Decision backs inmate groups
Judge allows review of prison's classifying policy
Inmate advocate groups will be able to review the state Department of Correction's policies of classifying inmates at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, a maximum-security prison that has come under much scrutiny since it started double-bunking inmates in January.
A Suffolk Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that the department's process of classifying inmates by their levels of danger and housing status is a public record that should reflect the maintenance of a penal institution and the care of inmates.
"The public has a right to know what goes on inside the walls of the prisons in our community," Laura Rótolo, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union's Massachusetts chapter, said in a statement yesterday. She added that the "ruling recognizes that the state has a high hurdle to overcome when attempting to shield its policies from public scrutiny."
The ACLU sought the records through a court order and public records request on behalf of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, an inmate advocacy group.
The group has been working on behalf of inmates who have been in fear of violence and, in some cases, have actually been involved in such incidents since being double-bunked with some of the most dangerous inmates in the state.
Advocates are particularly concerned with the housing of medium-security inmates at the maximum-security prison who may have to share a cell with someone with a high classification of dangerousness.
The Correction Department has argued that release of the classification system would compromise its security procedures. Diane Wiffin, a spokeswoman for the department, said yesterday that she would not comment on pending litigation, but that "we are currently reviewing the decision to see if we want to appeal." Court rules give the department 60 days to respond.
The department transferred about 400 inmates to the Shirley prison, which has about 1,000 cells, beginning in January, as it faced one of its highest overcrowding rates in history and as it reconfigured other prisons in the state.
Inmate advocate groups and even correctional officers argued that double-bunking the state's most violent prisoners would lead to more violence.
In March, the New England Police Benevolent Association, which represents some of the correctional officers, said the new policy led to rioting in one of Souza-Baranowski's units.
Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com. 
