maine corrections to grieving suicide mom: "you need grief counseling!"

8/3/2019 Maine Corrections to Grieving Suicide Mom: "You Need Grief Counseling!"

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Stan MoodyPOB 240

Manchester, ME 04351207/626-0594

[email protected]

Maine Corrections to Suicide Mom: You Need Grief Counseling

Author: Stan MoodyJuly 30, 2011

The Maine prison system shares with other states a certain impotency when it comes tothe human side of its mission. Department of Corrections is a product of the spin cycle. Thereality is that there is little going on in the way of correcting.

Inasmuch as human dignity cannot be mandated in a policy directive from the front

office, touching a life becomes a rare employment violation for those staff members willing torisk their careers by overreaching their job descriptions.Most employees of the Maine Department of Corrections (DOC) live out the 3-monkey

defense see no evil; hear no evil; speak no evil. Two employee ethics have emerged: Neverdo anything without administrative approval and circle the wagons when criticized.The Shroud of Secrecy:

This has given life to what I have dubbed the shroud of secrecy, a curtain drawn overideas coming in and information getting out. It is not unlike that of the former Soviet Union thatcollapsed from the weight of its own ignorance in the emerging but inaccessible information age.

In a recent press interview (http://www.kjonline.com/news/hope-also-served-at-barbecue_2011-06-19.html), I was quoted as saying that relatives of the convicted are seen by

society as co-conspirators in the crime committed by their loved ones, needing healing that isvirtually unavailable from the DOC. Thus, the landscape is littered with victims of officiousimmobility and institutional paranoia.A Grieving Mom:

In its efforts to reach out to families of prisoners and probationers, the Meeting HouseChurch, of which I am pastor, held a Fathers Day service and barbeque. Few attended, but in the

audience that day June 19, 2011 was a mother whose storyought to tear at the heart of the most heartless blogger. She slippedout the door, escaping the press.

I first came into contact with Linda Penney, the mother ofthe late 45-year old probationer Scott Penney, after a local

journalist, unable to pull together an objective story withoutpiercing the DOC shroud of secrecy, referred her to me. LindaPenney is a grieving Mom who lost her son to suicide on January3 of this year.

Linda seeks closure in a tragedy that implicates anofficious DOC. She does not seek damages; she seeks a momentof compassion for the benefit of others who may callously havebeen treated as she feels her son was treated. Those few within the


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DOC who dared address that process of healing for Linda were reportedly shut down by alawsuit-paranoid AGs Office and a new DOC Commissioner who was on a steep learning curvenot of his own making.

To be fair, there were two DOC employees who put themselves at risk to reach out, buteven the best of employees will circle the wagon and fall into line when their jobs are at stake.

Meanwhile, attempts to open a dialogue between Linda and Probation has beenstonewalled with silence, or, as suggested in a telephone conversation on July 27, nearly sevenmonths after Scotts death, You need grief counseling.The Suicide Note:

Here is the suicide note that Scott left for his Mom and that she had to fight to obtain:

Mom and Dad

I am terribly sorry for doing this, but I try, and all it gets me is nothing. Iwill never have my life back, and I cant deal with all this around me and what

has happened. I have only been staying around because I do love you no matterwhat.

Someday you will understand that this was and is for a better purpose atsome time; hopefully sooner.

Please understand that my life has no meaning anymore and never can. Idont like burdening all of you. Please accept that it has nothing to do with you,

for I love (my family). You need to focus your lives on each other all of you.Please make amends and peace with each other, and all of you pull

together and enjoy life. Make something of it, for you truly never will know whenit will be gone, and it hurts to lose it, believe me.

Please dont mourn me, pity me or blame yourselves for this. I know it isselfish, and I dont blame you for saying it, but I ask you to understand its for me.

Sorry; so sorry, but there is no other way.Please make peace and enjoy each other and life. Spend time; do things;

go places; enjoy please, for me.

Love,

Scott

Scott was a registered sex offender, having been sentenced to 9 years with all but 2suspended. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 20, a disease well beyond thecapacity of the medical system at Maine State Prison but not an exceptional diagnosis amongprisoners. In 2006, he slit his wrists. He was released in 2008 from the Maine CorrectionalCenter in Windham. At the time of his death, he had a full-time job with Pat Jackson Septic TankService in Belgrade, ME at $10 per hour, was current with his $75 per week child support andhad his own apartment.

He was found in that apartment at 20 State St., Augusta, dead from a self-inflictedgunshot wound via a rusty shotgun, the origin of which remains undetermined.Conditions of Probation:

Scotts Conditions of Probation imposed by Kennebec County Superior Court onOctober 17, 2003, required that he have no unsupervised contact withfemale children under the


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age of 18. In November, 2010, his probation officer (PO) assigned to closely monitor registeredoffenders, released him for transfer to less-restrictive supervision on the grounds that Scott wasdoing well.

That was a tipping point for Scott Penney.His new PO reportedly broadened the scope of his court-ordered Conditions of

Probation from female children under the age of 18 to male children under the age of 18. Thecascade effect of this decision during the holiday season was that Scott was forbidden to attendthe funeral of his favored aunt in the event that children were present and to visit his parentshome, as they were raising their minor grandson. The PO also insisted that he submit to apolygraph at his own expense, even though he had satisfactorily completed the sex offendertreatment program and had properly registered on the States registry.

One could easily conjecture that brooding alone in his apartment exacerbated hismental condition.Courageous Attempt to Reach Out Fails:

A meeting with the PO and supervisor, on January 10, an unusuallycompassionate gesture by the probation office, included Albert and Linda Penney and

Scotts employer, Pauline Dube. The meeting began at 9:05 with introductions and thenwith a confrontation regarding the failure of the PO to carefully read the conditions ofprobation. The PO reportedly jumped up, saying, I dont have to take this. The PO wastechnically right.

Twice, the PO was asked by the supervisor not to leave the room but stormed outof the office at 9:16.Can Anyone Say, We Could Have Done Better?:

There is much to be learned from this situation, not the least of which is the need forintervention of a pastoral nature. To address the needs of a grief-stricken Mom a week afterlosing her son to suicide goes way beyond the pay scale or training of a law enforcement officerwith an unmanageable case load. The accusatory reaction of the Mom is perfectlyunderstandable, as is the defensive reaction of the PO. When a person comes under the care ofthe corrections system, entire families also come under the care of the corrections system, andthere is little or no capacity to deal with such tragedies as experienced by the Penneys.

Under the direction of the newly-confirmed DOC Commissioner, Joseph Ponte, and at aprodding by Linda Penney, an attempt was made to reach out but was complicated by lawsuitparanoia prevalent within the administration. In her correspondence with since-retired AssociateCommissioner, Harold Bud Doughty, Linda Penney requested a meeting.

These daily visits (to our home) from Scott were a source of stability for

him. It gave him something to look forward to at the end of his day. It gave himthe opportunity to rebuild and make stronger his relationship with us, his parents.

This stability was taken away from Scott when (his PO) became his probationofficerWe believe that if (his PO) had taken the time to get to know Scott and

read the conditions of Scotts probation properly, this terrible thing might neverhave happened. Scott is no longer able to speak for himself, but we can still

advocate for him by making sure that this doesnt happen again in the future tosomeone elses child, brother, father. We are simply asking to be heard to give

Scott a voice, and we look forward to hearing from you.


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In a letter written in mid-March, 2 months after the death, the Associate Commissionerextended condolences and a meeting date with the new Commissioner. The conditions of thatmeeting, however, were that the specific issues involved in Scotts case not be discussed and thatthe PO not be present, the second condition being perfectly reasonable and the first rendering themeeting largely irrelevant. Unacceptable to the Penneys, Associate Commissioner Doughty

cancelled the meeting.Yes; the PO was indeed ill-equipped to deal with the first meeting. Yes; theCommissioners Office did make a gesture beyond the scope of its mission. Yet, the failureartfully to interact with the public, coupled with a tendency to dehumanize offenders as other,keeps the criminal justice system on the defensive and detached from the very public it iscommissioned to serve.That Was Not the Cause of the Suicide:

In my discussions with other colleagues of the PO in question, most of whom are veryhigh on my respect list but each of whom has an unmanageable case load of up to 135probationers, the immediate reaction was, That was not the cause of the suicide. No one islooking for a cause. What was sought, perhaps ineptly under the circumstances, was closure

that would acknowledge the agony inherent in such a tragedy.Complications of mental illness and social immaturity become factors beyond thecapacity of the average PO. Probationers, despite the nature of their crimes, are desperately inneed of integration into the community. Circling the wagons offers nothing to the future of animploding corrections culture and to a public kept at arms length. POs are overworked,underpaid, inconsistent in performance and underappreciated by the criminal justice system.

They face an increasingly hostile public.Some probationers are predictable; others are salvageable. Scott Penney, from all I have

learned, was salvageable but was shuffled into the realm of the predictable for his inability toadvocate for himself. His was a resounding success story.

The Penneys, in their correspondence with the DOC, had not suggested that the POcausedScotts suicide. They were well aware of his mental incapacities. What they hadsuggested was that the POs pressure, without taking the time to review the facts and get to knowScott, may have been the trigger that pushed him over the edge. In the POs defense, we willnever know for certain.What is the Process for Hiring Probation Officers?:

Acting on my suggestion that Linda Penney seek legal counsel to attempt to move thiscase to administrative review, her attorney, Ron Bourget of Augusta, sent a letter on May 4,2011, to the Assistant Regional Correctional Administrator of the DOC seeking anadministrative hearing. That letter, as of this date, has not been answered. I was prompted to ask,What is the process for hiring and monitoring probation officers?

According to Maine Revised Statutes, Title 34-A, probation officers serve uponappointment by the Commissioner. Duties are prescribed by the Commissioner and are likelyspelled out in more detail by internal policy. Beyond that, there do not appear to be statutoryqualifications or licensure requirements for serving as a PO. Some were former human servicescase workers; others came from law enforcement. Under what circumstances they obtained theirpositions is not clear. What is clear, however, is that they are too overwhelmed with cases tooffer much in the way of individual case management and are the least respected of thecorrections bureaucracy.


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While those in the Kennebec County office in Augusta have enjoyed a sterling record ofoffering services to probationers, it is all too easy for some POs to act as bounty hunters for thepenal system.

POs being appointments by a politically-appointed Commissioner, there appears to belittle in the way of administrative policy for violations of duty. The closest statutory standard of

performance is found in Maine Revised Statutes, 34-AP5404(3)(c), where POs are to keepinformed of the conduct and conditions of each person placed under the officers supervision anduse suitable methods to encourage the person to improve that persons conduct andconditions

By misreading Scotts condition of probation, the PO in question appears to have been inpossible default of keeping informed of the conditions of his probation, a thin thread but onethat should encourage some corrective action.

Meanwhile, a grieving Mom is reeling from her sons death and bureaucratic fumbling.Who Was Scott Penney?:

The short answer is that few have the courage to go on the record.Off the record, however, Linda Penney was comforted by Scotts cell mates from the

prison, his fellow sex offender group counseling members and several DOC staff members andrelated service providers, none of whom would talk to this writer. What came through to Lindawas that Scott was a success story ground up by a system that expects and thereby can easilyencourage failure.

Pauline Dube, owner and CEO of Pat Jackson Service rises to the defense of Scott, one ofthe best employees the business has ever had. When the new PO began with Scott, he begangoing downhill. He began hanging his head and not taking care of himself. Prior to that, we werehis safe haven from the world.

In a memo for her meeting with the Penneys and the PO, Pauline had this to say:

Scott was a dedicated and loyal employee who did everything by the book.He read every handbook and reference guide about every piece of equipment he

used. He was a super star, and everyone liked him. He went way beyond his dutiesto make things better. If he needed to come into the office even to punch out, he

would call me, and my daughter would go into the back room to avoid contact.He talked to me about his new probation officer making his life hell. He

was so scared of (his PO) because (his PO) kept telling him that they were goingto put him back into prison. He feared jail and said that he would die before

going back.Scott went to all his meetings and appointments, When he had to meet with

his POs, he would let me know and apologize for the inconvenience. So he wouldstart early or work real late to make sure we would have room in the plant.

Once a year, the Sheriff would call and ask, Is Scott still working there?The PO never called me to check up on Scott.

Who is at Fault?:

The wagon circlers are right when they say that the PO did not cause Scotts suicide. Thecause was mental illness triggered by events. Nevertheless, the system has become so defensiveand self-protective that it has lost sight of the humanity of the public it serves. It functions too


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often from the gut-level perspective of stereotypes, sex offenders being classed as the mostincorrigible but actually having a recidivism rate 1/10 that of other offenders.

That returns us to the ill-defined status of probation officers. It is well known that POsrun the gamut from the compassionate to bounty hunters. I have witnessed POs going to greatlength to be both cop and confessor to their clients. I personally have experienced being called

by a PO to intervene in a clients case to keep him from going back to prison at a cost of $50,000a year.On the other hand, there are the bad POs such as the one in Kennebec County who sits

outside bars in the middle of the night to catch his clients violating the no-alcohol mandate.Clearly, there is any number of better ways of dealing with that problem than jail or prison at amuch lower cost to the taxpayer.What Do We Do About It?:

The answer lies in what does not work. It does not work to transfer a client to a POwithout a written case management report and an orientation with both the old and new POs andthe client. It does not work to run to the AGs Office for advice whenever a member of the publicseeks answers. It does not work to fail to hold POs to a tight standard of performance. It does

not work to overload Probation with so many cases that they lose sight of the humanity of theirclients.It does not work for DOC administration to stonewall against dealing with the hurt that

misfeasance deals to families or to suggest grief counseling to deflect the problem. What wouldbe wrong with offering that service to family members reeling from tragedy?

Needed are standards for becoming a PO, a hearing process for grievances and consistentstandards for performance. To classify POs as law enforcement and equip them with weapons isgiving them the message that Corrections is the problem of others.

In fact, Corrections is a scarce commodity in the corrections culture.

maine corrections to grieving suicide mom: "you need grief counseling!"

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