2-Day Virtual Hearing Addresses State Of Corrections In Delaware

A virtual summit on the State of Corrections in Delaware has begun.

The two-day virtual event features nationally-known speakers, roundtable discussions and community listening sessions. Topics include physical and mental wellness of incarcerated individuals, juvenile justice, the experiences of correctional staff. and Delaware’s re-entry programs, among other issues.

The sessions continue Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. They are hosted by State Senator Marie Pinkney, D-New Castle and Representative Melissa Minor-Brown, D- New Castle.

Zoom links are provided for individual segments.

To register and review the schedule, please CLICK HERE

“Locking people up and throwing away the key is not justice. It does not make our communities safer. And it’s not even the end of the story,” Pinkney said recently. She is chair of the Senate Corrections & Public Safety Committee. 

“The truth is our state spends more than $350 million a year to incarcerate human beings – disproportionally Black men – in decades-old prison facilities, where many receive inadequate medical care and few are given a chance to better their lives before they are inevitably returned to our streets with even greater trauma than when they left,” Pinkney added. “I am concerned that our refusal to confront the injustices in our own prison system is putting correctional officers at risk, failing our communities of color, and making our neighborhoods less safe. Rep. Minor-Brown and I have organized this summit to bring everyone to the table so we can begin to have an honest conversation about how we do better as a state and as a society.” 

“I am committed to knocking down the barriers that prevent people from being successful when they re-enter society after being incarcerated. Too many people have the potential and drive to want to do better, but they keep hitting these barriers that block them in areas such as education, housing, employment, and entrepreneurship,” Minor-Brown, who chairs the House Corrections Committee, said. “We have taken several important steps in reforming our criminal justice system, but we have more work to do. I am looking forward to sitting down with advocates, leaders and community members to discuss wholistic approaches to continue that improvement.”