Mary Ann McGivern – yes, the same Mary Ann McGivern you listened to on NPR/KWMU in the wee hours of the morning for many years as you woke and dressed for work – spoke at the monthly WCD meeting, January 9th. Mary Ann has been a Sister of Loretto for 50 years and lived at the Catholic Worker house here in St. Louis.
Sr. McGivern shared with us numerous stories of her experiences helping people navigate the Missouri Penal and Correction system from bail bonding to parole. She told the audience that in certain counties in Missouri, if a defendant opts to remain in jail rather than post bond while awaiting trial, he or she is liable for cost of that incarceration. McGivern points out that few defendants understand this. Even though it is posted, it is written in quite fine print.
Likewise, Mary Ann told a story of a young prisoner who upon parole sought and received training and education in Mortuary Science and currently is a successful small businessman operating his own mortuary.
McGivern talked about the last decade of prison reform efforts at the legislative level here in Missouri. She was quick to point out that many of the harsh and “unusual” sentencing practices we see today are actually the result of the work of a predominantly Democratic legislature from the 80’s and 90’s. But, she says, no one can point fingers with impunity.
She further explains that the prison population for both men and women has increased from 8500 in 1980 to 33,000 in 2016, even though overall crime rates have decreased in the state in recent years. Currently, she adds, Missouri judges hand down sentences longer in duration than most states. Missouri spends $700 million per year on its prisons.
However, some positive change has taken place. While Federal Law prohibits a paroled felon from receiving food stamps for a drug conviction, Missouri rescinded that rule in 2014 using a feature built into the fine print of the law. Finally, Missouri, through an executive order from Governor Nixon in 2016, “Banned-the-Box” for applicants for state jobs like those for MoDot or the Conservation Department.
In other roles, Mary Ann has studied and tracked military spending and weapons production in the United States for decades. She recently retired as the Director of Project Cope, a prison reform advocacy group and she is the co-founder and an active member of the Peace Economy Project.
Submitted by Mark Kumming