness itself. The medical community confirms that reality. It is time that the federal government were acts a model to ending this practice of solitary confinement. Congress gave the courts the authority to release prisoners early for extraordinary compelling reasons. Known as compassionate release. The bureau of prisons has the ability to release prisoners now that are facing imminent death or serious incapacitation. The data is clear on this population. They are not a threat to our safety and community. They are costing tax payers extraordinary amounts of money. This is a Compassionate Release Program that is properly named and should be explored. Attorney general holder issued guidelines to allow the bureau of prisons to expand the pool of applicants who may be considered for compassionate release. This is something we should look at. Finally, i hope we can explore what the bureau of prisons provides to those that are the least of these and our society. Those that are often marginalized. Im specifically talk building those suffering from Mental Health challenges and drug addictions. Right now states across america are struggling to control a growing heroin epidemic. Many people are finding themselves addicted in a federal system that does not adequately treat them. The bureau of prisons must find a way to assist inmates struggling with addiction and Mental Health. Again, i want to thank you, chairman. This is a hearing i have been very excited about. I want to thank our witnesses. I especially want to thank Charles Samuels who met with me personally. I have had great conversations with. His tenure is actually coming to an end. But he is a dedicated public servant. Thanks. We all want to thank the witnesses and welcome them. It is is the tradition to swearing witnesses. If you all rise and will raise your right hand. Do you swear the testimony you will give before this committee will be the truth, the whole treating and nothing but the truth so help you god. I do. Thank you. Please be seated. Our first welcome is ms. Piperkermin, author of orange is the new black. She is a board member of the womens prison association. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, and members of the committee, i appreciate you inviting me here today. In my memoir i account in detail the 13 months i spent incarcerated in the federal prison sentence with most of my time served at the federal institution in danbury, connecticut. I have worked with many women and men who are returned citizens like me. And we all want to get back on our feet, to reclaim our rights of citizenship and to make positive contributions to our communities. Our experiences are essential to understanding the reform thats needed in our criminal Justice System so it will provide for Public Safety in a way that is legal and humane and sensible. And thats why im here today. Women are the Fastest Growing population in the american criminal Justice System. And their families and communities are increasingly affected by what happens to women behind bars. According to the bureau of justice statistics, 63 of women in prison are there for a nonviolent offense. Many are incarcerated due to Substance Abuse and Mental Health issues which are overwhelmingly prevalent in prisons and jails. And the rate of sexual abuse and other physical violence that women experienced prior to incarceration is staggering. Female prisoners suffer these problems at greater rates than male prisoners. And these experiences are relevant both to their crimes and to their incarceration. But the issues are not being adequately addressed by the bureau of prisons. The research on criminal justice involved women and girls shows the risk factors i mentioned require different approaches in order to reduce womens recidivism and result in successful reentry. This is not like findings in other feelings like health care, where women experience heart attack symptoms very differently from men and their treatment needs differ. This understanding has saved womens lives. The bureau of prisons should adapt gender responsive correctional approaches that interrupt cycles of unnecessary suffering. States Like Washington provide a road map to do this successfully. When i was locked up in danbury, i knew women who were trying to raise their children during brief reunions in the visitors room while depending off Sexual Harassment and struggling with addiction and trying to get a High School Education so that when they got out, they stood some chance of surviving despite their felony conviction. I saw women in bureau of prisons denied necessary medical care and women with Mental Health issues wait for months to see the one psychiatrist who was available for 1,400 women. And thats unimaginable in a system where at least 65 of women experience some kind of Mental Illness. Equally shocking were the mandatory reentry classes inmates took to prepare to leave prison. I attended one on housing, which was led by a man who worked in construction in the prison. And the mostly poor and overwhelming minority women who release. He had, however, played professional baseball for a brief time and hence his expertise on the health topic. Many of danburys policies were questionable. But it was relatively close to home for most of the women who were serving time there. Families could visit. Children could see their mothers. Many of whom were